Our Lady of the Turks

“Being a saint means losing control”

The Protagonist (Carmelo Bene), an intellectual so feverish he seems past saving, wants to get inside a massacre he half remembers, the killing of Otranto's people by the Turks. As he lets himself become one of the victims, Margherita (Lydia Mancinelli) appears to him as Santa Maria d'Otranto and treats him with a compassionate love. Bene, in his feature debut, braids the memories with history, and the protagonist's hold on his land is the thing at stake.