À Meia-Noite, a Ronda do Prazer

Now Monica Vitti has departed, this film can serve well as a memory of her talents.

Rather than the distant and enigmatic heroine of Antonioni, we have an earthy woman of fierce passions whose excesses we can not only feel for but also laugh at, for as well as being beautiful and sexy she is also very funny. To praise her is not to ignore the performances of three other giants - Claudia Cardinale, Vittorio Gassman, Giancarlo Giannini - and the enjoyable clashes between the characters they portray. As the male principals are cheerful caricatures of Italian manhood, given to lust, violence and deceit, the story really belongs to the women and to the sympathy they evoke for their predicaments.

Delightful comedy with dramatic veins from the creator of ''Altrimenti ci arrabbiamo!'' that digs (almost) like a thriller into the soul and psychology of the protagonist (Vitti) suspected of murder. The greatest applause goes to the excellent actors (all in part), among which the excellent interpretations of the female duo Vitti-Cardinale (particularly noteworthy are the hilarious interventions by Pozzetto and the good Gassman and Giannini). The pleasant music of the De Angelis brothers enriches the good product and the direction and photography are also very accurate. Very pleasant!

Look out for a cameo by Pino Locchi, the unforgettable italian dub voice of actors like James Bond/Sean Connery, Terence Hill, Tony Curtis and Jean Paul Belmondo.

In Michelangelo Antonioni's famous movies (l'avventura, l'eclisse, il deserto rosso) this extremely beautiful actress always seems remote and unapproachable. But she also has a great talent for comedy, general slapstick and pratfalls included. In this movie she can show off this side of her talents. She really is the center of attention, other big Italian stars like Gassmann, Cardinale and Giannini are more like a support. She has a lot of screen time and frequently speaks to the camera, explaining some story points.

The story unfortunately stinks. It is about relationships between men and women - i. e. basically wife beating. Women are slapped around a whole lot, and, mind you it is supposed to be a comedy. Vitti's character has to stand trial because during a fight she pushed her lover into an open sewer. During a re enacting of the crime an inflatable flesh colored doll is thrown into the deep brown liquid and then shown floating toward the turning spirals of a purification plant. One spiral catches the doll and squashes it until it bursts. This is shown in every detail, like some great joke. It should give you an idea of the mood that prevails here. I must say, however, that on the whole it is a stylish and well photographed movie.

As a matter of fact it is one of those flicks one would like to re edit and shorten to about half of its lentgh. Then I think it could be good entertainment, especially for fans of Monica Vitti. According to the data available on IMDb she was well above 40 when this movie was made (Giannini, her partner here, is more than 10 years younger) which is hardly believable. They really put her in a very good light here, this I have to admit.