BENEDETTA

 A Paul Verhoeven movie about nuns? Do I need to say more? Well, perhaps. Of course, we get our fair share of nude nuns minus, in this instance, those big guns and a copious amount of sex and violence but this is no cheap exploitation picture even if it is unlikely to recieve the Vatican's Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Verhoeven's "Benedetta" doesn't just sail close to the wind but to Christians, and to Catholics in particular, is positively sacrilegious.

It's the story of a nun, Benedetta, in 17th century Tuscany, (Virginie Efria), whose devotion, first to the Virgin Mary and then to Jesus, takes, shall we say, somewhat extreme forms. As a 'Bride of Christ' Benedetta sees him not just as a vision but very much in the flesh and tends to take her wifely duties literally though she is also inclined to dally in her more earthly sphere with another nun, (Daphne Patakia). Naturally, this leads Benedetta into all sorts of trouble with the Church authorities.

Verhoeven tends to take all of this fairly seriously though the nudity, the violence, the visions and the swearing do add to a sense of jocularity as well. It's certainly a terrific looking picture with a real sense of period and without the sex and violence it could fit quite easily into the category of 'religious epic'.

There's a lot here we've seen before but equally there is a lot that is both new and shocking but shocking in a very Verhoevenian kind of way. Even at its most serious I kept feeling his tongue was lodged very firmly in his cheek, certainly by the time we move into the territory of "The Devils" and "The Exorcist". The one member of the cast who seems to know exactly what is intended is Charlotte Rampling as the Mother Superior and once again Rampling simply walks off with the picture. Unfortunately, in the version I saw, the subtitling was very poor, even to the extent of distorting the meaning. What is certain is that "Benedetta" is no 'Sound of Music' and this is one nun's story unlikely to be shown in the convent anytime soon.