Watch Dark Habits For Free

Don't Believe the Hype

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

"Dark Habits" from 1983 was Pedro Almodovar's first film made with a decent producer, film company, and budget. There are signs of his later brilliance in films like "Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" and "All About My Mother," but even for the quirky Almodovar, this is one strange film."Sister Act" is vaguely reminiscent of this movie, only in the fact that "Dark Habits" concerns Yolanda, a nightclub performer (Cristina Sánchez Pascual) whose boyfriend (Will More) overdoses while she's in his apartment. Yolanda panics, afraid she will be accused of killing him by the police, so, wearing her red sequined gown, she hides out in a Madrid convent.This is unlike any convent depicted before or since. Some of the nuns, like Yolanda herself, are drug addicts, doing heroin and coke. One nun has a pet tiger. Another writes sexy novels under a pseudonym. Another nun designs fashions and is in love with the local priest. The Mother Superior is a lesbian and falls in love with Yolanda. The nuns all have strange names, depicting that man is the lowest form of animal: Sister Snake, Sister Rat, etc.The big problem at the convent at the moment is that the Marquesa (Mary Carillo), now that her generous husband is dead, has decided to withdraw patronage from the convent. One of the nuns gets information about the Marquesa's daughter and decides to blackmail her with it."Dark Habits," I believe, suggests the Movida Madrilenia, a hedonistic countercultural movement that took place in Madrid after the death of Franco. It was meant to represent a new Spanish identity, an identity characterized by freedom of expression, use of recreational drugs, and even a new dialect. It was a hedonistic culture that more or less destroyed itself by the overuse of heroin. At the end of the era, Madrid was left with drug addicts, dead junkies, people leaving Madrid for their original hometowns, and for others, rehabilitation and a useful life.The convent serves as a microcosm of this movement. Here one sees art, drugs, music, and homosexuality.A fascinating if sometimes uncomfortable film, and certainly not representative of the later Almodovar, who himself has distanced himself from this offbeat, dark film.

I experienced a lot of different emotions when I viewed this film. I am aware that Almodovar's films bring a very unique insight to entertainment but this film was a very complex set of personal indifference. From one perspective the ideality of shedding the light on possible strains on the individual lives of Nuns when they are exposed to elements such as prostitutes, drugs and passion that lead them astray from their path is interesting. Yet still the idea of Nuns living secret drug addicted lives from each other and confiding in prostitutes for guidance is a bit extreme and can be very offensive to those belonging to the Catholic faith. The binding story line of the General Mother's struggle between her sexuality, religion, friendship, heroine, and economic deprivation is approached in a well stream lined format. Almodovar links the various indiscretions of the outside world to a down to Earth understanding of the psychological affects of those exposed to them. Then contrasts his ideas with the undertone of the forbidden love and lost of the General Mother. This allows the audience the experience of the social impact on religion while enhancing awareness of sacrifice and struggle representatives of the Catholic faith may face. I would recommend watching this movie with a degree of discretion in regards to balance of art and the reflection of idealism.

The very fact that you are going to watch nuns snorting cocaine, and even craving for it, should give you an idea of how far Almodovar went to give an alternative view of what a "convent" is in this movie. I watched it in the original language (Spanish)and found it brilliant and extremely entertaining, a very good concentrate of the "early" Almodovar, with His portrayal of a depraved 80's era in Madrid, and His usual intermingling of stories... Also, the viewer is seldom allowed to know what to expect next, and the whole atmosphere in the movie is just so unconventional... Definitely worth watching, hopefully it doesn't lose too much in English..

On the DVD box it says the film is very funny. However, I didn't find the film funny at all. It is not because of the language barrier. There is nothing I find funny. The nuns may be atypical, but they are not funny. The film is more of a thought provoking film that explores social and religious issues. Labelling it funny doesn't do it justice.