The Convent (Manoel de Oliveira)

Rating: 2.5

I had hoped that this film wouldn't be released until sometime in 1996, 
so that I'd have more time to think of something pithy to write about 
it, but here it is, opening at a theater near me, and my mind's a blank.  
Plus column: beautiful, mind-altering locations; heightened use of music; 
a typically assured performance by Catherine Deneuve.  Minus column: 
relentless, pseudo-philosophical dialogue; heightened use of cliches; an 
atypically smug performance by John Malkovich.  Ridiculous, yet intriguing.