13 opiniones
Poor Jean Sorel. He heads down to an underground car park to innocently park his car and some mysterious guy shoots him. As he hits the ground, instead of his life flashing before his eyes, an entire giallo film does instead, and not just the flashbacks of stuff that actually happened – this flashback contains his fantasies too!
You see Jean is a young(ish) businessman working for his father in Morocco, although mooching off him while his brother (Giacomo Rossi- Stuart) does all the hard work might be a better description. When we first meet Jean he's frolicking around the beach with his new wife Lucia (including some underwater noodling – that's one detailed flashback!). Lucia seems to be interested in a local hippy type who's wandering around the beach, which Jean isn't too happy with. He also keeps hallucinating that he's with another lady, which confused the hell out of me at first.
This other lady is Lucia's mum, and although Jean gets jealous of Lucia talking to the hippy (Eddie, his name is), he doesn't mind trying it on with her mum or becoming completely obsessed by her, and it doesn't help that she's hooked up with Eddie. This leads to Jean fantasising about shooting Eddie in the face with a rifle, which is a strange thing to have a flashback about.
Things jump between Rome and Morocco while Jean flirts with Lucia's mum, argues with Lucia, discusses the 'hippy movement' on a yacht and such like. It's all kind of trippy and disjointed and although it's quite different from your usual giallo madness, there's not enough of the usual giallo madness here. Although the ending was pretty daft.
Jean Sorel seems to have moved away from the Giallo genre following this and Short Night of the Glass Dolls – he was quite good though.
You see Jean is a young(ish) businessman working for his father in Morocco, although mooching off him while his brother (Giacomo Rossi- Stuart) does all the hard work might be a better description. When we first meet Jean he's frolicking around the beach with his new wife Lucia (including some underwater noodling – that's one detailed flashback!). Lucia seems to be interested in a local hippy type who's wandering around the beach, which Jean isn't too happy with. He also keeps hallucinating that he's with another lady, which confused the hell out of me at first.
This other lady is Lucia's mum, and although Jean gets jealous of Lucia talking to the hippy (Eddie, his name is), he doesn't mind trying it on with her mum or becoming completely obsessed by her, and it doesn't help that she's hooked up with Eddie. This leads to Jean fantasising about shooting Eddie in the face with a rifle, which is a strange thing to have a flashback about.
Things jump between Rome and Morocco while Jean flirts with Lucia's mum, argues with Lucia, discusses the 'hippy movement' on a yacht and such like. It's all kind of trippy and disjointed and although it's quite different from your usual giallo madness, there's not enough of the usual giallo madness here. Although the ending was pretty daft.
Jean Sorel seems to have moved away from the Giallo genre following this and Short Night of the Glass Dolls – he was quite good though.
- Bezenby
- 4 oct 2017
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As a fan of gialli, I had high hopes for this one. It has a solid cast. Jean Sorel is in some of the better ones, including 'The Short Night of Glass Dolls' and 'Lizard in a Woman's Skin.' It's got an intriguing Hitchcock-esque title. Who is 'The Double'? Sadly, 'La Controfigura' just lacks the smart twists and turns of a great mystery thriller. It's not enough about who killed whom and is too much about who's doing whom.
The film starts strong, with a man being shot in a carpark. Why did it happen? Who shot him? Will he survive? Unfortunately, the next hour and a half won't shed much light on that subject. Instead, you'll spend a holiday in a really weird setting with our protagonist, who manages to make every situation weird and awkward. He's constantly jealous of his new wife while simultaneously trying to get it on with other women, and in the wrongest, most cringey ways possible.
So about three quarters of the way through the soap opera, you're probably wondering, 'what happened to our great mystery'? Well, eventually all is revealed, of course, but what did it have to do with anything else in the film? God knows. The story includes diplomats and physicists and bad guys asking, 'Where is it?', yet they're all tossed aside as useful plot points, not even used as red herrings.
'La Controfigura' is not a totally unwatchable film. The actors are decent and good looking, the locations are nice, there's some drama and intrigue. It's just that the soap opera is pretty disconnected from the actual mystery. The puzzle is missing some pieces that could have at least formed a picture.
The film starts strong, with a man being shot in a carpark. Why did it happen? Who shot him? Will he survive? Unfortunately, the next hour and a half won't shed much light on that subject. Instead, you'll spend a holiday in a really weird setting with our protagonist, who manages to make every situation weird and awkward. He's constantly jealous of his new wife while simultaneously trying to get it on with other women, and in the wrongest, most cringey ways possible.
So about three quarters of the way through the soap opera, you're probably wondering, 'what happened to our great mystery'? Well, eventually all is revealed, of course, but what did it have to do with anything else in the film? God knows. The story includes diplomats and physicists and bad guys asking, 'Where is it?', yet they're all tossed aside as useful plot points, not even used as red herrings.
'La Controfigura' is not a totally unwatchable film. The actors are decent and good looking, the locations are nice, there's some drama and intrigue. It's just that the soap opera is pretty disconnected from the actual mystery. The puzzle is missing some pieces that could have at least formed a picture.
- mikeburdick
- 2 ene 2025
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I saw this under the title Love Inferno about five months ago. It begins with a man, Giovanni, being shot in a parking garage. What did he do to deserve this fate? The film flashes back to show how things went wrong for this playboy. While on honeymoon in Africa, Giovanni meets the sexy mother of his (attractive) wife. Since the mother is played by Lucia Bose, I can understand the guy's predicament. The mother-in-law is, needless to say, appalled by the advances of her daughter's new husband and instead takes up with a young hippie type. Jealousy and frustration follow. I was certain where the film was going but turned out to be only partially right. Ewa Aulin, certainly no wallflower either, plays the wife. After only five months, I'm having a hard time remembering much about the film. It was okay but don't expect an erotic thriller - the film is lacking on both counts.
- jrd_73
- 11 mar 2011
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- BandSAboutMovies
- 15 ene 2021
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Like Luigi Cozzi's The Killer Must Kill Again, and Aldo Lado's Short Night of the Glass Dolls, Romolo Guerrieri's The Double has tried to do something a little different with the common Giallo formula, and like the latter film; this one isn't entirely successful, although it's certainly an intriguing take on Italy's finest style of film-making. The plot is narrated via a series of flashbacks, and while this gives the film a rather disjointed feel, the talented director ensures that every scene flows well and is relevant to the plot. The focus of this movie isn't on murder, despite someone being shot in the opening scene and it's always clear that the characters are the star of this show. The film revolves around Frank; the man shot at the beginning, as he lies in a pool of blood, he thinks back to how he got into that position - a story that centres on the mother of his nineteen year old girlfriend. Frank is an architect living off his father's allowance and he's also a jealous lover. He doesn't like his girlfriend seeing an American holidaymaker, also staying in Morocco - but he also can't resist the lure of his girlfriend's sexy mother...
The Moroccan locale that makes up the first part of the movie is beautifully shot, and director Guerrieri delights in overlapping his beautiful scenes with a catchy score from Armando Trovajoli. The film doesn't include a lot of tension or suspense, but The Double does manage to retain the viewer's interest by way of the characters' motivations. The film bathes in the glow of the people in the story, and this is one of the movie' strongest elements. The Double is brought to life by Jean Sorel, who takes the lead role. While his character is something of an interloper between the others in the plot, Sorel does well with what he has. Lucia Bosé and Ewa Aulin are both good as the female leads, and the director delights in capturing as much of their flesh as possible. The fact that the movie doesn't feature the stylish murders or exciting chase sequences that have made the sub-genre famous will leave some disappointed; and I've got to say that's true for me. Films such as The Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion have proved that sex and characters can carry a Giallo, but this one doesn't quite manage it. However; The Double is an interesting film and one that fans of Giallo will not want to miss.
The Moroccan locale that makes up the first part of the movie is beautifully shot, and director Guerrieri delights in overlapping his beautiful scenes with a catchy score from Armando Trovajoli. The film doesn't include a lot of tension or suspense, but The Double does manage to retain the viewer's interest by way of the characters' motivations. The film bathes in the glow of the people in the story, and this is one of the movie' strongest elements. The Double is brought to life by Jean Sorel, who takes the lead role. While his character is something of an interloper between the others in the plot, Sorel does well with what he has. Lucia Bosé and Ewa Aulin are both good as the female leads, and the director delights in capturing as much of their flesh as possible. The fact that the movie doesn't feature the stylish murders or exciting chase sequences that have made the sub-genre famous will leave some disappointed; and I've got to say that's true for me. Films such as The Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion have proved that sex and characters can carry a Giallo, but this one doesn't quite manage it. However; The Double is an interesting film and one that fans of Giallo will not want to miss.
- The_Void
- 13 may 2006
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I can only be honest and make it absolutely clear: I find Ewa Aulin completely cute and stunning to look at. Even the voice dubbed on top of hers doesn't compromise that. Jean Sorel as Giovanni, whose recollections make up the bulk of this film, is a classically good looking gentleman. As a couple, however, Giovanni and Lucia share a tempestuous, jealous relationship. And that is what takes up most of the plot.
Despite the appealing quality of these two performers, their various dalliances aren't quite as interesting to watch as the writers seem to think, although Romolo Guerrieri's direction lifts it into a somewhat dream-like state. But the various liaisons are virtually all that happens. The main thrust of interest involves how Giovanni ends up in the predicament he's enduring when we first encounter him at the beginning of the film.
Despite the wafer-thin plot, this is as breezy, if undemanding, entry into the giallo genre - mainly because of the appeal of the two main players. My score is 5 out of 10.
Despite the appealing quality of these two performers, their various dalliances aren't quite as interesting to watch as the writers seem to think, although Romolo Guerrieri's direction lifts it into a somewhat dream-like state. But the various liaisons are virtually all that happens. The main thrust of interest involves how Giovanni ends up in the predicament he's enduring when we first encounter him at the beginning of the film.
Despite the wafer-thin plot, this is as breezy, if undemanding, entry into the giallo genre - mainly because of the appeal of the two main players. My score is 5 out of 10.
- parry_na
- 12 nov 2019
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A great admirer of Jean Sorel I watched this unworthy rubbish, and although the mystery of the opening caught my attention the rest of the film did not. Lucia Bose, a long way away from Antonioni, I also admire, but definitely not here. Seeing Sorel I tried to focus on the great actor of ' Sandra ' directed by Visconti, and his role in Bunuel's ' Belle de Jour ' and Bolognini's ' From a Roman Balcony ' and wondered why he had accepted this mess of a scenario. This example of Italian cinema of the beginning of the 1970's showed to me how cinema was beginning to slide down into puerile eroticism (concentrating on the female body and considering the male body to be a substitute for the heterosexual males in the audience), and also into the domain of violence for its own sake with again the males in the audience having fantasies of violence of their own. But to return to the film in detail it has an appalling musical score, flashy and gimmicky camera work, and as I said I watched it for Sorel and yes, there were glimpses of the man who qualified for me as being the best actor of the previous decade. Saddening.
- jromanbaker
- 14 jul 2021
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Very slow giallo which spreads the states of mind of the idle architect Giovanni (Jean Sorel, Il dolce corpo di Deborah from the same director), who lives at the expense of his industrial brother (Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Sette scialli di seta gialla), and fails to gladden his young wife Lucia (Ewa Aulin, Col cuore in gola), whom he prefers deceiving with his glamour mother-in-law (Lucia Bosè, Le Testament d'Orphée). Pushed by his jealousy towards a charming and hippie American reader of Mao and Malcolm X (Sergio Doria, L'Iguana dalla lingua di fuoco), who happens to be gay, and furthermore stuck in a revolted mood which only turns into plain conformism, Giovanni commits himself in a spiral of self-destruction.
But let's begin by the end as does the movie: Giovanni is shot to death in an underground parking by a bearded killer (Antonio Pierfederici, La maschera del demonio), and in the very next scene he is naked and happy with is wife on a North African beach. For the whole film is made of flashback episodes revealing step by step the way which has lead to his murder. If the plot thus constantly looks backward to paint the events, so seems to do the film itself built as an old fashioned first timer psychological giallo, while the style has frankly already gone towards other directions. Whilst the whole cast seems to enjoy their quite everlasting holidays under the sun, the hero can conclude disenchanted: «In that case it was all done for nothing».
But let's begin by the end as does the movie: Giovanni is shot to death in an underground parking by a bearded killer (Antonio Pierfederici, La maschera del demonio), and in the very next scene he is naked and happy with is wife on a North African beach. For the whole film is made of flashback episodes revealing step by step the way which has lead to his murder. If the plot thus constantly looks backward to paint the events, so seems to do the film itself built as an old fashioned first timer psychological giallo, while the style has frankly already gone towards other directions. Whilst the whole cast seems to enjoy their quite everlasting holidays under the sun, the hero can conclude disenchanted: «In that case it was all done for nothing».
- Rose_Noire
- 4 may 2025
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A man called Giovanni is shot in an underground car park by an ominous old man. The rest of the story is told in disjointed flashbacks that piece together the scenario that resulted in this situation arising. It turns out that Giovanni is an idle playboy who has affair with his young wife's mother while holidaying in Morocco. The mother ends up taking up with an American drifter and Giovanni is consumed with jealousy; murder follows.
The Double is a pretty interesting thriller. Its structure is one of the primary reasons why. The way in which scenes are edited together in a non-chronological way gives it a mysterious and dreamlike feel. The soundtrack accentuates this tone, seeing as it's a score that can best be described as breezy. The film benefits from the presence of Jean Sorel as Giovanni. Sorel starred in several gialli from the time and always seems to put in a solid turn. Also of note is Ewa Aulin as Sorel's young wife. Aulin had earlier appeared in the ultra-weird Death Laid an Egg, here she is also good and cute as a button; she even has time for an extended naked underwater swim, which was nice.
This is a good film. It isn't a typical giallo; it's more of a psychological thriller. It's well acted and directed and it isn't particularly predictable. If you like Italian thrillers then you should like this too.
The Double is a pretty interesting thriller. Its structure is one of the primary reasons why. The way in which scenes are edited together in a non-chronological way gives it a mysterious and dreamlike feel. The soundtrack accentuates this tone, seeing as it's a score that can best be described as breezy. The film benefits from the presence of Jean Sorel as Giovanni. Sorel starred in several gialli from the time and always seems to put in a solid turn. Also of note is Ewa Aulin as Sorel's young wife. Aulin had earlier appeared in the ultra-weird Death Laid an Egg, here she is also good and cute as a button; she even has time for an extended naked underwater swim, which was nice.
This is a good film. It isn't a typical giallo; it's more of a psychological thriller. It's well acted and directed and it isn't particularly predictable. If you like Italian thrillers then you should like this too.
- Red-Barracuda
- 27 jul 2012
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- dopefishie
- 11 dic 2022
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In the spirit of supreme generosity I will assume that the source material, a novel by Libero Bigiaretti, is written well, and that the incoherence, incohesiveness, and sloppiness of the film is owed entirely to its writers and director Romolo Guerrieri. This would be laughable if it weren't so laborious to watch. The dialogue is terrible (the best lines in the film are nothing more than a quotation of Allen Ginsberg), characters are just poorly written all around with little if any rhyme or reason, and the scene writing is equal parts scattered, senselessly melodramatic, and sometimes simply pointless. Plot development comes off as meager and tiresomely haphazard; somehow one still manages to glean a vague, loose sense of story - though it's not convincing, and just altogether weak. It certainly doesn't help that the editing is so needlessly curt and choppy, with sequencing being particularly rotten. This is true not least as the picture semi-regularly bounces us back to the opening scene, a man dying in a garage, as he recalls the recent events we're otherwise watching; such back and forth is absolutely unnecessary, and serves only to draw one out of the viewing experience. Let's not beat around the bush: this is just rotten.
Carlo Carlini's cinematography is generally blandly suitable, though in some instances decidedly overzealous. Where Guerrieri's direction is concerned, meanwhile, the first words to come to mind are "dull" and "unpracticed." I suppose Armando Trovajoli's compositions for he score show some promise - or at least, they might if they weren't so glaringly repetitive. There aren't that many distinct themes on hand, and in fact it at least feels as though there are only two that get used over and over again, with a single unique theme to show up in the last ten to fifteen minutes. Every now and again it seems like the cast is performing well, appropriate to the needs of any given moment, yet mostly they don't. In fairness, considering how shoddy the writing and direction are, it might not be their fault. As if to emphasize the point, a little after the one-hour mark there's a scene where Lucia asks Giovanni if he's still mad at her. Thanks to the awful writing we have no idea what quarrel she might be referring to; thanks to the floundering acting, it doesn't seem like either person cares about the conversation at all.
Oh, and about that "vague, loose sense of story" one may possibly ascertain. Elsewhere on The Internet one can read a synopsis of the plot of 'The double' and gain definite understanding of the tale that Guerrieri is trying to impart with at best extremely mixed results. I wouldn't recommend it, however, for when all is said and done, the narrative at large is plainly insipid, all but amateurish. Any amorphous feelings of tension that might kind of sort of manifest in the last act are squashed, to the point that we are made to feel like fools, for how nonsensical (and, of course, poorly written and executed) the ultimate revelations are. I repeat my hope that this feature is not a true reflection of the novel it's based on, for if it is, that speaks very, very poorly to author Bigiaretti as much as all involved in this production. Well, maybe not all, as one might say the crew behind the scenes put in good work. "Might" is the furthest I can get with such evaluation, however, for at best this is such a chore that it's impossible to care about such contributions; at worst, one might just say that their work was just as putrid as everything else here.
I don't care who you are. I don't care what your interests are when it comes to cinema. There is no reason for you to watch this. It's among the clumsiest, most gawky, actively aggravating movies I've ever watched. I may, in fact, need to reassess my ranking of the worst movies I've ever seen, because 'The double' is indisputably below the bottom of the barrel, and countable among the lowest of all company. It makes 2019's 'A karate Christmas miracle' look passable by comparison, and The Beatles' woe-begotten TV movie 'Magical Mystery Tour' seem fun. I feel like less of a person just for the fact of having wasted my time on this. Please do not make the same mistake that I have. Avoid this, forever.
Carlo Carlini's cinematography is generally blandly suitable, though in some instances decidedly overzealous. Where Guerrieri's direction is concerned, meanwhile, the first words to come to mind are "dull" and "unpracticed." I suppose Armando Trovajoli's compositions for he score show some promise - or at least, they might if they weren't so glaringly repetitive. There aren't that many distinct themes on hand, and in fact it at least feels as though there are only two that get used over and over again, with a single unique theme to show up in the last ten to fifteen minutes. Every now and again it seems like the cast is performing well, appropriate to the needs of any given moment, yet mostly they don't. In fairness, considering how shoddy the writing and direction are, it might not be their fault. As if to emphasize the point, a little after the one-hour mark there's a scene where Lucia asks Giovanni if he's still mad at her. Thanks to the awful writing we have no idea what quarrel she might be referring to; thanks to the floundering acting, it doesn't seem like either person cares about the conversation at all.
Oh, and about that "vague, loose sense of story" one may possibly ascertain. Elsewhere on The Internet one can read a synopsis of the plot of 'The double' and gain definite understanding of the tale that Guerrieri is trying to impart with at best extremely mixed results. I wouldn't recommend it, however, for when all is said and done, the narrative at large is plainly insipid, all but amateurish. Any amorphous feelings of tension that might kind of sort of manifest in the last act are squashed, to the point that we are made to feel like fools, for how nonsensical (and, of course, poorly written and executed) the ultimate revelations are. I repeat my hope that this feature is not a true reflection of the novel it's based on, for if it is, that speaks very, very poorly to author Bigiaretti as much as all involved in this production. Well, maybe not all, as one might say the crew behind the scenes put in good work. "Might" is the furthest I can get with such evaluation, however, for at best this is such a chore that it's impossible to care about such contributions; at worst, one might just say that their work was just as putrid as everything else here.
I don't care who you are. I don't care what your interests are when it comes to cinema. There is no reason for you to watch this. It's among the clumsiest, most gawky, actively aggravating movies I've ever watched. I may, in fact, need to reassess my ranking of the worst movies I've ever seen, because 'The double' is indisputably below the bottom of the barrel, and countable among the lowest of all company. It makes 2019's 'A karate Christmas miracle' look passable by comparison, and The Beatles' woe-begotten TV movie 'Magical Mystery Tour' seem fun. I feel like less of a person just for the fact of having wasted my time on this. Please do not make the same mistake that I have. Avoid this, forever.
- I_Ailurophile
- 3 feb 2023
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First I must confess that I'm not a big fan of gialli. I've seen enough of them to know that they almost invariably play gleefully on the audience's prurient and senselessly violent impulses, and, to boot, a good percentage of them are inept in the filmmaking department. There usually isn't much of interest for someone looking for quality cinema. THE DOUBLE is one of the exceptions.
The film shares its flashback structure with Claude Sautet's poignant French drama LE CHOSES DE LA VIE. In addition, "The Double" would be a very fitting companion piece to Aldo Lado's MALASTRANA, a giallo which it closely resembles, and which also stars Jean Sorel.
Frank (Sorel) is an indolent playboy living off proceeds from his father's business. As the film begins, Frank drives his Citroen into a Rome parking garage and is shot by a mysterious bearded man. The remainder of the story is a series of flashbacks, as the dying Frank recollects how he arrived at his present circumstance: Frank was married to the lovely but dimwitted Lucia(Ewa Aulin), but secretly pined after her mirror-image, more sophisticated mother Nora(Lucia Bose). When Nora became involved with an American drifter, Eddie(Sergio Doria), Frank was green with envy. Things spiral out of control....but not as one would expect. By the climax, the moral comes into focus: Keeping one's passions unchecked can lead to ruin. Not exactly a new notion, but it's intriguingly explored here.
"The Double" is not without its flaws. The (customarily, for an Italian film) incongruous folk music and the anything-goes attitude towards sex and lounging about are badly dated; early sections of the film are languorous and convoluted; the final scene is not quite clear, at least in the version I saw. I would love to see a subtitled incarnation of the film, as dubbing is oft disconcerting and poorly recorded.
Director Romolo Guerrieri is the real star of the proceedings. His commanding style and aplomb with the intercutting is impressive. There are countless striking visual flourishes throughout.
The film shares its flashback structure with Claude Sautet's poignant French drama LE CHOSES DE LA VIE. In addition, "The Double" would be a very fitting companion piece to Aldo Lado's MALASTRANA, a giallo which it closely resembles, and which also stars Jean Sorel.
Frank (Sorel) is an indolent playboy living off proceeds from his father's business. As the film begins, Frank drives his Citroen into a Rome parking garage and is shot by a mysterious bearded man. The remainder of the story is a series of flashbacks, as the dying Frank recollects how he arrived at his present circumstance: Frank was married to the lovely but dimwitted Lucia(Ewa Aulin), but secretly pined after her mirror-image, more sophisticated mother Nora(Lucia Bose). When Nora became involved with an American drifter, Eddie(Sergio Doria), Frank was green with envy. Things spiral out of control....but not as one would expect. By the climax, the moral comes into focus: Keeping one's passions unchecked can lead to ruin. Not exactly a new notion, but it's intriguingly explored here.
"The Double" is not without its flaws. The (customarily, for an Italian film) incongruous folk music and the anything-goes attitude towards sex and lounging about are badly dated; early sections of the film are languorous and convoluted; the final scene is not quite clear, at least in the version I saw. I would love to see a subtitled incarnation of the film, as dubbing is oft disconcerting and poorly recorded.
Director Romolo Guerrieri is the real star of the proceedings. His commanding style and aplomb with the intercutting is impressive. There are countless striking visual flourishes throughout.
- Oliver_Lenhardt
- 30 sep 2002
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This is all most enjoyable if insubstantial. It looks good and sounds good throughout. Jean Sorel effective, as ever, without seeming to put himself too far out. Just a raised eyebrow is often all he needs to do to convey to us his thinking. Bit bewildering at times with much flashing back and forth but the two ladies help, both Lucie Bose and Ewa Aulin as mother and daughter are easy on the eye, in and out of their clothes. Many films of this time had prolonged sequences somewhere in them where half naked lovers ran along a beach or galloped horses in the surf or ran into sunlight through cornfields but this film, at times, seems to consist of just those dreamy (but insignificant) moments.
- christopher-underwood
- 4 oct 2015
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