Wingrove is one of the few British directors
with a 'video nasty' under his belt: his earlier short Visions of Ecstacy was
banned for "blasphemy". This feature covers
basically similar themes - nuns + sexual repression - with obvious nods to The
Devils and Borowczyk's Within Convent Walls. Unfortunately, it fails
to deliver the intensity of either of these, limping along largely in soft-porn
territory -- I never knew nuns (including Eileen Daly)
spent so much time shaving their pussies, though
these ones do look as if the last time they were in church, they were being
dropped in the font...
The
dream sequences, which see the Mother Superior debating with Mary Magdalene are
actually pretty effective. They look striking, in a Peter Greenaway style, and
are well-scripted and acted. However, the "confessional" sequences which interrupt
this are tedious and lame, and in addition, a completely irrelevant subplot which sees a
neighbouring Father turn up at the convent and do absolutely nothing. There's a
good short film in here somewhere, but even at a relatively brief 72 minutes, it
outstays its welcome considerably. Still, it was either that or the Pokemon
movie!
D-
