Ultimo incontro

I have watched three Italian films from the early 1950's and despite certain merits they deal with ' bad ' women in a way that is deeply depressing. In one ' Three Forbidden Stories ' a woman ' addicted ' to drugs and parties has to die; in ' La Lupa ( The Vixen ) she burns horribly to death for her ' sins ' and in ' Last Meeting ' Alida Valli suffers a similar fate. As far as film itself is concerned ' Last Meeting ' is cast well, and interesting to watch, but committing adultery, being blackmailed for it and consequently searching for money through prostitution has to be punished. I am not sure I want to investigate more, but I came to the conclusion that the producers enjoyed this sort of ' execution ' punishment, and wondered why. The influence of the church ? A ' natural ' masculine response to the supposed social ' evils ' of Post-War society ? Cinematically these films are mainly based on an Operatic view of life and are all highly wrought. In ' Last Meeting ' Alida Valli ( a great actor ) is woefully cast as a reluctant call-girl, and Jean-Pierre Aumont has few scenes and an untimely demise and for those who like racing cars of the period there is a certain excitement in seeing them as they are an intrinsic part of this melodrama. For what it is worth it deserves a 5 for Valli alone. But the film is heavy, and like the other two I have mentioned doom laden.