Italian-German episodic film with a star cast
After the sensational success of Boccaccio 70 (1961), episodic films with erotic stories became very fashionable. In the unsurpassed original, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren and especially Romy Schneider really heated up the cinemagoers, so that they could continue to star in the respective short films. This copy, which according to the original title should be called "The Difficult Love", premiered on August 6th, 1963 in Berlin's Gloria-Palast. The four episodes are rather mixed, only at the very end is there something really worth seeing to admire.
Episode I: The Bachelor (Book: Ercole Patti / Director: Sergio Sollima)
Very suggestive episode with an overly macho Enrico Maria Salerno, but there is a magical appearance by the very young Catherine Spaak. Also there: Adriano Celentano's wife Claudia Mori.
Episode II: The Family Friend (Book: Alberto Moravia / Director: Luciano Lucignani)
In this very outdated episode, things are also all too leisurely. It's nice to be able to see Nadja Tiller and Vittorio Gassman again. However, there is not enough spark between the two. Lilla Brignone, who is known from the outstanding Michelangelo Antonioni classic "Love 1962", can be seen in a supporting role.
Episode III: The Husband (Book: Mario Soldieri / Director: Alberto Bonucci)
Lilli Palmer and Bernhard Wicki as a married couple vacationing in Sicily are of course a show. The photos of the Greek temples of Agrigento are particularly beautiful. The plot, however, is a bit embarrassing. The great Lilli Palmer in particular doesn't come off well. It's a shame about the missed opportunity! Gastone Moschin can be seen in a supporting role, who a decade later would become a welcome figure in the countless Poliziottesci of ItaloCinema.
Episode IV: The Soldier (Book: Italo Calvino / Director: Nino Manfredi)
This episode crackles with eroticism and sensuality. Nino Manfredi and the breathtaking Fulvia Franco engage in a positional war of desire without many words that is absolutely worth seeing. Italo Calvino (1923-1985) was one of the most important Italian writers of the post-war period and is also an important representative of postmodernism with his most beautiful novel "Wenn ein Reisender in einer Winternacht / When a Traveler on a Winter Night" (1979 / German 1983).
Of course still worth noting for fans of the stars, but for everyone else it's just a reminder of a special genre in film history.
