Product Description

The story centers on the unconventional American professor, Michael Padovic, and his stunningly beautiful wife, Helene, who journey to an eerie Portuguese convent to prove that Shakespeare was, in reality, a Jewish Spaniard. They journey to the spooky old convent of Arrabida where they are housed by the sophisticated, but rather creepy guardian of the monastery, Baltar, who immediately seems attracted to Helene. In order to spend more time with her, Baltar arranges for Michael to spend all his time in the convent's great library; he is assisted by a beautiful young librarian. It is the wicked Baltar who tries to tempt Michael (in the way that Mephistopheles tempted Faust) into becoming immortal through his research and writing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48998 in DVD
• Brand: LIONS GATE HOME ENT.
• Released on: 2007-04-03
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 952 minutes

Customer Reviews

Misunderstood gem from Manoel de Oliveira, almost like a J-horror film...
This is another gem from the great Manoel de Oliveira, the great Portuguese director. Many have misunderstood this film, calling it boring, unintentionally hilarious, and pretentious. O, what fools. I've seen it twice, and a 2nd viewing helps it immensely. It has a great story. Malkovich is a professor attempting to prove that Shakespeare was a Spanish Jew, not an Englishman. The film goes off in other directions after this, incorporating Faust among other things. It has great, moody photography. Quite often, scenes are in almost complete darkness, but you can still see what's important in the frame. Kudos to de Oliveira and his cinematographer on that. It gives the film a strange, surreal look. The dialogue is intelligent, intellectual, and very thought provoking. The performances are superlative, with the whole cast (who have worked with de Oliveira on many occasions) giving strange, other worldly performances. John Malkovich blends in quite well in de Oliveira's universe. He doesn't seem too out of place as many American actors in European art films do. The music score is very effective. The beginning of the film has some overacting (by Balthazaar, the assistant caretaker) and sledgehammer music cues, but after the first 10 minutes, the film really settles down and is quite good. The ending is wonderful vague as well. This film almost seems like a J-horror film, with its long takes, moody music and photography, ambiguity, and strangeness (there is no gore, though). That could be a bit of a stretch, but I think it's a valid point. I also like the fact that Manoel's films just end. They never really reach a true conclusion, and don't even build to an ambiguous one. They just stop, leaving you with a lot to think about.

Good and evil in ancient Portugal
A memorable film, very odd, and more than a little creepy. Interestingly set at an medieval monastery in Portugal, this little fable of good and evil has an opaque plot and relatively slow pace that some will find frustrating.

The monastery has descended into devil-worship, and its leader has strayed from proper reverence for Lucifer. (SPOILER ALERT: THE NEXT SENTENCE EXPLAINS THE UNDERLYING PLOT OF THE FILM.) Catherine Deneuve's character arrives on the scene, and takes care of the problem; she is Satan disciplining a follower. The interest in the film, other than the setting, very atmospheric music, and good acting, is the unexpected way the dark angel appears as an apparently unthreatening woman, and punishes her wayward disciple.

A strange little trip
First of all, I have no idea why this movie is called The Convent. It takes place in a monastery.

This is one of the most sincerely bizarre films I have ever seen. Moodily photographed at an (real) abandoned monastery on the Portuguese coast, this chamber drama of six characters (three couples) is a throwback to the Faust and Eden stories, both at once, and seems, despite the literary and Biblical antecedents, completely fresh and unexpected, peppered with offbeat humor and framed with a sometimes mournful, sometimes terrifying musical score by the Russian composer by Sofia Gubaidulina. (If you fall in love with the music, as I did, the pieces are called "Officitorum" and "The Seven Last Words of Christ" and both are available on CD in excellent recordings. "Officitorum is a LONG, wildly expressionist violin piece which ends in the more formal and haunting part showcased in the movie.) The international cast speaks English, French and Portuguese indifferently.

To people with a little patience, a sense of playfulness and an eye for the strange and beautiful, this film is a real Halloween treat. After having watched the movie, you don't remember it so much as a movie. You remember it more as a dream. Days later you'll ask yourself: Did I see what I thought I saw, or am I imagining it?

Frankly, I'm thrilled The Convent gotten this new inexpensive DVD release.