Encrucijada para una monja

This one I saw at my small town theatre as a kid, mid-week during the summer and with about five other people there. I've never met another human being who's ever seen it. It starts out, to the best of my memory, very excitingly, as a missionary convent in the Congo tries to hold its own as the terrifying rebellion starts closing in. As with all films dealing with this episode of history (SIMBA, SAFARI, SOMETHING OF VALUE) things get very bloody, with everyone except the pretty leading lady savagely massacred (very traumatizing stuff during that SOUND OF MUSIC-SINGING/FLYING NUN era, especially for a young non-Catholic who figured all nuns were cute saints.) The graphic spearing of the mother superior still shows up in my nightmares. The young novice is raped and left to die, but is eventually rescued and taken back to Rome. From there it's thoughtful soap opera, the young woman emotionally torn between giving up the impending child for adoption (her uppercrust family tells her they don't want "a little Mau-Mau hopping around") or leaving her life's calling and facing life as an unwed mother. At the time I was merely disappointed by the screeching halt of the action, but it's funny how this completely forgotten dubbed-for-the-drive-ins fare has stuck with me, complete with its moral issues that were very daring for their time. I wonder if it'll ever surface.

Mesmerizing film with magnificent screenplay , wonderful performances and intense drama . It takes place during an uprising in the Belgian Congo , there a nurse nun , Sister Maria (Rosanna Schiaffino) works at a European hospital under the eye of the Reverend Mother along with other nuns . Sister Maria gains the trust of the locals , not only providing medical care the African people and some peaceful countrymen , as she heals ills , helps injured villagers and usually prays . Meanwhile , bloody soldiers and other ruthless mercenaries subjugating people . But the convent of nuns are besieged by the cruel rebellions and the Superior Mother (Lili Murati) is killed and Sister Maria is attacked . After the upheavals Sister Maria goes back to Belgium, finding her beloved family and an old friend (John Richardson) . Then Sister Maria finds out to her horror that she is pregnant and her moralizing comes back to haunt her . Things go wrong when she is rejected by her family , parents (Andrés Mejuto, Margot Cottens) and her sister (Mara Cruz) . The picture follows a thorny decision with fateful consequences .

This agreeable flick packs an exciting screenplay , thought-provoking drama , fine interpretations and intelligent filmmaking . Enjoyable as well colorful picture about a dedicated religious nurse who attempts to forget a terrible happening in the Belgian Congo, and to make a hard decision . The melancholy tale dealing with a young missionary working as a nurse during the African rivolts when there occurs a violent group rape , as she has to make a difficult decision , she is told by the Vatican that she is supposed to either give the baby to the church and still be a nun or keep the baby and leave the order . Director Julio Buchs provides a correct balance of fine pace and sensitivity in this really sentimental tale of a young Belgian girl who becomes a religious missionary and is sent to the Belgian Congo to work at a hospital . Finely starred by a luminous Rosanna Schiaffino as a dedicated nun who subsequently comes to suffer a horrible event , as she is struggling to reconcile her free spirit and philanthropic wishes to continue her religious life ; Rosanna Schiaffino chalked up another hit in this long but always interesting flick from writers : José Frade, Federico De Urrutia and Manuel Sebares . Spectacular settings and well staged scenes from Alcalá de Henares, Valdetorres del Jarama , Madrid , Spain , Brujas, Belgium , Brussels-Capital, Belgium and Guinea Ecuatorial and convent rituals were literally choreographed for them . It pays tribute to Brujas by showing street scenes of Bruges , at over 1,500 years old , one of the oldest cities in Belgium, and at one time, the most important commercial city in the world . This Encrucijada para una monja or A Nun at the Crossroads (1967) bears certains rembrance to Fred Zinneman's The Nun's story (1959) in which a good-natured nun : Audrey Hepburn living in Brujas goes to Africa where she suffers hardships, misfortunes and other calamities , subsequently returning to Belgium similar to Rosanna Schiaffano . Main and support casting are frankly well . Good acting by Rosanna Schiaffino as a beautiful missionary nun ; this was one of Rosanna's favorite of her films and it was also one of her most financially successful . Nice John Richardson as a good doctor who soon starts to develop deep affections for her . Furthermore , a nice support cast formed by notorious Spanish secondaries , such as : Mara Cruz, Ángel Picazo , Paloma Valdés , Lili Muráti , Margot Cottens , Andrés Mejuto , Claudia Gravy, María Fernanda Ladrón de Guevara , Antonio Pica , Matilde Muñoz Sampedro , Guadalupe Muñoz Sampedro , María Isbert , Laly Soldevila, Luchy Soto , Francisco Sánchez , among others. It won some prizes and nominations , such as National Syndicate of Spectacle, Spain 1967 Winner Prize of the National Syndicate of Spectacle Best Film , Rank: 1st place Best Set Decorator Jaime Pérez Cubero.

The motion picture was competently directed by Julio Buchs ,1923-1973. Julio Buchs was son of a known director of silent films, in fact at 17 he began working with his father as an assistant . His debut films were 2 uneven comedies, ¨Piedra de toque¨ 1963 and ¨El pecador y la bruja¨ 1964. He made other genres as Paella Western : ¨Mestizo¨, ¨El hombre que mató a Billy el Niño¨, ¨Los desesperados¨. Thrillers and Giallos as ¨Alta Tension¨, ¨Las trompetas del Apocalipsis¨ and ¨Salario para el crimen¨ that won prize National Syndicate Spectacle to best fim. And more comedies as ¨Una señora llamada Andres¨, ¨El apartamento de la tentación¨ starred by Juan Luis Galiardo and Carmen Sevilla .His best fim was this melodrama about a nun in Belgian Congo starred by Rosanna Schiafino, until his early death at 47. Rating : 6.5/10. Notable. The flick will appeal to Spanish cinema buffs.

In this very unusual film, Rosanna Schiaffino is a young Belgian nun who undergoes a horrific trauma when the sisters of her order are savagely attacked and murdered by savages. She herself is raped and left for dead, the only survivor. When she is found to be pregnant, her family takes an unsympathetic, selfish and callous view of her plight. The church representatives advise her in a coldly remote, didactic and impersonal manner of her only two choices. A doctor who loves her wants to marry her, but she is uncomfortable with the idea of his self-sacrifice to help with what is her burden. After a long period of depression, listlessness, and prayer she comes to some deep realizations and makes her decision. Viewers will not be unmoved when this meek young woman heroically takes charge of her own life and future.