The Convent

1995

1h 30m

Drama

List

38%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

35%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

In this modern-day retelling of Goethe's "Faust," American professor Michael Padovic (John Malkovich) and his wife, Hélène (Catherine Deneuve), travel to a Portuguese convent, where Michael plans to continue his research on William Shakespeare. But when the guardian of the house, Baltar (Luís Miguel Cintra), tries to tempt Michael into sinning by arranging for the monastery's beautiful new curator to assist him, Hélène becomes jealous and turns to Baltar for help in getting rid of her.

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Audience Member

Cerebral drab movie for Malkovich and Deneuve to collect a paycheck

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

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Audience Member

Creepy, but for some reason I get the feeling that the movie was made only to justify Catherine & John's Portugal island vacation. Luv CD always.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

While the summary sounds promising, the movie struck me as rather boring -- there is some interesting cinematography going on, the music is also interesting, and it does have some good actors, but it just did not come together for me.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Evocative to the point of ho-hum, and far too mysterious for its own good. The story is overripe with portentous shadows, silences (broken by those slams), and bitter or yearning glances.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A mysterious movie, its Gothic atmosphere imbued with a heavy assemblage of pulp-like fantasies, that is almost like a Lang film, camp and yet, dictated in a artistry of Oliveira that owes a lot to literature and plays. I absolutely adored the female characters in here and Deneuve does so well here, an actress who works in multiple types of films and one who is so endearing, a typical unhappy female who is displeased for the wrong reasons, as seen in 'A Christmas Tale' and in 'Belle du Jour', both at varying tail-ends of her career. Using her is the antithesis of using Swinton. Swinton carries a film on her shoulders but Deneuve, she reeks of charm and adds a delightful taste in what are already exceptional films.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Suoni, rumori, ombre proiettate, foreste intricate, spiragli di luce, citazioni letterarie, attrazione e repulsione...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Manoel de Oliveira

Director

Catherine Deneuve

Hélène

John Malkovich

Michael

Luís Miguel Cintra

Baltar

Leonor Silveira

Piedade

Duarte de Almeida

Baltazar

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 2.5/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Always literate, visually appealing, and soulful... .

Rated: B+

Jan 7, 2011

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 4, 2005

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Greg Muskewitz

eFilmCritic.com

Rated: 1/5

Jul 7, 2003

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Dragan Antulov

rec.arts.movies.reviews

Rated: 2/10

Jan 30, 2003

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Joshua Tyler

CinemaBlend

This film was created by complete monkeys.

Sep 3, 2002

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Synopsis

In this modern-day retelling of Goethe's "Faust," American professor Michael Padovic (John Malkovich) and his wife, Hélène (Catherine Deneuve), travel to a Portuguese convent, where Michael plans to continue his research on William Shakespeare. But when the guardian of the house, Baltar (Luís Miguel Cintra), tries to tempt Michael into sinning by arranging for the monastery's beautiful new curator to assist him, Hélène becomes jealous and turns to Baltar for help in getting rid of her.

Director: Manoel de Oliveira
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 7, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA): $6.5K
Runtime: 1h 30m