Storia d'amore con delitto

Half drama and romance, half espionage and policical, this curious feature is typical from the seventies, a mix-up of many elements, and also typical from producer and director Sergio Gobbi, who was involved in any kind of stuff supposed to make money...Gross...After all, that's the name of the game. All kinds except western and horror. This one is not bad but a bit confusing, puzzling for the audiences. But I like it because of its gloominess and I have always liked the seventies atmosphere. And I discovered that Rod Taylor could speak French and I was also astonished that this American actor was involved with Sergio Gobbi. This plot reminded me Andre Cayatte's LA RAISON D'ETAT.

I picked up this movie because I am a big Bibi Andersson fan – but getting this movie was a big mistake. To start with Bibi Andersson does not play the role of Patricia Tauling as stated here. She is in the role of Blondie which is a rather small role until the last 15 or 20 minutes of the film. The role of Patricia Tauling is played by Catherine Jourdan.

The previous viewer comment (andybob-3) does a good job of characterizing the movie. Mostly it is a drag. If you are a big Bibi Andersson fan, do yourself a favor and skip it.

The IMDb information says the language of the movie was in French. The VHS version that I watched was in English. Perhaps two versions were made.

As the previous reviewer commented there are a couple of rather steamy sex scenes thrown in. I wonder if was ever shown theatrically in the US or just released on video.

Taylor plays a United Nations bio-warfare disarmament expert who's lonely wife (Anderson) has a steamy affair while she's away in France. But soon she finds out the hard way that her lover is not quite the charming and stable guy she thought he was, and starts to fear him and wonder about his true motives. Unfortunately this movie aimlessly plods along for about two-thirds of its running time, which is only livened up by an occasional amazingly explicit sex scene, before picking up steam in the final 20 minutes or so. Despite its rental sleeve artwork and the tagline "More potent than "The Andromedia Strain"" this movie is as much of a Sci-Fi/thriller as "Regarding Henry", and is more of a mystery-drama than anything else. 4 out of 10, not without its moments but still it just drags on way too long to hold your attention.