Cloistered Nun: Runa's Confession (1976)

Overrated and overhyped

Masterful Cinema

Don't listen to the negative reviews

best movie i've ever seen.

I've sometimes wondered why a country like Japan, in which maybe 1 percent of the population is Catholic, would have gotten involved in the notorious "nunsploitation" genre when many countries with much larger Catholic populations (like the US) have not. This movie does give you some insight on the appeal of "nunsploitation" for the Japanese. Only two scenes actually show life inside the convent--the opening scene where the heroine "Runa" is being sexually assaulted by the (non-Japanese) priest while she rings (and rings and rings. . .) the convent bell, and a flashback scene where as a novice she is assaulted for the first time by the same priest. Most of the movie, however, is about "Runa" returning to her hometown. She had apparently entered the convent after her slutty sister had stolen her boyfriend. She has apparently forgiven them though and has come to offer them a chance to buy and re-sell some convent land so they can afford to get married. Unbeknownst to her, they are no longer a couple (although the boyfriend does sexually assault the sister on a pool table for old times sake), but the greedy pair are willing to work together to get their hands on the valuable land.Your enjoyment of this movie will no doubt depend on how much you are able to get around the typically cavalier Japanese attitude towards rape. Japanese films treat rape in the titillating and rather non-serious manner that Hollywood films treat murder. The slutty sister, for instance, gets the money to buy the land by promising to marry a half a dozen rich guys (and giving each a print of an intimate part of her anatomy). When they find out about her deception, they lure her to a warehouse to take their revenge.But in this movie even gang rape seems to be only a minor inconvenience for the woman involved, and they actually seem to enjoy individual rape, especially if it involves a bi-sexual three-way and a shotgun. . .All in all, this a typical Japanese "pink" film. It's VERY politically incorrect, but much better made than any kind of American porn product. There's plenty of softcore sex scenes and the plot generally holds together pretty well. The acting is fairly competent, even if the characters are all completely ridiculous and the whole thing is virtually impossible to take seriously. This certainly isn't for everybody, but the people who would want to watch it know who they are.

Well directed and beautifully photographed, the slightly bumpy editing is the only fault I can find in this super little gem of a pink film. The credit sequence comprises still shots of the countryside including the nunnery and two consecutive shots are so similar that it gives the impression someone has bumped the camera, a most unfortunate edit and there are others but hey, there are more interesting things to describe. This is not my first Japanese nunsploitation and although this is probably my favourite, the nation certainly has a way with them. They certainly appreciate the potency of the religious paraphernalia, sex in front of an alter, crucifix bouncing on bared chest and such like but also seem to have no hang ups at all with regard to what is depicted. Obviously this is not a religion many in Japan feel too much about and there may be added potency here by laying waste to the 'foreigner's religion'. Certainly the rape of Runa in ripped habit by her American speaking rector seems to be highly symbolic. Only the first scenes are in the religious establishment but there are flashbacks to illustrate what Runa describes as finding God, and also the devil. I found this bright and bold sex and violence fun all the way through. I liked the story development and the humour. This has great style and panache and the ending had me grinning from ear to ear and barely able to resist pressing 'play' once more.

This is the only the second film I have seen by Masaru Konuma, so I have no idea of whether or not it is one of his best. It was certainly better than XX: Utsukushiki karyuudo (Beautiful Hunter).One goes into a nunsploitation film expecting a good bit of nun-sex, and there was some in the beginning, including a rape by the rector, and one nun on nun incident, but that wasn't what this movie was all about.It was a story of revenge, and double crossing - maybe even triple-crossing. Runa was out to get back at her fiancé and sister for an act of betrayal. She managed an elaborate con to do it. In the middle, sis is doing a bit of conning of her own that results in a huge payback by the men she duped. Those doing the conning with Runa get conned in the end in a delicious twist that has you rooting.As to the sex, I can imagine there is another film out there called "Cloistered Nun: Runa's Obsession," as the sex was just short of XXX. It just seems that judicious editing was made to a porn film.Nun-sex, lesbian sex, rape, and gang bangs, and an unusual form of Japanese calligraphy: this film has it all, but it had a great story, too.

Another Nikkatsu pink film from Masaru Konuma, the director of "Wife To Be Sacrificed". Technically an addition to the Nunsploitation genre, it is a strange bird that doesn't quite fly. The opening ten minutes really raise expectations. After a nun climbs to the top of a tower to ring a church bell, a lecherous priest attacks her from behind and penetrates her brutally while the bell continues to ring. A minute later, another nun is chased across farmland and raped in mud and manure beside a cattle shed. These erotic, potent sequences establish a tone that the film, unfortunately, never returns to. The central story involves Runa (Luna Takamura), a nun who travels to the big city to offer her half sister a generous deal for some farmland owned by the church. The sister, a conniving slut, is juggling a half dozen fiancés while plotting to steal the farmland from Runa and retire with her sleazy boyfriend. When her ruse is discovered, she is gangbanged by her betrayed fiancés and left penniless. Runa's fate is less predictable, and makes for a novel, hot conclusion. Although the erotic episodes are effective, the film gets bogged down by unnecessary detail and needless plot complications that reduce its primary appeal. Luna Takamura, who plays Runa, is a problem, too, because she's not an overly sensual lady (a little masculine, in my opinion). Definitely worth catching, but not one of Konuma's best.