Sexe fou

Normally the epithet "sexy comedy" is a cinematic death knell, but the cooperation of the fantastic Laura Antonelli, Giancarlo Giannini and director Dino Risi turned this into a timeless classic. And yes, it's funny and sexy. In nine segments and probably inspired, in a good way, by Woody Allen's "What You Always Wanted To Know About Sex" which was released a year earlier.

A play on words (check-mate, sex-mad, get it?), the title Sessomatto is quite accurate since most of the sketches in the movie are about sex gone berserk. I'm writing this in 2002, some 28 years after seeing the movie, so memory may fail me, but, even though this was supposed to be a vehicle for Giancarlo Giannini, I remember it mostly for the radiant beauty of Laura Antonelli. Some of the sketches definitely had some socially redeeming value and are harbingers of Dino Risi's future masterpieces (Profumo di donna, Primo Amore and, particularly, I Nuovi Mostri).

This movie is probably one of the worst I've ever seen. It is made up of short sketches that turns around sex and some perversion but they were badly executed. In the first place there were three main actors who are the leads of every sketch but I didn't buy their performance even a little bit. Then the audio and image quality was very low, even for a '70s movie. But the worst problem is that this film should be a comedy but I almost never laugh for a joke inside of it because the comedic writing and timing were really bad. Instead I laugh a lot for the ugliness of this film. Once you see this one, it will easily become a legend, something that you'll never forget, a new standard for horrible movies. At least I didn't find the willingness to make a film to take seriously but it isn't also something merely intended to be trash. In conclusion I suggest this movie to everyone who wants to laugh on how not to make movies.

HOW FUNNY CAN SEX BE? is an Italian film originally called SESSOMATTO ("Crazy Sex") and features Giancarlo Giannini, well-known from his films with Lina Wertmuller, and co-star Laura Antonelli. Originally a movie of eleven segments, it has been cut down to eight. In each brief episode we watch Giannini in some kind of sexual escapade, predicament, or buffoonery, from a bout with an overweight Milanese drag queen to an erotic dream about a nun (Antonelli) at a hospital where he has volunteered as an artificial insemination donor. Although there is an occasional moment or two of genuine wit and humor, I found the bulk of this movie stupid, sophomoric, and tasteless. And the English dubbing is so horrendously atrocious, it seems that we are listening to the soundtrack from another movie. So how funny can sex be? Pretty funny, I guess, but you'll never learn from this turkey of a movie. Veteran director Dino Risi (of IL SORPASSO fame) directed. He has done much better.

I am writing this review on 2021 May 3rd.

I can only say Giancarlo Giannini is one of the extraordinary actors of Italian Film Industry of late 70s.

There are other bad review comments about him but for serious actor like him to do this kind comedy, it takes some serious acting skills.

Watch Sensous sicilian for his remarkable performance in the last scene and in Seven Beauties

I should also say that i could not take my eyes away from Laura Antonelli(1941-2015) for whenever she appears in the screen.

Totally i loved this film and enamored in Laura Antonelli. May her soul rest in piece.

Hats off to Dino Risi,Giancarlo Giannini and Laura Antonelli.