Passion d'amour

A passion between a handsome dashing officer and an ugly woman...This may have lead to a mawkish melodrama ;but Scola was a director to be reckoned with .

Fosca is an outcast :although she lives in a good milieu,there is no future for her:in those times,the only thing a woman had was her beauty and her only opportunity was marriage;when one is so devoid of appeal,it's a blind alley.

Scola always turned his attention to the outcasts :"Brutti Sporchi E Cattivi " is a prominent example;in " Una Giornata Particolare",arguably his masterpiece ,he showed two victims of the fascist feast of virility ,a gay and a submissive housewife taking a rebel stand and making love .

Like the two heroes of 'Giornata" (1977),Giorgo and Fosca are worlds apart;he is a brilliant attractive officer with good prospects and a sexy lover (Played by Laura Antonelli,Italian sex symbol of the seventies,who recently died in poverty ).Although he seems a very happy man (one of the first scenes in the country with Fosca),he knows military life leads to nowhere :it becomes an unbearable routine:the claustrophobic atmosphere of the officers ' diners reminds the viewer of Valerio Zurlini's metaphoric work " Il Deserto Dei Tartari "(from Dino Buzzati's novel) .

The nineteenth century was,par excellence,the romantic century;Giorgio could not live a true passion with his mistress,a married woman who is older than him;a defiant young man,little by little,he feels attracted by this woman who's dying of love for him. A love condemned by the medical officer -who talks about a strange sickness-and by the military hierarchy ;when your own world is against you,it really becomes a "Passione D'Amor".

The last scene and the midget's lines are the key to the movie:such a story is incredible :had it been the other way about,that is to say the gorgeous girl falling in love with an ugly man(like me) ,I would believe.But "La Belle Et La Bete" in reverse ,it's absolutely impossible (considering male so called psychology?)

The sadly missed Bernard Giraudeau was one of the best French actors of the era ,recalling sometimes Gerard Philipe;under her heavy make up,Valeria d'Obici makes us feel for her tragedy;good support by Trintignant,Blier and Girotti.

All in all ,it's that same strange sickness which leads to destruction and to death that we feel in these two movies taking place in a military atmosphere ,"Il Deserto Dei Tartari" and "Passione D'Amore"

It begins like Visconti's "Senso", it's the same environment, the same circumstances of military life and romantic settings, and the splendid young dashing officer has a lovely mistress, someone else's wife with a child (the beautiful Laura Antonelli), the setting couldn't be more romantic, and then he is transferred and can only continue communing with his love by letters and in his dreams. The new place is somewhere distant way up in the Piemonte mountains, and there the presence of another woman offers something of an unsettling challenge.

The build-up to his first meeting with her is in itself a masterpiece, you can feel his expectations as he only hears about her existence, she plays the piano sometimes in the Chopin manner which increases the high expectations, - but at the same time there are misgivings from the beginning, as she is chronically nervously ill and has terrible hysterical fits, resulting in interminable screamings which must fill anyone with horror.

Of course she must fall in love with this too handsome young officer, and here is the challenge: he just can't love her. His detachment makes her passion worse, at the same time he is human and must show her respect and consideration, he is the perfect gentleman, which adds to worsening the situation, hopelessly heading for a crisis.

The cinematography, the music, the acting, the beauty of the film, everything is perfect, you can always rely on Scola, but the story is one of the most dísturbing challenges ever offered on film.

You have to take a stand. This cannot leave you callous, and although you detach yourself from the intrigue like Giorgio tries to, it's impossible. You must get involved, just like he does.

The beauty and the consummate realism of the film gradually takes the course of a nightmare, like a descent into hell, as the beauty and romantic touch keeps sustained and does not leave you in peace. You are stuck in an involuntary involvement in a reltionship that couldn't be more hopelessly revolting, and the callous doctor (Jean-Louis Trintignant) offers no relief or solution to the problem by his sombre diagnoses.

The major question is, is the story possible and convincing? The actors make it convincing enough, but it still should be seen as mainly an experiment. It could happen, for sure, but you don't want to become involved yourself, and the stand you are forced to take you will refuse. Fortunately it's safe for you as an audience to wash your hands.

And can you understand him and his ultimate unnecessary taking action for a responsibility that has been forced upon him? He acts nobly, you can't deny him that, you must admire him for his honesty, he does after all understand something about love and the necessity to be true to it, while his colonel makes a mistake and pays for it. If there is any role Bernard Giraudeau will be remembered for, this is the one. You will remember Valeria d'Obici as well, although you would wish to forget her. Massimo Girotti as the colonel is also absolutely consistent.

There is something like a touch of Victor Hugo over this absurd morality, with his hunchbacks and freaks and hopeless outsiders, and there is a very characteristic scene, when Giogio lies almost dying in a fever at the hands of his doctor, who leans over him through his feverish deliriums with a grim smile in the lamplight, almost like a deathskull - the grim irony of the film in a nutshell.

And it's actually one of the freaks who has the last laugh.

A clever and bizarre angle to "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". At times you think this is campy and over the top, but the underlying poetic soul comes across strong and believable thanks to the performances of the two leads. One worth tracking down.

In this unlikely love triangle, set in 19th century Italy, `The Beauty and the Beast' is being turned upside down and inside out and then some: Giorgio, an army officer and the very image of male beauty, is being transferred away form his (married) lover Clara and sent to a small garrison somewhere in Piemont. There - initially much to his horror – Fosca, the grotesquely ugly cousin of his commander, develops an obsessive love for him. He suffers her passionate and demanding displays of affection out of pity and concern for her health (she is gravely ill), but becomes more and more fascinated by her – until the dramatic finale…

Do not miss this most unusual love story, as twisted as it may sound. Valeria d'Obici, who deservedly won a price for her portrayal of Fosca, is as alarming as she is touching. Buy the video, read the book, go see the musical!

Ettore Scola's masterful rendering of this epic of the heart deserves a much wider audience. It is a worthy successor to the risorgimento classics such as Vischonti's Senso and Il Gattopardo, as well as Rosselini's Vanina,Vanini. The 19th century is indeed a fruitful source for Italian filmmakers. The period settings and trappings are beautifully realized here, but the story is timeless and could occur in any period. What is so intriguing in this story is that the hero becomes trapped in a claustrophobic situation in which he finds himself the vigorously pursued object of desire and he is quite powerless to extricate himself from the alarming circumstances. Handsome and callow Giorgio (Giraudeau) is frustrated by his inability to visit his charming but light-minded married mistress (Antonelli) and falls prey to the dangerous passion of enamored Fosca (D'Obici), the ugly and sickly daughter of his stern commander (Girotti). The resulting anguish and ensuing tragedy this unlikely pair undergoes make them both understandable, pitiful and immensely sympathetic to viewers. Bernard Giraudeau's stellar performance will captivate and leave a lasting impression. Not to be missed.