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Les religieuses du Saint Archange

Original title: Le monache di Sant'Arcangelo
  • 1973
  • 16
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
5.3/10
669
YOUR RATING
Ornella Muti, Anne Heywood, and Luc Merenda in Les religieuses du Saint Archange (1973)
Costume DramaPeriod DramaDramaHorror

During the 1570s, in the convent of Sant'Arcangelo di Baiano, after the death of the mother superior, a power struggle rages on, as one nun, who comes from a powerful family, is willing to d... Read allDuring the 1570s, in the convent of Sant'Arcangelo di Baiano, after the death of the mother superior, a power struggle rages on, as one nun, who comes from a powerful family, is willing to do anything to become the new abbess.During the 1570s, in the convent of Sant'Arcangelo di Baiano, after the death of the mother superior, a power struggle rages on, as one nun, who comes from a powerful family, is willing to do anything to become the new abbess.

  • Director
    • Domenico Paolella
  • Writers
    • Domenico Paolella
    • Tonino Cervi
    • Stendhal
  • Stars
    • Anne Heywood
    • Luc Merenda
    • Ornella Muti
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.3/10
    669
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Domenico Paolella
    • Writers
      • Domenico Paolella
      • Tonino Cervi
      • Stendhal
    • Stars
      • Anne Heywood
      • Luc Merenda
      • Ornella Muti
    • 16User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos50

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    Top cast13

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    Anne Heywood
    Anne Heywood
    • Mother Giulia
    Luc Merenda
    Luc Merenda
    • Alfonso Carafo
    Ornella Muti
    Ornella Muti
    • Isabella
    Martine Brochard
    Martine Brochard
    • Mother Chiara
    Muriel Catalá
    • Agnes
    Claudia Gravy
    Claudia Gravy
    • Mother Carmela
    • (as Claudia Gravì)
    Maria Cumani Quasimodo
    Maria Cumani Quasimodo
    • Mother Lavinia
    Pier Paolo Capponi
    Pier Paolo Capponi
    • Don Carlos
    Claudio Gora
    Claudio Gora
    • Cardinal d'Arezzo
    Duilio Del Prete
    Duilio Del Prete
    • Pietro
    Luigi Antonio Guerra
      Gianluigi Chirizzi
      Gianluigi Chirizzi
      • Fernando
      • (as Gian Luigi Chirizzi)
      Paolo Paoloni
      Paolo Paoloni
      • Isabella's keeper
      • (uncredited)
      • Director
        • Domenico Paolella
      • Writers
        • Domenico Paolella
        • Tonino Cervi
        • Stendhal
      • All cast & crew
      • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

      User reviews16

      5.3669
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      Featured reviews

      6The_Void

      Not much exploitation in this talky slice of nunsploitation

      I love the nunsploitation genre when it's at its most exploitative and depicts the servants of God during various sequences of debauchery and blasphemy. Unfortunately, The Nuns of Saint Archangel prefers to spend its runtime mostly on talky drama, which does focus on blasphemy, but unfortunately not much of it is actually shown. On the plus side, the production values are great and director Domenico Paolella (who also directed decent nunsploitation Story of a Cloistered Nun in the same year) produces some nice visuals. The plot focuses, as you would expect, on a convent. The Mother Superior has passed away, and so a vacancy has arisen for that particular post. This leads to several nuns at the convent trying to get the position over the others. Giulia believes she would be best for the post; and so proceeds to take out her rivals; by poisoning one and arranging for the other to be caught canoodling with a man. Meanwhile, she's making her own bargains to secure her wanted position; and showing the corruption of the church in the meantime.

      Most people that watch these films will undoubtedly do so mainly to see some hot women dressed as nuns involved in lesbian scenes (or so I've heard...), but unfortunately (err...for those people), this movie does not make lesbian sex it's main focal point. It really does have to be said that the movie is far too talky and this is a problem since a lot of the dialogue is not even all that interesting. I do have to admit that despite having seen quite a few Italian films about nuns; I really don't have that much of an interest in Christianity and how the church is ran. The film stars Anne Heywood, who is good in the lead role (and mostly keeps her clothes on). She receives good feedback from Martine Brochard and Omella Muti, as well as Luc Merenda. I do have to admit that the story itself is actually not bad in the way it is constructed; I just found it rather dull. Despite the genre label; 'nunsploitation', I've found many of these movies to be rather high quality in terms of production values - this one being above average. Overall, I can't say that this film is a favourite of mine; but it is just about worth seeing.
      Laserdome-AMH

      Not uninteresting...

      Intrigues in a 16th century Italian cloister near Verona lead to gruesome happenings. Sister Giulia, pretending to save the Mother Supreme from her sickness, is really trying to kill her in order to become Mother Supreme herself. The cardinal suspects something about sister Giulia's intrigues and raids the cloister, bringing all those who did wrong to trial...

      This Italian nun movie may be called "exploitation", but it certainly offers an interesting view on some historic happenings and how it might have been back then. The film even claims to be based on a true story. Whether this is true or not, it probably isn't too far away from reality. There's not very much nudity or violence in this, so fans of sick exploitation films will probably be disappointed. Surprisingly well made, and watch out for a very young Ornella Muti in a supporting role.
      6Bunuel1976

      THE NUN AND THE DEVIL (Domenico Paolella, 1973) **1/2

      Yet another Stendhal-inspired "Nunsploitationer" in the vein of THE NUN OF MONZA (1969) and ABBESS OF CASTRO (1974) – incidentally, MONZA's Anne Heywood dons the habit here as well, while Pier Paolo Capponi appears in all three (in this case, he is a lecherous nobleman). Actually, the film's German title translates to THE NUN OF VERONA: with this in mind, the absurd English moniker is utterly misleading…not to mention liable to confuse it with Jerzy Kawalerowicz' much superior THE DEVIL AND THE NUN aka MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS (1961)! It emerges somewhat more plot-packed than usual, with several nuns being involved in illicit/corrupt business behind convent walls: apart from Heywood (who is more of a conspirator this time around and caps her performance with an effective diatribe at the obligatory trial followed by an excruciating death scene), these include Martine Brochard, Claudia Gravy (from the weird Spaghetti Western MATALO! [1970]) and Ornella Muti (most appealing when sporting short-cropped hair and masculine attire, her role is secondary but she carries it with aplomb). The Inquisition, then, is represented by a fanatical Luc Merenda (miscast) and Cardinal Claudio Gora. The oppressive medieval atmosphere is nicely caught (though the print I got hold of, featuring a reasonable English-dubbed track, is a bit too dark – furthermore, the split between its two parts irritatingly occurs in mid-sentence!) and, while the trademark nudity and violence are certainly there, these are not particularly explicit. In the long run, THE NUN AND THE DEVIL (which comedy/peplum exponent Paolella directed under the pseudonym Paolo Dominici!) is pretty solid as "Nunsploitation" films go.
      7lastliberal

      You are judging me for corruption and cruelty. Am I more corrupt than you?

      There are some really scandalous nunsploitation films available for those who want to indulge their fantasies or prurient interests. This is not one of them. Before you go running away, however, you should know that this film is well worth watching for the quality of the film.

      It is all about the machinations that go on in and out of a convent after the Mother Superior dies. Three nuns: Mother Giulia (Anne Heywood), Mother Chiara (Martine Brochard), and Mother Livinia (Maria Cumani Quasimodo) are vying for the position of Mother Superior.

      The latter two have very wealthy and influential connections on the outside. Sister Giulia uses poison to get rid of one rival, and is going to expose the other's immorality with a man. This is easy for her as her rival is bisexual and her lesbian lover. No, we don't get to see Heywood in the buff, but we do see Brochard.

      Another player in this game is a young, virginal novitiate, that also happens to be the niece of Mother Giula. Isabella (Ornella Muti) was put in the convent to get her away from her boyfriend. Mother Giula is using her to get a nobleman on her side. What she doesn't know is that Isabella and her boyfriend have been secretly meeting at the convent, and now they will have a chance to be together.

      The sets are exquisite and the story is compelling. There is some nudity, but it is just the right amount for the story, not exploitative.

      There is a torture scene, including water-boarding at an inquisition to discover the truth behind the campaign. Cardinal d'Arezzo (Claudio Gora) screams for more torture. He is a symbol of the evil and corruption in the church at the time.

      Justice is meted out for some sinners, but certainly not for all.
      lazarillo

      Not very exploitative, but definitely worth seeing

      If you follow the "nuns-ploitation" genre at all, uh, religiously (sorry) you know these films generally fall into three categories. First, are the films that are more or less serious and are meant to criticize the more or less real historical crimes of the Catholic Church. These include both the earliest films like "The Nun of St. Monza", but also some of the more violent and lurid 70's films like "Flavia, the Heretic" (a personal favorite of mine). Then there are the straight-out lesbian-nun sex romps like Walerian Borozyx "Behind Convent Walls" or Joe D'Amato's "Images from a Convent". Finally, there are the post-"Exorcist", mostly Hispanic films that veer into the supernatural and full-tilt delerium like Franco's "Love Letters of a Portugese Nun" or the Mexican neo-surrealist masterpiece "Alucarda".

      This film falls mostly into the first catgerory, but it does veer a little bit into the second. The plot revolves around the campaign to choose a new Mother Superior for the Convent of St. Archangel. One Machiavellian sister (Anne Heywood) tries to get the edge on her two rivals, who have more wealthy and influential family connections on the outside, by slowly poisoning one and arranging for the other (Martine Brochard) to be caught with her male lover (which she easily manages since this bisexual nun is also HER lesbian lover). She also forms an alliance with an unscrupulous nobleman by promising to deliver her virginal niece (Ornella Muti) to him. All of these machinations eventually bring down the corrupt, patriarchal church authorities on the convent. Without giving away too much, the ending is both moralistic and extremely cynical with some evil character getting more than their just desserts while many other, even more wicked characters get off scot free.

      This movie may disappoint somewhat as sexploitation. Martine Brochard has a lot of nudes scenes, but Anne Heywood's could best be described as subliminal. Perhaps most regrettably, Ornella Muti keeps her clothes on, even when the older nuns are "inspecting" her virginity. The two semi-official sequels to this, "Story of a Cloistered Nun" and "The Sinful Nuns of St. Valentine's", feature much more copious sex and nudity,including scenes of the young acolytes (Eleanora Giorgi and Jenny Tamburi respectively) getting very naked (and tied-up and whipped, etc.). But for the few fans of these films out there who AREN'T lecherous perverts, this one is probably the most realistic and hard-hitting of the trilogy. It's definitely worth seeing anyway.

      Storyline

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      Did you know

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      • Trivia
        The opening credits state that the movie is 'Based on authentic 16th Century records and a story by STENDHAL'.
      • Quotes

        Carafo: And the Lord pardon us for the pain we have inflicted in the church's name.

      • Alternate versions
        Restored version: Argent Films DVD release as The Nun And The Devil is the longest available version at 99min 20 secs (in PAL): it is re-edited from Italian masters materials with an English soundtrack.
      • Connections
        Featured in The Real Blue Nuns (2006)

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      FAQ13

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      Details

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      • Release date
        • June 12, 1974 (France)
      • Countries of origin
        • Italy
        • France
      • Official sites
        • Streaming on "Film&Clips in English" YouTube Channel (English PG version)
        • Streaming on "Film&Clips" YouTube Channel (PG version)
      • Language
        • Italian
      • Also known as
        • The Nun and the Devil
      • Filming locations
        • Cinecitta, Rome, Italy(Studio)
      • Production companies
        • Imp.Ex.Ci.
        • Les Films Jacques Leitienne
        • Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (P.A.C.)
      • See more company credits at IMDbPro

      Tech specs

      Edit
      • Runtime
        • 1h 43m(103 min)
      • Aspect ratio
        • 1.85 : 1

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