Si douce, si perverse

A beautiful teenage girl, Angela, somehow pathologically loves her father, Dr.Batrucchi, so that she naturally hates his refined girl friend, Irene. And when the situation becomes worse partially because Irene herself is somehow problematic, Angela begins to obsessionally think about the indirect way of killing her... This Italian film is not exclusively so-called psychoanalytically oriented, still is at least psychoanalytically explainable one. The leading theme, or only one theme, of the film is so-called acting out, namely, regressive discharge of instinctual energy. Angela seems to have the typically adolescent addict to action, but the main problem is her acting out by its very nature has the forfeiture of her capacity of mastery.

Leaving that question, this film has no twisted element; ongoingness of its story is almost every film-lover can expect to be. In the last scene, as one can easily expect, something bad happens to one of the female characters, and then sudden rain pours over her. This rain becomes to be most impressive phenomenon this film has mainly because the very film almost unnecessarily stresses it. If one can think this is liquefaction of self-punishableness or something like that, (s)he can be satisfied. But one thinks this is simply unnatural or melodramatic, (s)he can be disappointed to a certain degree. As a whole, this film can be called Giallo only in the ambiguousness of the very word. At least this is not a typical Giallo.

Director Silvio Amadio, who made the interesting AMUCK (a.k.a. ALLA RICERA DEL PIACERE, 1971), concocted this similarly twisted melodrama. Although considerably less thrilling than AMUCK, SO YOUNG SO LOVELY SO VICIOUS offers mild frissons in its tale of a dangerously manipulative teenager who attempts to emotionally destroy her potential stepmother.

The teenager is Angela (Gloria Guida), a bored rich kid with a large chip on her shoulder. One day her daddy brings home bride-to-be Irene (Dagmar Lassander) and it is spite at first sight, as pouty brat Angela does everything she can think of to drive Irene away.

First, Angela enlists a boyfriend, Sandro, whose attempts to romance Irene in full view of the father do not work. Angela elects to spend time alone with Irene, and they form an uneasy alliance when the father goes off on a business trip.

Amadio has very little to work with in his script (which he co-wrote with Roberto Natale), although it is ironic that Irene is presented as a fairly mature, stoic character who is so gullible and easily undone by Angela.

In lieu of a gripping scenario, he makes maximum use of the lead actresses' beauty and a scenic, rocky Mediterranean coastline. Guida, in one of her first roles, looks stunning. However, she is not skilled enough to pull off some scenes, such as when Angela suffers a distressing attack of remorse after practically destroying Irene's life. Dagmar Lassander, though, is a far more accomplished actress, looks great, and adds a bit of depth to Irene. This despite Amadio's habit of subjecting her to a couple of truly embarrassing scenes (for example, the awkward lesbian encounter with Guida; and an over-directed scene in which Irene reacts to learning, finally, that Angela is out to get her).

I didn't know quite what to make of this. It was directed by Silvio Amado who is most famous for the sexy Italian giallo "Amuck". This movie isn't really stylistic, deliriously plotted, or violent enough to be a giallo, however. On the other hand, it's not exactly a serious drama either. It's definitely pretty sexy--Gloria Guida looks good naked and she is naked A LOT. And there's the usual gratuitous Italian lesbian scene between Guida's character and her stepmother-to-be(!)played by Dagmar Lassander. This movie kind of reminded me of the French film "L'Annee des medusas", but it's not nearly as well-photographed or deliciously nasty. If you really have a thing for barely-legal Italian starlets, gratuitous nudity, and gratuitous lesbianism, you might want to check this out. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

With such a wondrous English title, the presence of Gloria Guida and Dagmar Lassander and the Amuck director at the helm, how could this go wrong? Well, actually I like it but I seem to be in a bit of a minority. I suppose Dagmar is passed her prime and not all the close ups are as great as they might have been, plus a lot of the acting requirements are beyond the lovely Gloria. Nevertheless this is hardly the frothy, sexy nothingness one might expect and for all the limitations is always interesting, with plenty going on and a really nasty edge, with the Guida character scheming to come between her father and his new woman. Lots of cars, sex and cigarettes and always has that mid seventies look and sound. Always enjoyable.

Angela Batrucchi (Gloria Guida) is less than happy when her father returns home to tell her he has found a new woman and intends to marry her very soon, that woman is Irene (Dagmar Lassander)a very pretty and quiet woman who tries to befriend Angela but is given mixed signs by her, one minute she is friendly the next she is rude. Angela though has bigger and better plans to rid this intruder from her life and steps about it in a ruthless manner. From its title you might guess it's a Giallo, but you'd be wrong, it's a drama/thriller from the director of the excellent Amuck!, it's a character study that concerns Angela's quest to end her fathers relationship and harm the new woman in his life in every imaginable way, she delves into her past looking for some dark past that might encourage her to leave, she also tries to lure her into bed herself and when that doesn't work she employs her boyfriend to do it, that doesn't work either, eventually Irene and Angela get it on and the boyfriend is there to take the pictures. So Young, So Lovely, So Vicious is rather low on thrills but has an interesting storyline and a good cast, its filmed on some beautiful locations and has some sexual content to keep you awake, it also has a very mute downbeat ending, as I said its not a Giallo but fans of that genre will still find plenty to enjoy.