Mubi Monday: Benedetta (2021)

It's been a while since I've actually watched a new Paul Verhoeven movie, despite the fact that I own both Black Book and Elle, two films that had very good reviews when released. Benedetta was just impossible to resist though, being the story of a nun who develops a reputation for her religious visions, as well as an erotic relationship with another woman.

Based on a book by Judith C. Brown that surely drew Verhoeven to it like a moth to a lightbulb, titled "Immodest Acts: The Life Of A Lesbian Nun In Renaissance Italy", Benedetta may have the lurid plot synopsis and plot elements that seem designed to surely titillate viewers, but it allows for Verhoeven to work in his typically subversive style, confidently and maturely exploring ideas of love, faith, and power in the hands of those who seek to manipulate a situation to best suit their own needs.

Virginie Efira plays Benedetta, a woman who has given her life to god since she was a small child. Occasionally butting heads with her Abbess (Charlotte Rampling), Benedetta finds herself confused and succumbing to a healthy does of pleasures of the flesh when she convinces the convent to take in a young woman named Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia). Then there's a case of stigmata, which leads to a change in structure at the convent, as well as divided opinion of just how holy Benedetta might be.

Written by Verhoeven and David Birke (who worked with the director on Elle), Benedetta is a film you can take a number of different ways. There are times when it just feels like nunsploitation, that's true, but a lot of the film points out religious hypocrisy, and questioning why love and lust are such a great sin, especially when the person battling such "sin" is also apparently responsible for a lot of good. And there's an interesting look at just what constitutes a miracle or an act of god, considering how god is supposed to move through people. This is brought to the fore when Benedetta is questioned about the cause of her stigmata.

Of course, being a Verhoeven film, there's also more to dig into. The way those who purport to do good can be complicit in evil deeds by simply remaining silent is another important point, but there's also the double-standards that become more obvious when learning about the behaviour of those who place themselves as morally superior to all others.

Efira is excellent in the main role, a perfect mixture of innocence and possible deceit. I have been a fan of her since seeing In Bed With Victoria and Sybil (both recommended), and I went into this knowing that there would be at least one great performance. Rampling, someone who I think can be hit or miss, depending on the writing, also does great work. Her character is justifiably cynical, yet also tries often to do things as they should be done (in terms of the religious hierarchy). Patakia is a little bit weaker than the two more experienced actresses that she ends up working with, but she does well in conveying someone with a wild streak who has found the convent as a salvation, more than a calling. The other very important character in the whole story is played by Lambert Wilson, who is excellent at acting superior to everyone around him, looking to maintain control of people even as his grasp on the situation seems to become untenable.

Surprisingly tasteful throughout, and I realise I am saying this about a film in which a character uses a piece of religious iconography to craft a wooden dildo, Benedetta is a very well-made film that will only shock those who are more easily affected by nudity and any exploration of human sexuality. Sex isn't evil, it's not a sin, and the way it is used by those who want to take power away from Benedetta is typical of attitudes still disappointingly prevalent in modern society. 

9/10

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Noir-vember: Basic Instinct (1992)

Everyone remembers Basic Instinct for one main scene, a scene that underlines it as the ultimate blend of polish and sleaze in the realm of the erotic thriller. But there’s a lot that is so often forgotten, including the plotting that helps to make it an impressive neo-noir, and even allows it to come close to being a fully-fledged giallo at times.

The opening scene is one of those forgotten elements. It’s a sex scene that ends with a brutal death, which is memorable enough, but the sheer intensity and unflinching look at the carnage prepares viewers for a very different type of film. That la petite mort, or maybe we should call it le grande mort, is the event that leads to the introduction of two cops, Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) and Gus Moran (George Dzundza), and those two cops soon end up questioning a main suspect Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone). It turns out that Tramell is a successful author, and a murder depicted in one of her books was carried out in almost exactly the same way as the murder now under investigation. Tramell seems drawn to Curran, who has a fiery and addictive personality, which is why he has been treated by Dr. Beth Garner (Jeanne Tripplehorn), who is also his occasional sexual partner. The mind games begin, and don't ever really stop, and the corpses eventually start to pile up as Curran and Tramell enjoy a fiery liaison that shows they could bring out the best and worst in one another.

Written by Joe Eszterhas and directed by Paul Verhoeven, there's nothing here that should work as well as it does. It's all a messy blend of clichés and ridiculous, but cine-cool, dialogue, with Verhoeven displaying his usual consideration for levels of taste and subtlety. Despite the big names and the polish, this is pure trash, but in all the right ways. And it's self-aware, playing out very much like some late night TV show about a grizzled detective, but with added bloodshed and sweaty sex scenes.

Douglas has never been afraid to play flawed men/anti-heroes/villains, and he does another great job here, portraying someone who can no longer run fast enough to stay ahead of the problems caused by his addictive personality (be it drugs, sex, or just visceral thrills). He's also happy to take on a role of someone potentially being played like a fiddle, and he's basically a strong supporting player in a film that showcases Stone at her best. She's sexy, smart, strong, and definitely has a hint of danger about her. The film made her reputation, and with good reason. It's hard to imagine anyone else taking on the role and doing it so well, although I can easily imagine some getting it horribly wrong. Tripplehorn has arguably the most thankless of the main roles, but she does well with what she's given, Dzundza plays a character so obviously due to reach a certain major plot point that he may as well be in a parody, and you have a cast further fleshed out by the likes of Denis Arndt, Leilani Sarelle, Chelzie Ross, Daniel von Bargen, Wayne Knight, Stephen Tobolowsky, Mitch Pileggi, and Dorothy Malone. Whether their roles are big or small, everyone works well enough with the material, and they're all guided by a director who is, as is so often the case, confident in his way of approaching the material.

There's more to highlight here, from the Jan de Bont cinematography to that lush Jerry Goldsmith score, and dismissing Basic Instinct as glossy smut does a major disservice to just how nicely it manages to maintain such an unusual intensity throughout, barrelling along from one hedonistic pleasure to the next as things build and build to what may be best described as an expectedly messy climax.

9/10

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