Having emerged from his wilderness years period in triumphant and typically provocative fashion with the 2016 rape-revenge comedy Elle, Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven is already lining up his next feature – and it sounds absolutely amazing.
According to Variety, Blessed Virgin will tell the French-language story of a lesbian nun, as played by Elle actress Virginie Efira. Set in the 17th century, the film is said to be based on Judith C Brown’s 1986 non-fiction work ‘Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy’, which chronicles the life and erotic times of Sister Benedetta Carlini.
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Charting her rise and fall from abbess of the Convent of the Mother of God in the early 1600s to religious outcast following revelations concerning her lesbianism, this somewhat controversial book feels like a perfect fit for the veteran director, who has always been attracted to tales of a salacious nature.
Excitingly, the project will also see Verhoeven reunite with his favoured screenwriter, Gerard Soeteman. The pair collaborated frequently before Verhoeven’s move to Hollywood in the late ’80s, and most recently worked together on 2006’s Black Book.
