Basic Instinct Director Paul Verhoeven Criticizes Critics Who Call His New Film Lesbian Nun “Blasphemy”

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Paul Verhoeven

VALERY HACHE / AFP via Getty

Nun-ya business.

Director Paul Verhoeven, whose new film Benedetta details the torrid relationship of two nuns in the 17th century, has responded to critics who have called his religious film “blasphemous.”

“I don’t really understand how you can really [be] blasphemous about something that happened even though it was in 1625, “Verhoeven, 82, said at a press conference at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, where Benedetta premiered on Friday.

“It’s true, most of the time. I mean, sure, we’ve changed a bit. But that’s not why [you] talk about blasphemy about something that happened 4,500 years ago? I think it is wrong, “he added.

Verhoeven based Benedetta on Judith C. Brown’s non-fiction book, Immodest Acts The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy.

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A scene from the period drama shows a statue of the Virgin Mary being used as a sex toy, which, according to Comingsoon.net, “only results in gratuitous blasphemy.” Indiewire said Verhoeven exhibits “a generally blasphemous or perhaps just humanistic attitude?” towards the dogmas of the Catholic Church ”. And Variety suggested that Verhoeven probably chose to tell the story of Benedetta and her lover Bartolomea for his “heart” and that he “would have a great deal of interest in the Benedetta Carlini story if her exploits in the bedroom didn’t ‘weren’t that controversial.

Some appreciated the alleged irreverence. The Observer called Benedetta “clever junk” and Twitter user @ stayawayfr0mher wrote: “The best thing about Benedetta besides lesbians is profanity.

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“You can’t fundamentally change the story. It’s done. People have done it,” continued the Dutch director, who recently denied instigating Sharon Stone to do nude scenes in Basic Instinct. “You can say it was wrong or not, but you can’t change the story. You can’t change the things that happened and I based it on the things that happened. that the word blasphemy, to me, in this case, is stupid. “

The story continues

When a French journalist asked what he believed to be the gratuitous nudity featured in the film, Verhoeven also stood up for him.

“Remember, in general people, when they have sex, they take their clothes off,” he said. “So I’m basically stunned that we don’t want to look at the reality of life. Why this Puritanism was introduced is, in my opinion, wrong. “

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Verhoeven told Variety earlier this month that he wanted to do Benedetta because “it was a story that had to be told.”

“Homosexuality is part of life, so it should be part of our dramas,” he said. “Why should I ignore it? It is there. Some part of the population is bisexual or gay or transgender, that’s the reality.”

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