Benilde or the Virgin Mother

Review by Vittorio J. Carli

for Reel Movie Critic

****

"Benilde the Virgin Mother" was one of the most ambiguous, philosophically sophisticated, and challenging films that I've seen in a long time. It's about a young woman who claims that the Holy Spirit impregnated her. The premise of the plot is similar to the disastrous Hollywood Jane Fonda vehicle, "Agnes of God." but this film is much closer in tone to Carl Dreyer's masterful "The Passion of Joan of Arc." Both "Benilde" and "Joan" present suffering as being beautiful and potentially ennobling.

Benilde is cruelly interrogated by her family and her fiancée's relatives. The play that the film is based on was written during the Salazar regime, so the film can be seen as an indictment of totalitarianism or fascism in particular. It was made in 1974, and it was the fourth feature by the Portuguese film master, Manoel de Oliveira. Olivera is one of the few living directors who began his career in the silent era. Of his other major works, only "The Convent" and "Voyage to the Beginning of the World " have gotten widespread American distribution. The story of "Benilde the Virgin Mother" is spare and skeletal, and there is not much action. But Olivera, aided by exotic music, is able to create a trancelike state in the viewer, and as "Benilde" is interrogated the emotion builds, and the film comes to a stunning, unforgettable crescendo. After awhile, we don't even care whether Benilde is telling the truth.

"Benilde" was the only film I saw at the 39th Chicago International Film Festival that may qualify as a neglected masterpiece. The film was followed by an insightful commentary and question session by the "Chicago Reader" critic, Jonathan Rosenbaum.