The Monk (1990)

Directed by

Francisco Lara Polop

Genre

drama film, horror film

Country

United Kingdom, Spain

Runtime

1h 46m

Rating

3.2 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An 18th century monk faces temptation and moral decline in a Spanish monastery. The story follows his internal struggle with desire and faith.

sombersensuousslow-pacedhistoricaleroticgothicbroodingmelancholic

What happens

The Monk (also known as The Final Temptation or The Seduction of a Priest) is a 1990 historical drama film directed by Francisco Lara Polop and starring Paul McGann and Sophie Ward. Based on the 1796 Gothic novel The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis, it was adapted for the screen by Polop, and employs the common depiction of the 18th century representing “the stately, the lavish, the sensuous, and even the lubricious.” In this way, The Monk can be seen as a heritage film, in which “the past is delivered as a museum of sounds and images, an iconographic display,” though these films are sometimes discredited as attempts to “transform the past into a series of commodities for the entertainment market.” The film was Lara Polop's last as a director, and continues the themes of eroticism and horror found throughout his works. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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• Dream (1990)
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