Respond to these rapid questions in our Benedetta quiz and we will tell you which Benedetta character you are. Play it now.
God bless Paul Verhoeven and his family. “Benedetta,” the provocateur’s daring new film, is now playing in limited release after a controversial festival run. The film subverts and challenges traditional Catholic imagery, while also subverting and challenging religious structures. Rather than a shallow provocation, is Verhoeven’s explicit sexualization of religion a deep analysis of how implicit gender bias within institutions of faith leads to violence and abuse? I’m not entirely sure, to be honest. At times, Verhoeven’s purposefully overcrowded screenplay feels disjointed, as if it were a dramatic version of the famous “Aristocrats” joke. While it contains elements of his previous work, there are also moments when it appears to be the culmination of his career, a film he was destined to make due to the way it distills sexuality, corruption, broken systems, and provocation into one fascinating story. Despite the fact that I’m not convinced it all works, there’s simply too much to think about, unpack, and simply enjoy for me to ignore it. Paul Verhoeven doesn’t make movies that can be dismissed with a wave of the hand.
Benedetta Carlini was a real nun in the early 17th century in Pescia, a small village in Northern Italy. She was known as the “Queen of the Mountains.” When the Papacy learned of her alleged relationship with one of her nuns while she was abbess of the Convent of the Mother of God, she was stripped of her position and imprisoned, according to reports. She also claimed to have had visions and even received the stigmata during her ordeal. The year was 1619, and Benedetta claimed to have received a visit from Jesus himself, who informed her that she was to marry him. People began to doubt Benedetta’s claims, and the investigation that followed revealed the existence of a forbidden relationship between the two women.
This unusual story, which was once told in a book by Judith C. Brown called Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy, is adapted in a way that only Verhoeven could do, and the film is an excellent example of that. He expresses his fascination with the body and its functions from the beginning of the film, when two characters have a sort of romantic moment while defecating next to one another. This occurs even earlier, when a bird hits the man in the eye, and when an actor in a stage show lights his farts, among other things. Nonetheless, it does not appear that anyone should dismiss all of this as mere Verhoeven levity. There’s more to it than that. Indeed, Benedetta is informed that “your worst enemy is your own body.” A world where the female body is perceived to be inherently sinful, in all of its needs and functions, is what we live in. Putting his body on full display and delving into carnal desires as filtered through religious iconography, Verhoeven seeks to investigate the subject matter.
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In her role as Benedetta, Virginie Efira shows no fear as a young woman who is essentially sold to a convent run by the legendary Charlotte Rampling before growing up to be a young woman in her own right. Even as a child, her body is considered property, and she haggles with the convent to get the best deal. “Benedetta” then jumps forward 18 years to the point where the title character begins to have visions of Jesus. Are these manifestations of Christ genuine or are they part of a staged performance? Throughout the film, the question of Benedetta”s motivations hangs in the air almost like a mystery, but at least to this viewer, Verhoeven appears more interested in what they reveal about the world around her than she does about her faith, particularly how those motivations affect the convent and vile men like The Nuncio, played by a sneering Lambert Wilson.
Benedetta Quiz
Of course, after the arrival of Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia), a young woman fleeing her abusive family, the issues of faith are pitted against the issues of carnality. She becomes the object of Benedetta’s desire because she is more worldly than the young woman raised in the convent, and she is torn between her lust and her calling. Another scene in which Benedetta forces Bartolomea to immerse her hands in boiling water, as well as another in which an object of pleasure shaped like a statue of the Virgin Mary is involved, are examples of how Verhoeven pushes the physical boundaries of the film. Of course, in one of many amusing touches by director Paul Verhoeven, Benedetta says the name of Jesus after her first orgasm. “Suffering is the only way to know Christ,” according to one of the characters. Verhoeven might have a problem with that statement.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Benedetta quiz.
It’s possible that “Benedetta” will become a little shapeless after the sexual relationship develops and things literally start to go to Hell in and around the convent—a there’s comet and a plague, and it’s a lot of movie—because the sexual relationship develops and things literally start to go to Hell. I began to wonder if it wasn’t intended to be taken a little less seriously than I had taken it at first. Maybe Verhoeven is just a performer, fleeing from the skeletons of his faith that he sees on that stage and directing his farts in their direction. “Benedetta” is a film that attempts to navigate the gray area between camp and commentary, but I’m not sure it does so as successfully as some of Verhoeven’s previous works have. One thing I am certain of: may God protect people like him who are willing to put their lives on the line for others.
About the quiz
The film is currently showing in theaters.Also, you must try to play this Benedetta quiz.
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