Flavia - Nonnen bis aufs Blut gequält

This is the most notorious of the "nunsploitation" movies but it's also very atypical of the genre (if "nunsploitation" can be called a genre). For one thing it is serious, believable, and fairly historically accurate. For another thing it generally avoids being merely crass exploitation. There is sex and nudity but it is all in the context of the film. There is also A LOT of violence, but it is truly unpleasant and ugly violence--it is obviously not meant to simply titillate the audience. (I actually saw the edited version but I doubt it is any less powerful--what you picture in your mind when you realize what is happening on screen is at least as terrible as anything that could have been achieved with cheesy 1970's special effects). This film could also be considered part of the "rape-revenge" genre except that after the rape and revenge there is in turn yet more revenge against the avenging woman, and each time the violence escalates a little more until all the characters are tainted and the movie ends up being a wholesale condemnation of human cruelty and a powerful statement on the ultimate futility of violence. I'm sure many people will find this movie tasteless or offensive but when you consider how many movies--especially mainstream Hollywood movies--glorify and romanticize violence, presenting it as a valid way to resolve any problem, you truly realize how courageous and refreshing a movie like this is.

Young nun Flavia (Florinda B0lkan) was a women's libber before there was even such a thing. Set in Southern Italy in the 1400s, this film sees its titular character striking a blow for the fairer sex, her fight for equality stemming from her troubled childhood, when her father hacked the head off a Moslem soldier she took a shine to, and then forced her into a convent to spend her days in religious contemplation. Parenting wasn't his strong point.

But the life of a nun is not for rebellious Flavia, and after witnessing a friend of hers being tortured for wanton acts (the old 'hot oil and nipple slicing' treatment), she flees the convent in the company of male pal Abraham. The pair don't get far though, and Flavia is returned to the nunnery and Abraham flung into jail. A miffed Flavia seeks revenge for her mistreatment, and that of her sisters, and teams up with an army of Moslem invaders to make her father and other miscreants atone for their wrongdoings.

Don't be fooled by Flavia The Heretic's apparent female empowerment message... the film's women's lib device is simply there to try and lend proceedings an air of respectability. They shouldn't have bothered. This is very obviously an exploitation flick first and foremost, with scenes of rape, abuse, misogyny and murder, and as such is unlikely to find favour with staunch feminists. If it's sex, violence and general deviancy you're after, then this one offers such dubious delights as forced sex in a pig-sty, a graphic spot of horse castration (symbolic of Flavia's desire to castrate all men), nun urination, decapitation, a drug-fuelled orgy (during which a naked nun climbs inside the gutted carcass of a cow!), a man being lowered ass-first onto a spear, and skin-flaying. Unfortunately, director Gianfranco Mingozzi's pretenses cause the film to drag in places, meaning that those looking for a consistently satisfying slice of sleaze and depravity may also come away feeling a tad disappointed.

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

Flavia the Heretic has been put in with the 'nunsploitation' sub-genre, although personally I'd say it fits in closer with the historical period epic genre. Most of the time when these films say that they're "based on actual events", you have trouble believing it; but that's not the case here, as although I don't know anything about Italy in the 1600's, the film is of a far higher quality than most nunsploitation garbage, so it could well actually be based on a true story. I have to admit I prefer the trashier side of nunsploitation myself; Joe D'Amato's masterpiece "Images in a Convent" being my favourite so far, but this film deserves respect for its classy and bloodthirsty historical portrait. The film focuses on the title character: Flavia. Flavia is a nun at convent that is invaded by a 'Tarantula Sect', and this sect proceeds to insult the nuns and their Christian beliefs by defiling their place of worship. Flavia decides that she cannot take this blasphemy, and flees the convent, with revenge in mind...

The blood, sex and violence in this film actually has more power than that in a lot of similar movies. The whole film is very realistic, and this is a huge benefit to it as this allows director Gianfranco Mingozzi to create a truly macabre and morbid atmosphere. Much of the plot goes towards building up the central character, and this sets Flavia the Heretic apart from many of it's seventies counterparts as it means that the character gets developed in a way that makes sense, and it's clear that the director and everyone involved wanted to make a serious piece of art. Florinda Bolkan is excellent in the title role, and brings some real credibility to the film alongside a good support cast. There are some truly nasty sequences in this film; including many shots of people being spiked, a decapitation, a very realistic 'skinning' scene and plenty of rough sex. But none of this appears out of place as the director ensures that the graphic violence fits with the rest of the film. Overall, I can't call Flavia the Heretic a favourite of mine; but it deserves more respect than a lot of these films do, and it's definitely worth seeing.

A young woman is sent to a nunnery by her domineering father in 15th century southern Italy, while there she is subject and witness to many atrocities. She later flees and becomes the lover of the leader of an invading Muslim army and with his muscle underpinning her; she enacts grisly revenge on those who have wronged her.

Flavia the Heretic is one of the prime examples of the sub-genre known as nunsploitation. Along with The Devils (1971), it combines some serious drama along with gruesome exploitative material. Although it could be argued that in both of these films the nasty scenes are pretty necessary in reflecting the grimness of their respective stories. Both films look at the dubious actions of the church in the middle ages but Flavia more specifically has a feminist outlook as well and considers the role of women at that time. Consequently, this is an unusually serious minded bit of nunsploitation. It is considerably helped in this regard by a standout turn from the always impressive Florinda Bolkan in the lead role. She essays the emotional story arc of Flavia quite expertly and certainly elevates the drama of the story. This is a very interesting central female character of a type you don't see very often leading a movie, especially in a film of this type.

In regards to the more visceral aspects, there were a few very grim scenes of torture and graphic excess, including a borderline unwatchable castration of a horse and a gruesome climax. Some of the horrible scenes have a definite overall point though, such as a sequence where a rich and decadent duke rapes a servant girl in a pig sty. It's a scene that illustrates the way that women were treated like animals by the ruling classes who were at liberty to act as they saw fit. On the whole, Flavia the Heretic is an Italian genre film with a more art-house sensibility than was typical. It provides both vicarious thrills and something to actually think about. And that's not a bad achievement really.

Reportedy based on actual historical events, this disturbingly violent, bloody, and shocking period epic sustains viewer interest by creating a verisimilitude missing in the majority of films set in a remote era. Ms. Bolkan's portrayal of the rebellious nun is a tour de force. Her gradual transformation in character from an obedient if unwilling complicitor in social injustices of her day is adeptly evidenced by telling sequences: her witnessing of the hated local Duke's casual rapist activity, her forbidden love affair with a Jew, her criminal defection to the invading Moslem forces of the sensual Prince Ahmed (Anthony Corlan) There are some painfully realistic gory sequences (human flaying) in this film that are not for the squeamish, but viewers with strong stomachs and an interest in medieval history should find ample interest. Deserves to be seen, if only as an antidote to Hollywood depictions of the medieval world.