Review of Behind Convent Walls (1978) by Walter M — 12 Apr 2015

In "Behind Convent Walls," the Abbess(Gabriella Giacobbe) does her best at keeping order at a convent in 19th century Italy but can only do so much, like blindfolding Silva(Alessandro Partexano) when he comes in to make repairs and deliveries. In fact, she goes so far as to get rid of a violin belonging to one of the nuns, causing more than a good deal of resentment amongst her charges. At least, she does not have to worry about her niece Clara(Ligia Branice).

Even as it is kind of hard to differentiate between the characters at times and the plot such as it is pretty much imploding at the end, "Behind Convent Walls" is not bad for a prime example of nunsploitation(that's the term Film Comment digital editor Violet Lucca used in introducing the movie). The movie actually seeks to explore the retired practice of the daughters of nobility being sent to convents against their will. At the same time, the filmmakers literally bend themselves over backwards to get naked yoga into the story.