Intrigo d'amore

One of the biggest difference between European and North American audiences is how they react to sex in the movies. So many hypocritical Americans (and Canadians for that matter) are uptight about carnal subject matter in what's essentially the cinematic equivalent of candy. Have some once in a while, but don't base your whole diet on the stuff!

"Basic Instinct" became a global smash in 1992 due to some not very realistic sex scenes. That flick was a big budget version of the silly made for cable films full of naked women in distress, hoping to find some decent Alpha male to protect and hopefully get it on with them. How "BI" was seen as any more than a dumb, enjoyable (if you like that kind of thing!) sex film for adults is beyond me (and homophobic?..."Bird On A Wire" was much more homophobic than "BI"!). It's dabbling in (female) bisexuality is more than a lot of Westerners can handle and it was a hot topic for much longer than it should have been.

"Intrigo D'Amore", known by other titles ("Intrigues Sensuelles" in France and Quebec, where I've seen the French dubbed version on regular network television late at night), is a good example of a freer spirited Italian sexploitation picture. The younger Milly D'Abbraccio makes quite an impression from the start of this, as a woman who's definitely not having great sex with her husband early on in the story. Comparing this dark haired, earthy beauty being somewhat demure (in this apparently soft core effort) with the wild woman (either blonde or red haired in later hard core movies) who takes on all comers as a prototypical MILF of the 1990s and later Italian market, is a radical contrast.

Her "Janet" visits a not so ethical photographer, who's in cahoots with a female accomplice to get more than simple snapshots of glamour scenarios for women to entice their spouses. What happens afterwards is more than a little predictable, but that's part of the charm of Euro soft core. Our friends across the pond don't see sex as evil, whereas the emphasis in much American horror and porn (almost all genres, but especially those two!) is on ridiculing, if not humiliating, lots of people who are just dull and "normal" in their desires.

They used to show quite a few European flicks on non cable stations in Quebec, but gradually moved more towards the aforementioned US cable junk and eventually, American hard core with all the real sex cut out! That's about as interesting as the Texas hold em poker program that has taken over the late night Saturday slot those steamy, if silly Euro flicks used to have a home in (how many of those f$$king "Emmanuelle" movies were there anyway?). Cannes changed it's content rules years ago to keep out increasing numbers of sex films and what did that really accomplish? Sex in movies is here to stay.

Milly was in the news while running for public office a while back. If Ilona Staller can get elected, why not Ms. D? If not politics, she should always have a home in soft core, provided she could tolerate "simulated" activity long enough to make an appearance on something like "Nip/Tuck" or a "Grindhouse" style flick, which her million watt smile would be perfect for (I'd love to hear her rapid fire sexy voice in Italiano and see the English subtitles struggle to keep up!). Just some ideas.