When you've never heard of a film starring John Malkovich and Catherine Deneuve, there must be a good reason, and it's usually the most obvious: the film blows pineapple chunks. In Manoel de Oliveira's The Convent, Malkovich plays an American professor who goes to a Portuguese monastery to research his wacky theory that Shakespeare was actually a Spanish Jew. Jangling discordant Psycho-like music regularly erupts during shots where the actors just stare off into space, the performances are more wooden than a grove of cedars, and the dialogue is exceptionally clunky and forced. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)
The Convent
(Fox Lorber, 90 min., in English, French & Portuguese w/English subtitles, not rated) Vol. 11, Issue 5
The Convent
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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