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Letters of a Portuguese Nun

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An actress is about to play the part of Mariana Alcoforado, a young women from the convent of Beja in Portugal, who was writing five letters to her French lover, the officer Chamilly.

Audience Reviews

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delysid d 07/07/2018 another strange film from jesus See more 12/08/2009 Really tried with Franco but i also have trouble with his plots. Devil rape???? And his interpretation of the devil was basically your school history teacher with hairy palms. That aside it is attractive in places. But dont let that comment fool you. There's also plenty of pubic hair on show (as per usual for Franco) and scenes of torture and forced falatcio (spell check please).Watchable but most would be bored or sickened. See more 07/08/2009 Well... that was fun. Devil-rape always is. See more 04/14/2009 Jess Franco has established a cult following which may reflect the quantity rather than the quality of his work. Born Jesús Franco Manera in Madrid, May 12 1930, he originally trained as a musician, then went into acting, screenwriting, and direction, making his directing debut in 1959. Franco has nearly 200 films to his credit - many made under a variety of pseudonyms. He has attracted a deal of notoriety over the years - in the 1970's, the Catholic Church declared that he and Luis Buñuel were the most dangerous films makers in the world! A European phenomenon, his low budget horror and erotica played in the soft-porn fleapits throughout the 60's and 70's. As horror and erotica go, a Franco film can be seriously boring, with turgid script, soporific direction, and a cast which owes more to the firmness of their flesh than the flaccidity of their acting. However, the best of Franco's films do achieve a lyrical charm and have an entertaining quality which has stood the test of time. "Love letters of a Portuguese Nun" tells the tale of young Maria/Marie, dragooned into a convent by a roué priest who is clearly more intent on chastising her body than saving her soul. Franco exhibits his usual fascination with punishment and bondage as Maria uncovers the fact that the convent is dedicated to the worship of Satan. She seeks help, runs away, but is recaptured and sentenced to be burned at the stake. She writes a letter to god, begging for forgiveness, and trusts it to the wind. A beautifully photographed film, with crisp images and a lyrical quality to the lighting, it provides some very tame but beautifully shot nudity, a fairly lame plot, dubbing which fails to synchronise sound and movement, and acting which might make you blush. There are, however, a couple of beautiful cameo roles - watch out for the mayor! It's quite tastefully done. The horror element is facile and cliché-ridden, stripped of any menace by the dubbed voices - which make Dick van Dyke's London chimneysweep sound like a classic piece of Shakespearean acting. The erotica is charming and droll, even elegant at times. All in all, it's an entertaining little romp, not something you'd take seriously. It would provide good focal entertainment for an after-dinner party, giving you time to sit back, digest your food, and share a laugh with friends. See more 11/26/2008 I temporarily skipped 'Love Camp' as dictated by the order of the box set as I didn't really fancy another women in prison film tonight, but this film is about a young girl imPRISONed in an abbey where loads of WOMEN get it on with each other, run by a high priestess, or WARDEN, who is bit evil. Yet it was a nice twist and a bit of silly devil worship can never go amiss. Some very odd scenes - the early attempt at giving birth to Satan's child by putting burnt child livers next to the exit route as enticement springs to mind. I also thought it was a bit odd Franco (although looking at the credits, some toher guy wrote this one) had the main character as underage - well actually, she starts out just about legal but manages to lose 2 years halfway through the film - as he has to quickly pan away so as to not show things he clearly wants to show. If he'd have just put a couple of years (or 4, after the halfway point) then the warning of 'shocking horror' that's on the back of the case could have been realised. As to why this film warrants 'shocking horror' warnings above any of the others so far is beyond me - I mean it didn't even feature any breast removal. See more 06/23/2008 Vad dom plÃ¥gar den där lilla Susan Hemingway, hon fÃ¥r sÃ¥ mycket pisk, stackars flicka See more Read all reviews
Letters of a Portuguese Nun

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Movie Info

Synopsis An actress is about to play the part of Mariana Alcoforado, a young women from the convent of Beja in Portugal, who was writing five letters to her French lover, the officer Chamilly.
Director
Bruno François-Boucher
Producer
Arnaud Kerneguez, Eric Porcher
Screenwriter
Bruno François-Boucher
Production Co
Instituto Camões, KapFilms
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
French (France)
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 3, 2019
Runtime
1h 15m