Story of a Cloistered Nun

Well, most reviewers seem to class this as "nunsploitation" but this production is, simply, much too good to be classified as anything sleazy, in fact I felt reminded more of "The Nun's Story" than anything else. Sure, there's some nudity, but never gratuitous - even the "sisterly love" and corporal punishment scenes were handled with taste and respect. And there's real acting here, some very intense and touching scenes. The costumes and sets are simple but top-notch, the music is good, camera and light are not outstanding but serviceable, and the story progresses at a slow (fitting the theme) but relentless pace - never during the 90min runtime did I feel the need to fast-forward.

The story itself is simple enough, with the young heroine banned to a convent against her will - from there it progresses along predictable ways as she slowly gets to know the ways of the convent, a community balanced on a precarious equilibrium of powers, centered around the mother superior on the one hand and sister Elisabeth on the other (a simple nun but with family connections up to the archbishop). The mistrust between everyone is palpable, every small gesture, condescending look and so on carries meaning. Despite the slow pace the tension is high all the way through. It's no surprise that the balanced powers come crashing down in the last act, still I was a bit shocked about how cruel the resolution was. The post-credits claim that this is based on true events; I don't want to dig deeper but the bleak ending does indeed have a most realistic appeal.

Italian nunsploitation set in Italy in the 1600s. A young noblewoman named Carmela, promised as a child in an arranged marriage, decides instead she wants to marry a lover of her choice. This brings huge disgrace on her family. The only solution is for them to have her forcibly admitted to a convent, as becoming a nun is the one socially acceptable reason for backing out of the deal. The convent (surprise) turns out to be a hotbed of drinking, partying, and same-sex relationships. Carmela's arrival creates increased tensions in an already strained relationship between the Mother Superior and a Sister Elisabeth, as both women take a romantic interest in the new arrival. She isn't interested in either of them in that way, and only wishes to escape and rejoin her lover so that they can wed.

Despite sounding like the usual sleazy nun-fest, it actually isn't. There's some nudity, including one flogging; but the story has some substance and the characters are fleshed-out (no pun intended) to the point where you actually care about them. British actress (and giallo queen) Suzy Kendall gets to show her acting chops for once as the Mother Superior (a role that Joan Collins was to play, before she backed out), the late, beautiful Catherine Spaak is great as the scheming Sister Elisabeth, and the gorgeous Eleonora Giorgi (in her first lead role) makes an impression as the radiant Carmela. Some nunsploitation fans might find themselves feeling a bit let down it's not.. sleazier, and it's a tad slow at times with a few scenes feeling over-long; but it's certainly a change to see one of these that doesn't rely solely on T&A to draw an audience. 6.5/10.

Honest love - my finger slipped when I was trying to click on the film 'violent bloodbath'. I didn't mean to click on Domenico Paolella's other 1973 nun film (which confusingly features stills from The Nun and The Devil in the opening credits).

Carmella is from a noble family and has forgotten that she was promised to marry a guy from another noble family when she cops off with a local soldier. Family enraged, the only thing they can do is throw her in a convent, where we can all rest easy knowing that she will be kept pure and sheltered from the outside world.

That's if she can avoid the advances of cruel mother superior Suzy Kendall (lesbian), Sister Elizabeth (lesbian), who appears nice at first and is also knocking boots with soldier Umberto Orisini, who gets his kicks hearing about all the lesbian (lesbian) activity at the convent, or the other two novices (lesbians).

Carmella has a hard time adjusting to convent life, and no wonder - it looks awful! When not grassing each other in for everything, the nuns make passes at each other, have affairs with the outside, and Carmella has Suzy Kendall crawling into her room every night while Sister Elizabeth takes her OUT of the room every night. Sounds like a bean-fest, right?

Wrong! Just like The Nun and The Devil, this isn't a sex filled exploitation film, rather than a serious commentary on the suppression of female sexuality in a brutal male society, and just like the previous film, this one looks gorgeous. It's also rather touching in a way, especially the last ten minutes of the film, where those expecting nuns in high heels actually end up with actual acting. Suzy Kendall, who usually just screams her way through a film (not her fault - they are usually gialli) do good here as the internally torn Mother Superior, who shows herself to be someone with hidden depths.

I have watched different movies on the sub-genre Nunsploitation, this is one of the quite suitable and fitting movies on the subject. The theme is analogous to various movies on the subject; it has been handled skillfully with a balanced approach. I am of the opinion that this movie has been slightly underrated.

The movie, claimed at the ending to be a true account, pertains to the life of Carmela Simoni (Eleonora Giorgi) who is forcefully sent to be cloistered at the convent so as to restrain her from marrying at her won will. Set in the 17th century Italy, the movie depicts the tough life at nunnery including flaws, intrigues, and sufferings of the nuns.

Quite a surprise, this one, not at all your usual, sex and violence, nunsploitation but a much more measured and ravishingly beautiful film. Much effort has been made to give this a most believable slant and indeed claims to have been based on true accounts. It certainly has the feel of something much more than mere exploitation and it has to be said that whilst the usual ingredients make appearances they are more realistic than is usual and in some ways the more erotic for that. I see from my records that I did see this film years ago on video and was not very impressed, so whether I was disappointed, at the time, by the lack of usual goings on or unable to fully appreciate the movie without the crisp and colourful image now presented, I know not. In any event a most impressive outing.