Well Deserved Praise

one of my absolute favorites!

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Well, first of all I've enjoyed this film immensely. I think it had all the right tone, the right actors, and the way the story is developed is done with great know-how. It's not boring in any way, but spectators need to be aware of the kind of movie they're going to watch.Deneuve, Malkovich, and the Portuguese actor Silveira and Cintra are all able to create an atmosphere of metaphysical mystery, in dealing to all the questions about all books, convents or even the devil.Thank god there are still movies that make you think and don«t give you all the answers so that you forget just after leaving the theater.Great scene the one where the "devil" runs through the forest... don't miss it!!!

This film is absolutely beautiful -- a picture of cinematic craft, and has a complexity that is rarely found in American films. Contrary to what others have said, this film has a fantastically developed plot. It is sad that the others who have reviewed this movie found it to be lacking.If you don't know Goethe's Faust, don't bother watching it. If you are so numbed by Hollywood that you can't stand to watch a movie without nudity, gore, blood, explosions, or sex, don't rent this movie. If you don't like to discuss nuance in films after watching them, don't watch this movie. If you hate French people, don't watch this movie. Rent something with The Rock in it instead.To the others who reviewed The Convent, I would say bad films do not win prizes at Cannes. This movie is brilliant, and is the epitome of what art film should be.

Great premise: American academic (John Malkovich) and lovely French wife (Catherine Deneuve) travel to Portugal so he can research his theory that Shakespeare was really a Spanish Jew cast out in 1492 or on the run from the Inquisition. He winds up at a disused monastery (not a convent; there is no convent in the movie, despite the title) cared for by Satan worshipers, the viewer subtly becoming aware of this due to a big inverted pentagram hanging in the office of the "guardian" of the monastery, Baltar. Whether Malkovich and Deneuve are aware of this, or care, is unclear. Baltar gets the hots for Deneuve, while Malkovich is thrown together with the lovely young archivist (who seems to be a token non-Satan worshiper), but nothing comes of either pairing. Characters yak at each other, this tedium being broken by the greater tedium of extended silences, and then the yet greater tedium of extended silences with the screen virtually still. Despite the great setup, no gore, no nudity, all very tasteful eurotedium. Inconclusive conclusion. Ninety minutes wasted.

A sparse movie, but under-appreciated. John Malkovich's intellectual curiosity threaten both his marriage and his soul. The conclusion flows, but is not obvious when it happens. I suggest watching this twice in succession (it isn't very long) in order to pick up nuances in the dialogue that you might have missed during the first pass.