Kidskycom
It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.
Calum Hutton
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
sfdphd
This film sounded interesting but turned out to be a pretentious flop. The only good thing about it was the Portuguese scenery. It inspired a desire to visit that country. But the film itself was terrible. I usually like philosophical foreign films, but this one just seemed to be all style and no substance. Catherine Deneuve portrays her usual self: the intriguing ethereal beauty and Malkovich portrayed a low-key form of his usual self: quirky intellectual. But the plot just seemed pointless. The Professor did not seem to show any real interest in his alleged research. It did not seem clear why he came to this particular place to do the research. His wife did not seem interested in their relationship until she felt jealous. The mystery of the people living at the monastery was never explained. The music was disturbingly intrusive. The Faust story did not seem particularly relevant... I could go on and on about all the dissatisfying elements of this film. It was like a bad David Lynch movie...
zjango
This film was just too mysterious at times and, even though I found it super provocative and ultimately, worthwhile: the end had me laughing out loud -- and I'm sure that wasn't the intended effect. I'm curious to know what others think:Does the professor actually make a visit to Piedad's room? Or is it a dream, as she describes? How do you read the professor's reaction when she describes her vision? "I should stay far away from this lunatic." or "She and her delusions are sooo hot." -- are a couple of options.How to interpret Piedad's flight into the forest -- is she doomed to fall prey to desire, does this demonstrate the flaw in "goodness"?What other movies by this director would you recommend? Are there similarities among them?
karlpov
Great premise: American academic (John Malkovich) and lovely French wife (Catherine Deneuve) travel to Portugal so he can research his theory that Shakespeare was really a Spanish Jew cast out in 1492 or on the run from the Inquisition. He winds up at a disused monastery (not a convent; there is no convent in the movie, despite the title) cared for by Satan worshipers, the viewer subtly becoming aware of this due to a big inverted pentagram hanging in the office of the "guardian" of the monastery, Baltar. Whether Malkovich and Deneuve are aware of this, or care, is unclear. Baltar gets the hots for Deneuve, while Malkovich is thrown together with the lovely young archivist (who seems to be a token non-Satan worshiper), but nothing comes of either pairing. Characters yak at each other, this tedium being broken by the greater tedium of extended silences, and then the yet greater tedium of extended silences with the screen virtually still. Despite the great setup, no gore, no nudity, all very tasteful eurotedium. Inconclusive conclusion. Ninety minutes wasted.
Cesar-6
I wanted to like this film so much. It was directed and playedby many of my countrymen (Portuguese), but alas it is a turkey.I'm a big fan of Malkovich and Deneuve is ever so easy on theeyes, yet this movie is so poetic(?) that you don't really knowwhat is going on. And the ending? I must have fallen asleep inone too many film crit classes, just like I did during thisvideo.
