Devils of Monza
Directed byLuciano Odorisio
Written byGino Capone
Carlo Lizzani
Luciano Odorisio
Piero Chiara
Produced byGiovanni Di Clemente
Starring
CinematographyRomano Albani
Music byPino Donaggio
Release date
  • 1987 (1987)
LanguageItalian

Devils of Monza (Italian: La monaca di Monza, also known as Sacrilege) is a 1987 Italian historical erotic-drama film directed by Luciano Odorisio. It is loosely based on real life events of Marianna de Leyva, better known as "The Nun of Monza", whose story was made famous by Alessandro Manzoni's novel The Betrothed.[1][2]

Like Hail Mary (1986), Devils of Monza features Myriem Roussel in scenes of full frontal nudity. The film is considered part of the Nunsploitation subgenre.

The story of the Nun of Monza has inspired other films, including La monaca di Monza (1962), Il monaco di Monza (a.k.a. The Monk of Monza, 1962), The Lady of Monza (a.k.a.The Awful Story of the Nun of Monza, 1969), The True Story of the Nun of Monza (a.k.a. La vera storia della monaca di Monza, 1980), Virginia, la monaca di Monza (2004), and Sometimes the Good Kill (2017).

Plot

Set in a nunnery in early-17th century Monza, Northern Italy, the film depicts the clandestine sexual relationship between a nun of noble birth, Sister Virginia Maria de Leyva, and a local rakish aristocrat, Giampaolo Osio; the complicity of a corrupt priest, Father Paolo; the involvement of two of other nuns, Sisters Benedetta and Ottavia (whom Osio also seduces); and the murder of another nun, Sister Candida, to cover up the affair.

Cast

Release

Devils of Monza was released theatrically in Italy in December 1987 and went straight to video in some European territories. It was released on home video in the United Kingdom in December 1987.[3]

A region-free NTSC DVD of Devils of Monza, under the film's North American title Sacrilege, was released by Jef Films in 2008; the film's transfer appears to have been taken from a VHS copy.

The film has been released on Region 2 DVD in several editions in European territories, including a limited edition release in 2014 by the German distributor '84 Entertainment, which features German and Italian language versions of the film and contains extra features (including the complete music score as isolated tracks, and the film's German theatrical trailer). Although the film is complete, the audio and visual quality of the '84 Entertainment Devils of Monza is inconsistent; the distributor appeared to use a censored version of the film for the majority of the presentation, with several sex scenes inserted from lower-quality sources.

Pino Donaggio's Devils of Monza score, under the title La Monaca Di Monza, was released as a soundtrack album by Mercury Records in 1987 (vinyl) and by Emergency Music in 2005 (compact disc). The soundtrack's twenty musical cues are included in the aforementioned '84 Entertainment DVD release of the film.

Reception

Tim Lucas of Video Watchdog described Devils of Monza as "an elegantly crafted little gem...exquisitely photographed by Romano Albani [with] one of Pino Donaggio's most beautiful scores," and singled out Myriem Roussel's performance for praise:

...what is most lingering about the picture is what lingers about the films Roussel made with Godard: the devotion it pays to her Renaissant loveliness, which somehow looks as much at home in a nun's habit as in the basketball uniform she sports in Hail Mary. There's a scene in Sacrilege where Sister Virginia, awakening to her sexuality under the smouldering, corruptive gaze of neighboring nobleman Giampaolo Osio (Alessandro Gassman), looks into a mirror and pulls her habit away from a cascade of long auburn hair. The effect is nearly breathtaking... What makes this moment so powerful is how, in the space of these few frames, Roussel's expression subtly morphs from timid curiosity to combined arousal and sorrow -- she tears her habit like a hymen -- and then from awe at her mirror's disclosure of her sensuality to a final expression that shows contempt for her vanity as she feels herself empowered by it. It is the moment of Sister Virginia's emergence as a complete, sexual being, body and soul, and by this point in the movie, we feel our heart breaking for her as it also pounds for her.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Paolo Mereghetti. Il Mereghetti. B.C. Dalai Editore, 2010. ISBN 8860736269.
  2. ↑ Roberto Poppi. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 2000. ISBN 887742429X.
  3. ↑ Hayward, Anthony (1988). "Video Releases". Film Review 1988-9. Columbus Books. p. 155. ISBN 0-86287-939-6.
  4. ↑ ""In Genuflection to Myriem Roussel"". Video WatchBlog. January 1, 2009.
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