Our Lady of the Turks 1968

In this stark, dreamlike drama, Carmelo Bene embodies a man who cannot bear the society around him and brands himself a “jerk,” crafting a personal philosophy aimed at dismantling the Catholic devotion that anchors his Apulian homeland. Yet he finds himself unable to destroy the pilgrims’ faith, because Saint Margareth — a mysterious woman — keeps pulling him back from what she views as a dangerous, impossible creed.

Across a string of surreal scenes, the two test one another in a contest of will and wit, their clashes drifting between skepticism and longing. After a blasphemous exchange among monks, the man encases his philosophy within a Moorish building, a symbolic move tied to the legend of the massacre of the 800 Martyrs of Otranto, a memory the skeptic interprets as Christianity’s absolute death. Dressed in the garb of a medieval knight, the man pursues fleeting pleasure with a The Maidservant, yet finds no satisfaction, hinting that a part of him remains bound to something sacred he cannot bear to relinquish.

The woman has proclaimed her wish to save him from his own creed, but the man has always resisted. Now that he resolves to overturn his philosophy, it may be too late. In the famous Moorish palace, Saint Margareth is no longer willing to forgive or convert him, and he dies struck down—unhappy, unable to seize the life he sought to destroy.

As the narrative unfolds through its sprawling, symbolic imagery, the film invites reflection on faith, rebellion, and the thin line separating devotion from destruction, all anchored by a stark, contemplative pace and a willingness to confront provocation with quiet, inward resolve.