Leofwine_draca Here's an Italian-Spanish-West German nunsploitation film based on the supposedly true story of Sister Agnes Carmela which follows her trials and tribulations after becoming a nun and the vice-ridden convent at which she stays. Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of the nunsploitation genre but STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN is never boring as some of the films can be. Carmela certainly has an eventful stay at the nunnery, and her many obstacles and pains include being locked away in solitary confinement for thirty days; being whipped after leaving her room at night; unwanted advances from a lesbian sister; the murder of her lover; and her final pregnancy which leads to the convent being closed down and a new, unexpected life for the sister.While the usual genre trappings of sex and nudity are present, the film goes beyond that to offer a truly beautiful experience. The crisp photography is highly artistic and rewarding, the period music evocative and classy. The actresses are all selected for their good looks as well as their acting abilities. All of these factors make STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN a film which is very easy on the eye. Eleonora Giorgi plays Carmela, the beautiful yet fragile woman who acts as the film's eyes and ears - after all, this is her story. Giallo veteran Suzy Kendall takes the role of the mother superior to make it memorably her own, while the film also carefully fleshes out the characters of the other nuns in the convent - the misguided lesbian friend, the spy, the "mad" nun who ends up killing herself, the childish newcomers. The themes in the story are adult and widely cover life, death, religious values, love, sex, and the human character to make for a rich experience. STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN is a film which transcends genre boundaries to make for a watchable - and interesting - tale.

IndustriousAngel Well, most reviewers seem to class this as "nunsploitation" but this production is, simply, much too good to be classified as anything sleazy, in fact I felt reminded more of "The Nun's Story" than anything else. Sure, there's some nudity, but never gratuitous - even the "sisterly love" and corporal punishment scenes were handled with taste and respect. And there's real acting here, some very intense and touching scenes. The costumes and sets are simple but top-notch, the music is good, camera and light are not outstanding but serviceable, and the story progresses at a slow (fitting the theme) but relentless pace - never during the 90min runtime did I feel the need to fast-forward.The story itself is simple enough, with the young heroine banned to a convent against her will - from there it progresses along predictable ways as she slowly gets to know the ways of the convent, a community balanced on a precarious equilibrium of powers, centered around the mother superior on the one hand and sister Elisabeth on the other (a simple nun but with family connections up to the archbishop). The mistrust between everyone is palpable, every small gesture, condescending look and so on carries meaning. Despite the slow pace the tension is high all the way through. It's no surprise that the balanced powers come crashing down in the last act, still I was a bit shocked about how cruel the resolution was. The post-credits claim that this is based on true events; I don't want to dig deeper but the bleak ending does indeed have a most realistic appeal.

christopher-underwood Quite a surprise, this one, not at all your usual, sex and violence, nunsploitation but a much more measured and ravishingly beautiful film. Much effort has been made to give this a most believable slant and indeed claims to have been based on true accounts. It certainly has the feel of something much more than mere exploitation and it has to be said that whilst the usual ingredients make appearances they are more realistic than is usual and in some ways the more erotic for that. I see from my records that I did see this film years ago on video and was not very impressed, so whether I was disappointed, at the time, by the lack of usual goings on or unable to fully appreciate the movie without the crisp and colourful image now presented, I know not. In any event a most impressive outing.

MARIO GAUCI Possibly the best of the Italian "Nunsploitationers" – even if, apart from ample nudity (the violence here is quite mild), the film's character-driven nature is liable to disappoint hardened genre fans…not to mention a denouement which could be deemed anti-climactic! It was made by the same people behind THE NUN AND THE DEVIL (1973; see above) yet, being inspired by real events and therefore more 'serious' in tone than its predecessor, director Paolella was not afraid to attach his name to it. While the plot per se is rather thin and offers no real surprises (especially after having watched 9 of these in a brief span of time!), the end result is immeasurably elevated by spot-on central casting: Catherine Spaak (as a rebellious bisexual nun), Suzy Kendall (as the quietly perturbed Mother Superior) and Eleonora Giorgi (arguably the loveliest actress to feature in this type of film and whom the makers miss no opportunity to parade sans clothing); by the way, Martine Brochard from the previous film returns in the role of a crazy nun. The males figure less prominently this time around – even Umberto Orsini is no more than a narcissist relishing his prohibited liaison with a cloistered nun (Spaak). Following on from THE NUN AND THE DEVIL, Piero Piccioni contributes another lush yet moody score to complement the film's striking visuals (courtesy of cinematographer Armando Nannuzzi, a Pasolini regular, and the stark production design). Interestingly, the credits are accompanied by stills depicting vintage artwork but also scenes from the previous film itself!; a small gripe I have with this particular presentation of STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN is that the admittedly tiny English subtitles are non-removable (which, being fluent in Italian, I did not require).