L'Amour difficile

Another one of those multi segment multi star Italian sex comedies popular in the 60s featuring a cast of beautiful popular film stars of European cinema of the day. The best segment is the one on the train involving a soldier and a beautiful widow in the same compartment, hilarious BUT the film is blessed by the presence of the enchanting Miss Lilli Palmer, my personal favorite actress. Her segment is not the best but she is fabulous as usual. There is also the presence of the lovely Catherine Spaak, a shorter career than many of her contemporaries but she is nonetheless a European screen beauty of her era and very very sexy in a subtle way. Not a great film but more than a few chuckles.

Italian-German episodic film with a star cast

After the sensational success of Boccaccio 70 (1961), episodic films with erotic stories became very fashionable. In the unsurpassed original, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren and especially Romy Schneider really heated up the cinemagoers, so that they could continue to star in the respective short films. This copy, which according to the original title should be called "The Difficult Love", premiered on August 6th, 1963 in Berlin's Gloria-Palast. The four episodes are rather mixed, only at the very end is there something really worth seeing to admire.

Episode I: The Bachelor (Book: Ercole Patti / Director: Sergio Sollima) Very suggestive episode with an overly macho Enrico Maria Salerno, but there is a magical appearance by the very young Catherine Spaak. Also there: Adriano Celentano's wife Claudia Mori.

Episode II: The Family Friend (Book: Alberto Moravia / Director: Luciano Lucignani) In this very outdated episode, things are also all too leisurely. It's nice to be able to see Nadja Tiller and Vittorio Gassman again. However, there is not enough spark between the two. Lilla Brignone, who is known from the outstanding Michelangelo Antonioni classic "Love 1962", can be seen in a supporting role.

Episode III: The Husband (Book: Mario Soldieri / Director: Alberto Bonucci) Lilli Palmer and Bernhard Wicki as a married couple vacationing in Sicily are of course a show. The photos of the Greek temples of Agrigento are particularly beautiful. The plot, however, is a bit embarrassing. The great Lilli Palmer in particular doesn't come off well. It's a shame about the missed opportunity! Gastone Moschin can be seen in a supporting role, who a decade later would become a welcome figure in the countless Poliziottesci of ItaloCinema.

Episode IV: The Soldier (Book: Italo Calvino / Director: Nino Manfredi) This episode crackles with eroticism and sensuality. Nino Manfredi and the breathtaking Fulvia Franco engage in a positional war of desire without many words that is absolutely worth seeing. Italo Calvino (1923-1985) was one of the most important Italian writers of the post-war period and is also an important representative of postmodernism with his most beautiful novel "Wenn ein Reisender in einer Winternacht / When a Traveler on a Winter Night" (1979 / German 1983).

Of course still worth noting for fans of the stars, but for everyone else it's just a reminder of a special genre in film history.

We have here four of the greatest Italian Comedians (also excellent Drama Actors): Enrico Maria Salerno, Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi, Gastone Moschin. Eliminating Gastone Moschin (he's the only one still alive), because here has a small secondary role, the three others shine, testing their huge talent. This time, Manfredi, in the segment "L'Avventura di un soldato" does a completely speechless role, expressing everything just facial and through body language. Manfredi also directed the episode. Simply exceptional! Enrico Maria Salerno and Vittorio Gassman are at the height of their personal charm as usual. Along Salerno excels Claudia Mori, Catherine Spaak(in the segment "Le donne"). Along Gassman we have the joy of meeting again this great Actress called Nadja Tiller(in the segment "L'avaro"). Last but not least, in the segment "Il serpente", we enjoy a great acting demonstration by the superb Lilli Palmer. And Piero Umiliani's music is downright delightful. Great film!