Well, honestly, I must admit that this biopic, based on the life of Jeannine - The Singing Nun -Decksters, is not a bad movie altogether.
Stijn Coninckx has done an excellent job in re-creating the time period - the '60 - and the the day-to-day life in those days. The acting also is quite good, especially Cecile De France (who in fact is a Belgian actress, she was born in Namen, but at 17 she went to Paris to study acting and afterward stayed there) is astonishingly superb as Jeannine. And also Chris Lomme (as mother superior), Jan Decleir (as Jeannine's father), but quite remarkable also is Sandrine Blancke in the small but extremely delicate part of Annie, Jeannine's lover of almost 20 years.
Not a bad movie . . . still it could have been great: Coninckx did his utmost not to step on too many toes!
Decksters was a lesbian - at that time a big problem - and she had a hard time coping with it. After being exploited by the church, she left the convent to go live with her lover Annie, but was in a way pursued and kind of punished by the church, the authorities, the media, . .
She left the convent in '67 and after almost 20 year - in '85 - Jeannine and Annie were totally disappointed, depressed and financially completely ruined . . . and saw no alternative but to commit suicide.
Coninckx doesn't go into all that!
He obviously didn't want to do so because he wanted to make a film for a broad audience! In fact the suicide-scene in the movie is more like a feel-good hallelujah kind of thing; totally absurd - I truly hated that scene!
Well . . .Coninckx made a choice, but also missed an opportunity to make a GREAT movie just by . . showing the TRUTH about Soeur Sourire!
A pity to say the least!
Stijn Coninckx has done an excellent job in re-creating the time period - the '60 - and the the day-to-day life in those days. The acting also is quite good, especially Cecile De France (who in fact is a Belgian actress, she was born in Namen, but at 17 she went to Paris to study acting and afterward stayed there) is astonishingly superb as Jeannine. And also Chris Lomme (as mother superior), Jan Decleir (as Jeannine's father), but quite remarkable also is Sandrine Blancke in the small but extremely delicate part of Annie, Jeannine's lover of almost 20 years.
Not a bad movie . . . still it could have been great: Coninckx did his utmost not to step on too many toes!
Decksters was a lesbian - at that time a big problem - and she had a hard time coping with it. After being exploited by the church, she left the convent to go live with her lover Annie, but was in a way pursued and kind of punished by the church, the authorities, the media, . .
She left the convent in '67 and after almost 20 year - in '85 - Jeannine and Annie were totally disappointed, depressed and financially completely ruined . . . and saw no alternative but to commit suicide.
Coninckx doesn't go into all that!
He obviously didn't want to do so because he wanted to make a film for a broad audience! In fact the suicide-scene in the movie is more like a feel-good hallelujah kind of thing; totally absurd - I truly hated that scene!
Well . . .Coninckx made a choice, but also missed an opportunity to make a GREAT movie just by . . showing the TRUTH about Soeur Sourire!
A pity to say the least!