Flavia, la monaca musulmana (1974)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Gianfranco Mingozzi

Writers:

Bruno Di Geronimo (screenplay)
Gianfranco Mingozzi (screenplay)

Release Date:

January 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Tagline:

She Launched A River of BLOOD

Plot:

Italy 1600: A convent of nuns are invaded by the Tarantula Sect on their annual pilgrimage. The cultists defile the place of worship...

Plot Keywords:

Convent | Nun | 1600s | Sect | She Devil

Cast

Florinda Bolkan	...	Flavia Gaetani
María Casares	...	Sister Agatha
Claudio Cassinelli	...	Abraham
Anthony Higgins	...	Ahmed (as Anthony Corlan)
Spiros Focás
Diego Michelotti
Raika Juri	...	Sister Livia
Jill Pratt	...	Mother Superior
Franca Grey
Laura De Marchi	...	Tarantula Cult Woman
Eduardo Filipone
Ciro Ippolito
Carla Mancini
Luigi Antonio Guerra
Giuseppe Pertile

Also Known As:

Flavia (USA)
Flavia la défroquée (France)
Flavia the Heretic
Flavia the Rebel Nun
Flavia, Priestess of Violence
Flavia: Heretic Priestess (USA)
The Heretic
The Muslim Nun
The Rebel Nun

Runtime:

96 min | USA:101 min (uncut version)

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

France:-16 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 (JK/SPIO) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Otranto, Lecce, Apulia, Italy

Company:

Cinéphonic

Sisters Without Mercy

Too many sources routinely lump this thought-provoking period drama in part based on historical fact together with the superficially similar "nunsploitation" which was a mainstay in '70s Euro trash cinema, overlooking the righteous anger that drives the whole endeavor. Perhaps coincidentally it was also director Gianfranco Mingozzi's singular attempt at narrative film-making outside of many well-received documentaries.

Safely set within a historical context, FLAVIA charts the growing rebellion of an early 15th century Italian nun (Florinda Bolkan's career performance, even surpassing her sterling work in Lucio Fulci's devastating DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING), locked away in convent by her not so nobleman father in a desperate attempt to curb the girl's budding sensuous nature. Wondering why women are relegated to secondary roles at best in life as in holy scripture, she is confronted by ways in which male domination can rupture female lives, inspiring revolt fueled by the ranting of semi-crazed older Sister Agatha (indelibly portrayed by veteran actress Maria Casarès from Marcel Carné's LES ENFANTS DU PARADIS) and - more constructively - by a Muslim invasion. Joining the oppressors and perhaps unwittingly manipulating them to do her bidding, Flavia truly becomes the outcast she already felt herself to be, with expected tragic results.

With its breathtaking widescreen compositions by Alfio Contini, who shot Michelangelo Antonioni's ZABRISKIE POINT, this is an uncompromising and austere account of one woman's fierce yet ultimately futile fight against patriarchal society which allotted her no rights beyond childbearing or whoring as Sister Agatha wryly remarks. A lengthy drug-induced fantasy sequence clearly modeled on Ken Russell's otherwise far more flamboyant DEVILS notwithstanding, the movie turns out relatively stingy in the skin department, making something of a mockery out of its semi-porn reputation. This is a serious work deserving rediscovery and restoration of its unjustly tarnished reputation.