Virgin Territory (2007) : The Bizarre Medieval Raunchy Comedy
Set against the backdrop of the Black Death, a group of young nobles and servants flee the city for a villa in the countryside. There, they pass the time by spinning wild, increasingly risqué stories of romantic entanglements, mistaken identities, and amorous deceptions. The narrative weaves together multiple plots: a resourceful young woman (played by Mischa Barton) tries to outwit her lecherous guardian, a handsome but roguish suitor (Hayden Christensen) schemes to win her heart, and a cast of comic grotesques—including horny monks, jealous husbands, and bumbling suitors—stumble through one compromising situation after another.
Visually, the film is surprisingly competent. Shot in Italy and Romania, the locations are authentic and the costumes are appropriately lavish. There is a sun-drenched, dreamlike quality to the cinematography that occasionally reminds the viewer that this is, technically, an adaptation of great literature. The contrast between the beautiful cast and the filthy reality of medieval life is clearly intentional, but the execution feels more like a fashion photoshoot than a narrative film.
Virgin Territory (original Italian title: Decameron Pie ) is a bawdy, playful, and deliberately anachronistic comedy-drama inspired by Giovanni Boccaccio’s 14th-century classic The Decameron . Directed by David Leland, the film transplants the original’s earthy tales of love, lust, and trickery into a lush but irreverent vision of plague-ridden Florence.
Instead of merely telling tales to pass the time, the characters in Virgin Territory actively live out the bawdy, lustful escapades. The adaptation discards the classical framing device entirely. It transforms the narrative into a singular, interconnected web of romantic triangles, sword fights, randy convents, and slapstick misadventures. 🎭 The Ensemble Cast
