Cloistered Nun: Runa's Confession (1976)

That was an excellent one.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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.

Blasphemous, raunchy smut from director Masaru Konuma features some truly insane rape sequences. Still it's an obvious revenge film allowing an emotionally damaged young woman to get back at those who have wronged her. A nun(Luna Takamura)returns to see her sister and former lover. Runa, the nun, offers them a chance to buy some prime real estate from her rector. But, this seemingly prosperous opportunity, proposed by Runa as an act of kindness to her sis and ex-boyfriend may not appear to be what it seems.A perverse Anti-Catholic nunsploitation pink film that displays the joy of sex in various ways. Runa is molested twice by her Priest! Once, while ringing the church's bell, her priest anally molesting her from behind and then a more unpleasant forced rape in the mud of a farm. Soon Runa's having lesbian sex with her fellow sister nun! These incidents are memories Runa relives while visiting her sister in Tokyo. In order for the plan to go successfully, Runa's sister and ex-boyfriend have to raise capital before the rector enters Tokyo. Meanwhile, Runa enjoys her small time in Tokyo, telling her sister that her mission plans to spread the word in Africa.Masaru Konuma has to adopt creative methods in shooting soft-core sex sequences, using particular objects and various camera techniques to avoid explicit content shown on screen. The emphasis is on the passionate expressions on the faces of those engaged in their sordid activities. There's a lengthly sex sequence between Runa's sister and ex-boyfriend on top of a pool table. Runa's sister swindles several suitors using her feminine wiles and "vagina calligraphy", properly skilled in the art of manipulation. But, she's soon discovered and becomes a victim of a gang rape. Perhaps the most notorious scene has Runa stripping her nun uniform for her ex-boyfriend offering her body to him wearing nothing but her head dress! Certain to offend those of the faith, this is a film geared towards those who have had fantasies of ravaging lovely young women in nun regalia. What the rector says to Runa as he savagely rapes her near barn animals is quite shocking(..as her sister nun looks on with a look of pleasure!). As you have read, this is not for the easily offended or deeply religious Catholics/Christians. Director Masaru Konuma makes sure to include Christian iconography during various moments throughout, mainly during the more depraved behavioral acts.

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.