Cuori solitari (1970)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Franco Giraldi

Writers:

Franco Giraldi (writer)
Ruggero Maccari (writer)

Release Date:

22 January 1970 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman

Cast

Mauro Bacchini
Senta Berger	...	Giovanna
Clara Colosimo	...	Carla
Edda Di Benedetto	...	Elena
Edda Ferronao
Orso Maria Guerrini
Christopher Hodge	...	Walter
Piero Mazzarella
Elena Persiani	...	Manuela
Gianna Serra	...	Prostitute
Ugo Tognazzi	...	Stefano
Silvano Tranquilli	...	Diego

Also Known As:

Lonely Hearts

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Mega Film

Slow Moving Yet Satisfying

"Wife Swapping, Italian Style" (which is the on-screen title of my copy of this film) tends to connote a light, frivolous adult adventure, but in reality this is a very serious and dramatic study of a marriage in trouble, almost Bergmanesque at times, though it lacks the extended monologues of the Swedish director's work. Nevertheless, heavy drama is indeed served up by Senta Berger and Ugo Tagnozzi, both of whom are very strong in the lead roles, which is one of the reasons this admittedly overlong film succeeds. The crisp photography, mostly under overcast skies, further conveys the film's melancholy mood. The other real treat is the exquisite score by Luis Enriquez Bacalov, some of which was reused in the 1973 Claude Pierson film "The Models", a film which tells a similar story but from an entirely different perspective.

Most of the film's sluggish pace begins to manifest itself in the final reel. The first hour attempts to address the issue of wife swapping in a realistic manner while simultaneously toning down the sexual aspect but playing up the upper class nature of the participants. Another then-timely topic, the late 60's fascination with the occult, is addressed in a bizarre, totally-out-of-left field party scene which features levitating furniture and a near physical assault on a female guest by an invisible spirit. This scene has the potential of steering the film totally off course, but the director keeps a firm grip on the plot and credibly pushes the characters past this odd incident.

"Wife Swapping, Italian Style" delivers few laughs but instead paints a sad yet probably highly accurate portrait of a marriage in trouble and its desperate participants, and when the conclusion finally arrives no one on the screen is any happier than he was at the beginning. A well-prepared viewer should be able to appreciate this sincerely played and presented drama, despite the fact that these wife swappers, attractive and sympathetic as they are, overstay their welcome by about fifteen minutes.