Interno di un convento (1978)

A zealous, handsome priest, who is the confessor for a convent full of women, encourages the equally zealous abbess of one such institution to enforce the same strict rules on these ... See full summary »

Director:

Walerian Borowczyk

Writers:

Walerian Borowczyk, Stendhal (novel)

Stars:

Ligia Branice, Howard Ross, Marina Pierro

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ligia Branice	...	Sister Clara
Howard Ross	...	Rodrigo Landriani
Marina Pierro	...	Sister Veronica
Gabriella Giacobbe	...	Abbess Flavia Orsini
Rodolfo Dal Pra	...	Bishop
Loredana Martínez	...	Sister Martina
Mario Maranzana	...	Father Confessor
Alex Partexano	...	Silva (as Alessandro Partexano)
Olivia Pascal
Gina Rovere
Dora Calindri
Francesca Balletta
Maria Cumani Quasimodo	...	(as Maria Cumari Quasimodo)
Carole Fouanon
Miana Merisi

Storyline

A zealous, handsome priest, who is the confessor for a convent full of women, encourages the equally zealous abbess of one such institution to enforce the same strict rules on these unfortunate women that are applied to others. In doing so, they uncover a snake pit of sexual couplings, both lesbian and heterosexual, as well as many tools for masturbation. At the same time, a particularly disturbed inmate manages to poison herself and many of the other novitiates in yet another scandal which is covered up by church authorities.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | scandal | convent | abbess | lesbian | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

26 January 1978 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Within a Cloister

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lisa-Film, Trust International Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in 42nd Street Forever, Volume 1 (2005)

User Reviews

artistic, erotic, tragic

Borowsky's artistic, distinctively edgy pseudo-art erotic movie will appeal to all familiar with his work. The over-exposed light pours in through the windows and light up the stark, angular corridors, perfectly off-setting the naked female bodies on display. The plot is pretty mundane stuff - a mother superior has trouble keeping her naughty nuns from sins of the flesh (that's pretty much it). Although the weird subplots about stigmata and a nun who seems to believe Jesus slept with her in her sleep will please art-house fans like me. The film is set against a loud organ score (reminiscent of the art-house classic Last Year at Marienbad) and of course it all ends pretty tragically. This is a great little art-house film, although the acting is at times a little hokey (not helped by terrible dubbing) and it isn't exactly the biggest budget in the world. Ironically, given the film's exploitionist title, there isn't much here for softcore porn fans (a little female masterbation and 2 or 3 short (heterosexual) sex scenes) but fans of this kind of european arthouse should be more than happy.