There are plenty of film genres and subgenres that narrow down the audience to a bare minimum. Exploitation (itself considered a subgenre of horror by some - I disagree), appeals to a unique group of moviegoers and includes several subgenres that capitalize on a wide range of fetishes. Perhaps the most overtly exploitative of these is "nunsploitation", which in turn owes much of its inspiration to the women-in-prison genre. If you want to see some nuns get down to business, you'd be amazed at the plethora of options available. Story Of A Cloistered Nun is very much a nunsploitation film, but just how exploitative is it?

Those familiar with the more sinful and generally under-plotted aspects of the genre may be surprised that, as the film’s title advertises, Story Of A Cloistered Nun does indeed have a story to tell. Carmela (Eleonora Giorgi, in a breakthrough performance) is betrothed at birth to another newborn as part of a business arrangement by their parents. As Carmela gets older, she falls in love not with her pre-arranged parther but with a young man named Julian and refuses to carry out her parent's wishes. In order to avoid the scandal of a broken arranged marriage and to keep her away from the man she actually loves, Carmela’s parents insist that she become a nun and live out her days in a convent. After being stripped of her worldly possessions and forced into seclusion, Carmela befriends Sister Elisabetta (Catherine Spaak) who helps her avoid the wrath of their tyrannical Mother Superior (Suzy Kendall). Sister Elisabetta, who isn’t quite as celibate as she lets on, is able to arrange a clandestine meeting between Carmela and Julian. But Sister Elisabetta's arrangement comes with a price – and a hefty one at that.

The first thing fans of the genre will notice when watching Story Of A Cloistered Nun is that lesbian antics are not the central focus. Films in this genre often erupt into lusty lesbian orgies, but not here. Most of the women actually are in the convent to be nuns, not because they yearn for the touch of other women. In fact, in a violation of genre expectations, Carmela adamantly refuses lesbian liaisons in a couple of the sequences. This makes for a sense of realism which, quite frankly, I’ve never experienced in this genre. Even more surprising is a plot and performances that are actually reasonably moving. The female leads (all of whom would later appear in films by Dario Argento, oddly enough) do a really fine job. Spaak is particularly convincing as the two-faced "friend" and proves how easily beauty can hide ulterior motives. Kendall's evil Mother Superior is magnificent, revealing how her position of power actually leads to even more loneliness than the other sisters endure. All of these elements make Story Of A Cloistered Nun work more as a period piece than an exploitation film and a surprisingly strong period piece at that.

The film's ability to transcend its genre could be due to the fact that it's an early example of nunsploitation. It was made well before defining films including Joe D’Amato’s Images In A Convent, Sergio Grieco's incredibly exploitative The Sinful Nuns Of St. Valentine and Jesus Franco’s all-too-repetitive yet undeniably erotic Letters From A Portuguese Nun. It should be obvious to viewers of those later films that they were inspired to some degree by Story Of A Cloistered Nun. Evidently, Story is actually a sequel to Paolella’s The Nuns Of St. Archangel, though you certainly won’t realize it watching the film. It’s self-contained and doesn’t seem to make any reference to the previous film.  I haven’t seen The Nuns Of St. Archangel, but on the strength of Story Of A Cloistered Nun, I certainly want to and hope that it gets released on DVD with the same care and attention as Story.


The DVD Presentation
This is another strong transfer from NoShame. Story Of A Cloistered Nun is presented in its OAR, anamorphically enhanced, and with very little compression or print flaws. It’s safe to assume that Story hasn’t ever looked better. The audio, while Mono, is extremely clear, with very crisp Italian dialogue (with English subtitles). You couldn’t ask for a better presentation.

And the Extras Are?
Sex Behind the Veil – (20:38)
As usual, NoShame put together a fantastic set of interviews. This edition features Eleonora Giorgi, the central star of the feature. Listening to her talk about her experiences in Italian cinema, notably her multiple run-ins with Fellini, is wonderful. She's quite talkative and goes into some detail about her feelings on nudity and how it was explored in the film. Less impressive but still worth watching, is an interview with Umberto Orsini. He hadn’t seen the film recently andreally doesn’t have much of interestto say; he just recalls a couple minor details about his fellow actors.

Original Italian Theatrical Trailer – (3:38)
Original English Theatrical Trailer – (3:37)
Aside from dubbing and the title card translations, nothing significant separates the two trailers. They both make the film seem more taboo than it really is, an effective if misleading marketing ploy. If I had seen this trailer theatrically, it would have convinced me to see the film.

Collectable Poster – Including Liner Notes  
A nice little illustrated poster titled “Tribute to Eleonora Giorgi in ‘Story of a Cloistered Nun’” by Cristina Fabris makes for one side of the fold-out insert. The other side has some liner notes about the film and the Nunsploitation genre written by Richard Harland Smith.

Note: the disc packaging states that a "Poster and Still Gallery" is included. This is usually a NoShame staple feature, but I could not find it on the DVD.

The Bottom Line
I really liked Story Of A Cloistered Nun, despite the fact that it was entirely different from what I expected. Unlike other films in the Nunsploitation genre, Story Of A Cloistered Nun's plot is surprisingly serious, and its characters are developed enough that you actually care about them. That shocked me, as I expected little more than the usual gratuitous nudity. I'd gladly recommend Story Of A Cloistered Nun to anyone who likes period dramas. It's a beautiful film, and not likely to offend any but the most conservative of viewers. If you're looking for something a little more rewarding than the typical numsploitation romp, give Story Of A Cloistered Nun film a go.