Benedetta

Paul Verhoeven and Virginie Efira

Paul Verhoeven's Benedetta tells the story of a 17th century Italian nun whose sapphic exploits and mystical visions brought the wrath of the Catholic Church upon her. Very loosely based on the life of Benedetta Carlini and Judith C. Brown's book on her, Immodest Acts..., the film is recognizably a work of the Dutch director, for good and ill. The mix of sexual content with social satire has been his bread and butter since 1973's Turkish Delight. A member of the Jesus seminar, Verhoeven published a book on the life of Jesus in 2008. Benedetta marks the first film in which Verhoeven has specifically addressed his spiritual concerns.

Leaving Hollywood after 2000's Hollow Man, Verhoeven has done his best work in the intervening years: Elle and, especially, Black Book. Sadly, Benedetta is not on the same level as these two films. The film is diverting enough, with themes and sequences that recall the sexual intrigue of The 4th Man, Spetters, Flesh + Blood, and, his most commercially successful film, Basic Instinct. Indeed, Verhoeven quotes the money shot of Sharon Stone in the latter film in a scene where Benedetta (Virginie Efira) flashes her charms at her lady love, Bartolomea, played by Daphne Patakia.

Efira is superb, effectively channeling her character's imperious mysticism and steely resolve. Patakia is much less effective and this throws the film's balance off. Verhoeven wants the relationship between the two to be both a passionate love affair and a folie a deux, but there is never a believable pull and tug in the relationship between the two, like the one successfully embodied by Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures. Efira nails the hauteur of a character born in the lap of aristocratic privilege, but Patakia, who is playing an abused young woman born of peasant stock, comes off as a whiny teenager.

Virginie Efira and Daphne Patakia in Benedetta

Benedetta's mystical visions, which are the most compelling parts of the first half of the film, recede from view as Verhoeven gradually shifts the focus of his film to his two lovers. I must confess I find Verhoeven's fascination with lesbianism (see also Basic Instinct and Showgirls) to be adolescent. Titillation seems to be the primary motivation for the director. I have nothing against sapphic sex on the screen. Indeed, like most hetero males, I kind of dig it. Therefore, watching Benedetta is an apt view for both Pride Month and Father's Day. However, Verhoeven's inclusion of it reminds one of the softcore porn elements of his early Dutch films; more an exploitation of a theme than a mature exploration of it.

Still, Benedetta works as a period film. The film is handsome without stinting on the appalling hygiene of the 17th century. Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, and Louise Chevillotte all offer fine support. The appearance of a crucifix dildo harkened me back to Ken Russell's The Devils, but, at least, Verhoeven is more restrained than Russell. However, there are two films with a similar theme that are superior to Benedetta: Jacques Rivette's La Religieuse  and Alain Cavalier's Therese, masterpieces both.