‘Benedetta’ Director Paul Verhoeven Blasts Critics of Film’s Racy Sex Scenes: ‘We Don’t Want to Look at the Reality of Life’

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent“Madeleine Collins,” the buzzy psychological drama directed by France’s Antoine Barraud (“Portrait of the Artist”) and toplined by popular Belgian actress Virginie Efira who plays the lesbian nun in Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” is among ten competition titles set to launch from the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section.The Venice section modeled around the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight is largely made up of international first

his latest film Benedetta.Speaking after critics questioned some of the scenes, including one where an effigy of the Virgin Mary is used as a sex toy, Verhoeven said (per Variety): “I don’t really understand how you can really blaspheme about something that happened, even in 1625.“You cannot change history, you cannot change things that happened, and I based it on the things that happened.

CANNES, France -- The veteran provocateur Paul Verhoeven premiered his lesbian nun drama “Benedetta” at the Cannes Film Festival with a solemn vow to resurrect sexuality in movies.“Benedetta” predictably stirred the French Riviera festival over the weekend. In it, the Belgian actor Virginie Efira stars as Benedetta Carlini, a 17th-century French nun who communicates directly with Jesus and who falls in love with a farm girl saved by the convent (Daphné Patakia).

At the Cannes Film Festival press conference for Paul Verhoeven’s competition title Benedetta this morning, director and cast fielded a series of questions about the film’s use of nudity and sex while Verhoeven bristled at the suggestion Benedetta is in any way blasphemous. “I do not understand really how you can be blasphemous about something that happened… You cannot basically change history after the fact.

For just a moment, as a particularly sepulchral stretch of Anne Dudley‘s liturgical score plays over a solemn black screen emblazoned with the words “inspired by real events,” you might think Paul Verhoeven‘s gone and gotten serious on us, and that “Benedetta,” his hotly lusted-after Cannes title is going to be, whisper it, tasteful.

Ramin Setoodeh Executive EditorRacy sex in a convent? Explicit dreams about Jesus Christ? A coming-of-age lesbian love story? Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta” featured all that and more, leaving its premiere audience at the Cannes Film Festival searching for words to describe the movie they’d just seen.But in the end, the French approved.

Sharon Stone recently shocked everyone with her comments related to the filming of one of Basic Instinct's explicit scenes. The actress in her recently released memoir opened up about the infamous interrogation scene and suggested that she was tricked into it.

Basic Instinct‘s famous leg-crossing scene.In her recent memoir The Beauty Of Living Twice, Stone stated Verhoeven tricked her into shooting the scene without underwear – among various other anecdotes about sexism and intimidation in the industry – by suggesting that Stone’s underwear was reflecting the light poorly, and asking her to remove them with the caveat that no frontal nudity would appear in the final film.“My memory is radically different from Sharon’s memory,” the director told

He shocked the Netherlands in the ’70s and ’80s and scandalized Hollywood in the ’90s. Now Paul Verhoeven is bringing his lesbian nun saga to Cannes. What could go wrong?

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaPaul Verhoeven has made a career out of pushing cinematic boundaries, particularly when it comes to depicting sex or violence on screen.In films like “Basic Instinct” and “Showgirls,” he battled the ratings boards, while blockbusters like “Total Recall” and “Robocop” popularized R-rated action.

Manori Ravindran International EditorIrish producer Paul Thompstone and Sorin Baluta have launched a new sales agency out of Ireland. The company, Studio Atlantic, launches in Cannes with a World War II feature set to shoot in Belgium this fall.Having specialized in production finance, Thompstone has a large network of funders, including private equity, for high-concept feature films and television.

Born to … ride! Bruce Springsteen’s daughter, Jessica Springsteen, was chosen to compete on the United States’ equestrian team for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.