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Review: The Nun (La Religieuse, 2013) ★★★★

<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Guillaume Nicloux’s dramatic film&comma; <em>The Nun<&sol;em> &lpar;French Title&colon; <em>La Religieuse<&sol;em>&rpar;&comma; based on the 1796 novel by Denis Diderot&comma; is a story about the unimaginable pain and suffering inflicted on women&comma; and the power structures that allow those administering it to flourish&period; The tragic hero and titular nun is a figure who suffers due to factors beyond her control&comma; namely the circumstances of her birth&semi; like many other women throughout history&comma; she is kept in her perpetual state of misery by religious zealotry and the dominant ideology of patriarchy&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">In the film&comma; Suzanne &lpar;Pauline Étienne&rpar; is forced by her parents to become a nun as a result of her illegitimate birth&period; She is told that her mother’s sins must be paid for&comma; so she is given no choice but to accept her new life in the convent&period; The Abbess treats her well&comma; and the two form a bond that helps Suzanne adjust to the new environment&period; However&comma; when the kindly Abbess suddenly dies&comma; she is replaced with someone else&comma; and the pain of her absence causes Suzanne to question whether or not she can continue this life that has been forced upon her&period; She confesses that she would like to return to her former life&comma;<span class&equals;"Apple-converted-space">  <&sol;span>which causes the new Abbess&comma; as well as many of the other nuns to treat her horribly and deprive her of even basic human necessities&period; When the Abbess’s misdeeds are discovered&comma; Suzanne is transferred to a different convent&comma; only to become the sexual plaything of Abbess Saint Eutrope &lpar;Isabelle Huppert&rpar;&period; It is only when a friend of Suzanne’s visits the convent that she is given a glimmer of hope that one day she may be free from her hellish life as a nun&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">As is probably evident from the synopsis&comma; there are times when <em>The Nun<&sol;em> revels in its own excess&comma; allowing an absurd degree of punishment and injustice to be acted out on Suzanne’s mind and body&period; While the life of a nun is already pretty harsh and unforgiving&comma; her particular situation is taken to a new extreme&period; She finds few friends&comma; but is quick to make enemies&comma; despite being an innocent and unassuming young woman&period; Her body is abused and her spirit broken time and time again&comma; and even when it seems that there is hope for a brighter future&comma; it is often taken away from her by the heartless authority figures in her life&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1334" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1334" style&equals;"width&colon; 850px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-1334" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;philosophyinfilm&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2018&sol;02&sol;the-nun-pauline-etienne-isabelle-huppert&lowbar;600-300x169&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Isabelle Huppert assaults her underling" width&equals;"850" height&equals;"479" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1334" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The Nun &lpar;2013&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Some may find these extremes to be too much&comma; literally and figuratively&period; There are times when Suzanne’s suffering is palpable&comma; and even difficult to watch&comma; and yet&comma; for this same reason&comma; it can come across as unnecessary stylistic excess on the part of the filmmakers&period; <em>The Nun<&sol;em> is a film in which the tragic hero faces one barrier after another and&comma; rather than being able to overcome any of them&comma; is pushed down further&comma; so that the barriers may stack on top of one another to form an insurmountable obstacle&period; It is cruel to the point of being ludicrous&period; Of course&comma; I am of the opinion that the filmmakers manage to expertly straddle the line between plausible suffering and absurdity&comma; though it is worth noting that there were times throughout the film that I felt nagging doubts about its sincerity&period; <&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">However&comma; these issues can be largely dismissed if one steps back and examines <em>The Nun<&sol;em> as a whole&comma; and as an important reflection on the suffering inflicted on women&comma; particularly by institutions of faith&period; It is easy to condemn a film for being excessive&comma; even to the point of being sadomasochistic&comma; but this misses the point entirely&period; Sure&comma; there are some out there who could derive pleasure from seeing a woman suffer so much on screen&comma; but for the majority&comma; it is painful to watch&semi; thus&comma; the film works as a brutally honest portrayal of the female experience in a patriarchal world&period; Naturally&comma; this story portrays a rather unique &lpar;and fictional&rpar; situation&comma; insofar as the suffering is extreme&comma; but it is nonetheless a statement on the plight of women and their forced subordination throughout history&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">In edition to being effective in its message&comma; <em>The Nun<&sol;em> also excels as a technical achievement&period; It is a quiet&comma; contemplative film&comma; that is also filled with moments of visceral imagery&period; The convent is simultaneously beautiful and claustrophobic&comma; a reflection of its image from both inside and out&period; The European locales are equally gorgeous&comma; though we are only given brief glimpses of the landscape&semi; it is just as untouchable to us as it is to Suzanne&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">The actors are all well-suited for their roles&semi; Isabelle Huppert accomplishes the complex task of playing a lecherous Abbess&comma; who submits the nuns under her watch to sexual power games&comma; while somehow treating them with care in every other respect&period; It is a difficult role to portray realistically&comma; but Huppert is predictably outstanding at bringing the character to life&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Though <em>The Nun<&sol;em> can be a bit much to stomach at times&comma; not so much for graphic violence or gore&comma; but for the suffering it depicts&comma; it is still an incredible film with a powerful message&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"p1"><span class&equals;"s1">Rating&colon; <&sol;span><span class&equals;"s2">&starf;&starf;&starf;&starf;<&sol;span><span class&equals;"s1"> out of 5<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><span class&equals;"s1"><em>The Nun<&sol;em> is available to rent or purchase via Amazon <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;amazon&period;com&sol;gp&sol;product&sol;B00SNTP08M&sol;ref&equals;as&lowbar;li&lowbar;qf&lowbar;asin&lowbar;il&lowbar;tl&quest;ie&equals;UTF8&amp&semi;tag&equals;mjones34880c-20&amp&semi;creative&equals;9325&amp&semi;linkCode&equals;as2&amp&semi;creativeASIN&equals;B00SNTP08M&amp&semi;linkId&equals;18f828ed45b7a12edab180fe8305a762">here<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;span><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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