Another bad movie!

[Joel Bresler <jbresler...>]

Chevra,

OK, let's discuss another bad movie! <G>.

Did anyone see The Convent, and can they comment on whether the soundtrack
used Sephardic music?

Best, Joel

http://www.hotwired.com/

A Devil of a Dud

The Convent
Directed by Manoel de Oliveira
With Catherine Deneuve, John Malkovich
Strand Releasing 

Oy! So now Shakespeare was a Spanish Jew whose real name was Jacques Perez?
In yet another weird Shakespearean twist, octogenarian Portuguese director
Manoel de Oliveira uses this dubious historical question to bring an
American professor (John Malkovich) and his French wife, Hélène (Catherine
Deneuve), to an ancient convent in Portugal to confront the devil. Never
has such a slow-moving film been so confusing. 

Professor Michael Padovic (Malkovich) thinks he can prove the Bard's
Spanish origin by finding some old marriage documents at this
almost-deserted convent. He and his wife move into the holy residence,
where the slick, lecherous guardian, Baltar, has designs on Hélène from the
start. His evil plan? Distract the professor with a luscious young library
assistant named Piedade. Their love quadrangle takes center stage in the
drama, pushing the historical questions about Shakespeare into the
background. 

Director de Oliveira (who acted in silent films in the '20s and was
acclaimed for his modernist films of the '70s) lovingly shoots the
convent's old, fractured sculptures, as well as the lush forest and sea
that surround the grounds. The film moves slowly from one scene to the
next, with plenty of dark, silent spaces, as Professor Padovic gazes at
Piedade in a chapel praying, or ignores his wife's compassion. 

Unfortunately, these masterful scenes are interspersed with dreadful,
clunky dialogue. When Baltar tells Michael he could be immortal, Michael
replies, "You talk like the devil." Duh. The script also includes not one,
but two readings from Faust, with each character identifying favorite
parts. (If you want a book review, why not just sit in on a high school lit
class?) At one point during the devil's ... I mean, Baltar's seduction of
Hélène, he says casually, "Evil always exercises power over submissive
love." Even the most well-educated Satan wouldn't spit out something so
unconversational. 

Stilted dialogue aside, I always have a place in my heart for the occult
(if not for stupid Shakespeare theories). Luis Miguel Cintra, who plays
Baltar/Satan, does a devilish good job at times - even though he looks like
a greasier version of Joe Montegna. 

But The Convent still lacks fervor. Its plodding pace will have audiences
snoozing, especially when it only teases you with passion and pain. I mean,
come on - two adulterous affairs and not one onscreen kiss?! A horrific
death and devouring hellfire told entirely through subtitles?! Now that's a
truly chaste Convent. 

By Mark Glaser

http://www.99lives.com

The Convent
Directed by Manoel De Oliveira
Written by Manoel De Oliveira
Produced by Paulo Branco

Catherine Deneuve....John Malkovich

1995; Not Rated; 94 Minutes; Drama; Fox Lorber (Distributor)
In English, French, and Portugese with English subtitles
An American professor and his beautiful French wife stay at an ancient
convent in Portugal possibly haunted by the spirits of long-dead monks, for
the husband to research his thesis. Their host, the dark and mysterious
Baltar, immediately forms a strange attachment to the ignored wife, while
the professor becomes entranced with the "purity" of his lovely young
research assistant. Some will find this wry, very subtle dark comedy of the
occult excruciatingly slow, others mesmerizing. At any rate, Malkovich's
deadpan manner and the absurdly portentous music are nice touches. - Sam
Strait 




Joel Bresler
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