The Plot:
The Mother Superior of the Order of the Sacred Heart is having a crisis of faith. While transcribing the carnal confessions of her incredibly frisky charges, Momma #1 starts to get a little blasphemous tingle all her own. This leads to several ethereal debates between herself, a drama queen dressed Mary Magdalene, and a skeleton faced nun representing the committed core of the church's beliefs. One of the convent elders calls in a local priest to investigate the case (Ma Sup has locked herself in her cell), and they spend inordinate amounts of time walking the grounds, arguing over intricacies in the foundation of faith. In the meantime, we get visualizations of the vices committed by the wayward nuns of the order, and what begins as an attempt to address the concept of chastity and sexuality in organized religion degenerates into an episode of Red Shoe Diaries with habits instead of hot stripper shoes.

The DVD:
It's hard to say what audience writer/director Wingrove intended this movie to be for. He takes his theology and his proselytizing very seriously, and Sacred Flesh is loaded with wall-to-wall dialogues, debates, monologues, soliloquies and conversations about incredibly intellectual and insular issues revolving around Christianity, the calling to be a Bride of Christ, and the unconscionable commitments required for both. If one was a serious student of religious rhetoric, or wanted to hear a particularly powerful dissertation on the faith-based fallacies within the church, this film would be a pretty good primer. But then Wingrove keeps wandering into nunsploitation territory, undercutting his well-meaning message with lots of shots of actresses getting familiar with each other's fetlocks. Those who love their lesbian scenes may actually find the action here hotter than the fires of Hades. But it must be hard to get your softcore porn on when death-faced clerics are constantly complaining about the nature of sin and the vacuousness of vice. Nothing undercuts glamour gal on gal gladhanding better than a prosaic pronouncement from Vatican II.

Maybe if Sacred Flesh weren't so deadly dull this madcap combination of skin and screed would be acceptable. There are elements of this film - like a wily stableboy and a bawdy kitchen wench - that have the potential to lighten this incredibly dour dramarama. But the truth is that Wingrove takes himself and his subject so sincerely that he can find nothing to do with the earthy, enamored couple but banish them from the narrative completely. In place of plot, the director delivers vixen-filled vignettes, sequences that seem to extend and exacerbate the movies' minor 72 minute running time. Like their hopeless hackneyed hardcore equivalent, the moment you've seen a single gay girl scene, you've seen them all - wimple or no wimple. Aside from the questionable concept of having 18th century nuns wearing Robert Palmer Addicted to Love style make-up (some even have painted toe nails - they must keep the polish near the portraits of former abbesses) and the frequent flashing of silicon enhanced chests, the idea that supermodel - strike that, upscale gentleman's club - level ladies would actually be part of such a stifling situation as a nunnery is a cinematic aspect that no amount of disbelief suspension can overcome (after all, you've seen real nuns...come on!).

There's no denying Wingrove's skill with the camera, though. His visuals pulsate with a kind of revered surrealism that really adds an unnerving atmosphere to the proceedings, and he definitely understands how to stage simulated sex. Focusing on the passion between the partners, not just the private parts, one comes away from Sacred Flesh feeling that, if the filmmaker had just jettisoned all the dogma dialogue and just let these sisters get down to the bawdy business, we'd have a much better film. Sure, it would be a dumbed down version of what Wingrove obviously had in mind, but within the context of the KIND of movie he is making, skin and sin really do go hand in...hand. As it stands, Sacred Flesh is too ham-fisted to get away with its heavy petting, and too Cinemax After Hours to be considered a serious exploration of the issues surrounding faith and the flesh. The acting is uniformly good (required to carry the vast majority of the film in her porcelain features, Mother Superior Sally Tremaine truly stands out) and the sets suggest the era more than actually mimicking the period. There will be those who feel this is a brave, brazen denunciation of a backward belief system. But it's really nothing more than an excuse for that most moldering of male fantasies.

The Video:
It should be said that Wingrove has made an impressive looking movie and, thankfully, Heretic Films preserves the vibrant visuals with a wonderful anamorphic widescreen image. The approximately 1.78:1 transfer is alive with detail, saturated colors and technical tweaking. This director was obviously not satisfied with delivering a standard looking digital picture. He pushes light levels, softens certain sequences, and bathes everything in the sexy shimmer of multiple candle lights. Fleshtones are also perfectly preserved. The result is a visually stimulating film - on more than one level for some.

The Audio:
While far from perfect, the Dolby Digital Stereo presentation of the muted, mannered audio mix for Sacred Flesh is professional and quite passable. There is some dialogue drop out, and the skull-headed nun has her voice processed to the point that many of her lines are indecipherable (note to Heretic - subtitles would have helped here...A LOT!). On the score front, there is a marvelously ambient musical backdrop that projects the proper mood for this exercise in ersatz erotica. Anyone looking to get lost in the movie's auditory elements may be disappointed, but many will enjoy this aural offering.

The Extras:
Everything on this DVD, except the audio commentary by director Wingrove, is gallery based. We get a chance to see the promotional and poster art for the film, the images created for the soundtrack CD, a collection of cast and crew photos, a look at some of the storyboards for the film and lots of behind the scenes onset stills. In fact, the lack of any other live element - interview, featurette, documentary - is really a shame. After all, the inventive nature of Wingrove's visual style would make for an interesting discussion, especially for other low budget filmmakers out there.

Sadly, his alternate narrative track (moderated by an unnamed associate) is even less enlightening. Picking up where his film left off, Wingrove is less concerned about the production details, and more interested in continuing his deconstruction of religion and the risqué. Wingrove is an intelligent, well-researched individual, and he does elucidate on the historical facts behind many of the film's more allegorical elements. It seems a strange "sickness" did plague convents and cloisters during the 18th and 19th centuries, and some of the stories from the era formed the basis for the script. Though entertaining and engaging, the commentary track grows tiresome after a while and never delivers the detail regarding low-budget moviemaking that one would hope for.

Final Thoughts:
While some will be seduced by this movie's mixture of rhetoric and the ribald, this is really a film for lesbian nun aficionados only. For lovers of those bawdy Brides of Christ, Sacred Flesh is a semi-success, a nice collection of attractive babes doffing their dresses and getting better acquainted, all in the name of the lewd...sorry, the Lord. For any serious theological scholar, or people with a particular axe to grind against religion, there will be too many tongue-kissed mammaries for true enjoyment of the critique. This is not Ken Russell's The Devils. It's more like Zalman King's remake of Black Narcissus. Still, since there are so many Sappho fans out there, Sacred Flesh earns a Rent It. If girl-on-girl does nothing for you, however, it would be best to shun this overly verbal void all together.

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