GFF22: Benedetta

Paul Verhoeven’s racy historical drama about a 17th century nun’s journey from saint to sinner is too silly to be anything other than a well-executed satire.

Benedetta – from Basic Instinct director Paul Verhoeven – follows young nun Benedetta (Virginie Efira) as she joins a nun convent in 17th century Pescia, Italy. She is devoted to her faith, demonstrated by her obsession with mentioning the Virgin Mary constantly throughout the opening of the film. Benedetta’s obsession with all-things religion continue as she begins to have hallucinatory experiences involving Jesus, which impact her both physically and mentally; her mind is no longer present in the room, yet her body is moving in the same way as she thinks she is in her visions. 

These prophetic moments continue and eventually leave Benedetta in pain, as she physically bares the injuries that she suffers in her visions. This leads some of the nun convent to become convinced that Benedetta has been sent by God himself, that she is blessed; Saint Benedetta. 

Benedetta’s injuries mean she requires close care, and new convent resident Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) volunteers for the role. She has joined the church after fleeing an abusive relationship at the hand of her father and brothers, and lusts after Benedetta. While Benedetta becomes a prominent figure in the convent, the pair quickly risk everything to break the ultimate 17th century taboo – a same sex relationship. 

But not so fast… the current top dog of the convent is the Abbess (which I assume is a word for female-convent-priest-boss?), played by Charlotte Rampling, who isn’t convinced by Benedetta’s seemingly holy calling. Her daughter (Louise Chevillotte) is equally suspicious, and the pair look to thwart Benedetta’s rise to Saint status, and expose the lesbian lovers.

As you may have gathered from the above – this film is ridiculous. I haven’t checked what is true in this apparent ‘true story’, but I have to assume it ends with a nun named Benedetta and the fact that religion and the bubonic plague did exist in 17th century Italy. The good thing is that Verhoeven simply can’t be serious with this film, so if you treat as a light-hearted satire, then it’s a lot of fun.

And it must be satire. There’s no way that the split-second pause before a ridiculous punchline isn’t intentional. There’s no way this isn’t a tongue-in-cheek look at the traditional, dry period dramas that viewers may be used to. There is practically a wink directly into the camera when a character justifies anything they do or say by claiming it is the ‘will of God’, something that nobody has a rebuttal for in this world where religion trumps all else. 

If it isn’t a satirical look at Christianity and costume dramas, Benedetta comes close to full blown comedy. The lesbian references border on the ridiculous, as Verhoeven frames Benedetta’s introduction to the possibility of an interest in women as she is crushed by a Virgin Mary statue and the statue’s breast lands right in front of her face. That’s about enough, right? Nope – young Benedetta puts her lips around the statue’s nipple. 

If you’re still not convinced, all I’ll say is this. A foot-long statue of the Virgin Mary is carved into the shape of a dildo.

If that’s not comedy, then what is?