RELIGIOUS ARDOUR

A true story of a lesbian love affair in a 17th-century convent, Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta was the most controversial movie at Cannes ’21. But is it female empowerment or nunsploitation? Total Film joins the director and his two leads for a bout of religious ecstasy.

- JAMES MOTTRAM

All good things come to those who wait. Especially if you’re a Paul Verhoeven fan. The controversial Dutch director of Showgirls and Basic Instinct was all set to bring his new film Benedetta to Cannes in 2019 until a knee operation saw him postpone his place in official competition by a year. Then the pandemic hit, Cannes 2020 was cancelled, and Benedetta was shelved for another 12 months before finally being unveiled at the world’s most famous film festival last July.

When the movie finally played, social media exploded. “The first reactions to Paul Verhoeven’s latest film BENEDETTA have just dropped out of #Cannes and all we can say is: ‘OH MY GOD!’” tweeted one attendee. This historical drama based on a true story about a nun who finds solace in the company of another woman saw critics either ecstatic or up in arms, with a story that features lashings of sex, nudity, violence, and profanity. At the press conference, Verhoeven’s film was even called blasphemous.

“I don’t understand really how you can be blasphemous about something that happened,” he raged. “Even if it is in 1625. It’s true, mostly.” This was a case of historical fact, he argued. “You cannot basically change history. It’s done. People have done that. And you can talk about if that was wrong or not. But you cannot change history. You cannot change the things that happened. And I think I base it on the things that happened. So I think the word ‘blasphemy’… for me, in this case, is stupid.”]