(1973/ITALY/FRANCE/WEST GERMANY)
REVIEW BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-DOMENICO PAOLELLA CAST-ELEONORA GIORGI, SUZY KENDALL, CATHERINE SPAAK, UMBERTO ORSINI, MARTINE BROCHARD, KONRAD GEORG and ANN ODESSA. SOURCE-NO SHAME FILMS DVD (NTSC REGION 1 / 93 MINS / 2006
The trails and tribulations of arranged marriages and more are the center for exploitation in this tale of a young woman (Eleonora Giorgi) who is to marry the son of a wealthy family. Only see is in love with another man, telling her parents that she renounces the arrangement with arrangement. So, in cause her parents scramble to same the embarrassment and shame she has caused, they decide that the only logical thing to do is to send her to a convent. There she goes through the various stages a woman must go through to become a nun.
Of course along the way, the secrets that creep in the dark corners of a convent also come crawling out. Torn between who she should trust and who see shouldn’t, she slowly learns the secrets. Then, word comes that her love has come to see her and that she has to find away to see him. A request such as that comes with a heavy price, that being jealousy and deceit. Lesbianism, murder and most of all a religious path she has no interest in, make way for her to her true calling of helping people in need. STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN is some what based on a true story.
One can’t help but love a film that features three women such as Eleonora Giorgi, Catherine Spaak and the very lovely Suzy Kendall all in nun’s outfits roaming the seemingly endless hallways of a convent. Of course I’m not just commenting on their beauty either, they all put on pretty impressive and at times very in depth performances. The most impressive of the bunch would have to be the very young Giorgi who was pretty much fresh in the world of acting at the time. It’s a bit disappointing that Suzy Kendall wasn’t more of a main presences throughout the story, though her role is extensive, she really didn’t make much of an impact overall.
To get the full effect of the story and acting for this film it’s best to watch it in the Italian audio with English subtitles as there is tons lost in translation while watching it in the English dubbed audio. It’s also nice to see Umberto Orsini in this as well, casted as somewhat of a trouble maker, what else is new. It’s a trend as I just finished watching Duccio Tessari’s PUZZLE. Although in CLOISTERED NUN, he isn’t a total evil entity, he does do the bidding of lustful returns, including the behind the scenes murder set up. Though it may of been murder by mistake, none the less it’s still murder.
Director Domenico Paolella weaves a very deep story, using several erotic tools to entice or evoke the full just of just how hard it actually was to get through life in a convent for a woman. Of course it can be compared to several other situations such as everybody’s else favorite exploitation genre, women in prison. Heavy on sexual enticement, of course the main course being lesbianism. Unlike many nunploitation films, THE STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN is stylish and is pretty much rid of needless sleaziness. Though the flaunting of nudity is only sparely used, it is surely done with great taste. Especially with Eleonora Giorgi in the spotlight, or should I say in the soft light. The lighting around her is quite attractive and certainly enhances her already extensive beauty. This is common throughout the film, that and her taking off her clothes.
There’s a running thread with No Shame and most of their releases, they are top notch and full of entertainment. This release of THE STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN is surely yet another example of the care and expertise taken in bringing another Italian classic to the DVD realm. A beautiful wide-screen presentation of the main feature is enough to warrant a buying frenzy of this exploitation classic. The picture is absolutely cleaned and color corrected to almost perfection, of course there are a few minor nicks here and there, but nothing too sloppy. The film’s audio is also very clean, presented in both an Italian 2.0 Dolby Digital with English subtitles or in an English 2.0 dubbed track. Of course, you know me, go with the Italian track for the full effect. Still, both audio tracks are very clean.
The extras are kept pretty much simple, but yet very entertaining as you are treated to firstly to exclusive interview with both Eleonora Giorgi and Umberto Orsini of which both looking pretty darn good for their ages. The interviews are pretty basic in discussing each of their experiences filming CLOISTERED NUNS. It would have been nice to find the very elusive Suzy Kendall in seeing what’s she looking like these days and what she is up to. Along with the interviews there is photo and stills galleries and the original theatrical trailer. An interesting tale with and interesting DVD release, a must have for all you nunploitation fans for sure.
STORY/FILM-3/5 BITCH SLAPS PICTURE-4/5 BITCH SLAPS AUDIO-3/5 BITCH SLAPS EXTRAS-3/5 BITCH SLAPS OVERALL DVD-3/5 BITCH SLAPS Purchase this DVD from X-Ploited Cinema
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