Ardiente y seductora

Flirtatious Jane Fonda, married (but bored) to an older millionaire, has a tricky relationship with her 20-ish stepson which leads to a steamy secret affair. French-Italian co-production directed by Roger Vadim, who shows off an amusingly twisted sense of humor (odd for a director who, with "Barbarella" two years later, showed no sense of humor at all). Fonda (Mrs. Vadim at the time) has a marvelously wicked gleam in her eyes: this lady is determined to have not just her slice of the cake but the entire dessert! The film has some problems, though only minor ones: the voiceover work is a mismatch with the actors being dubbed (a constant irritant, as is the sound in general), while Michel Piccoli's role as Fonda's moneyed husband is sketchy (he schemes on the side, off-camera, so we only see the results). Also, the score by Jean Bouchéty and Jean-Pierre Bourtayre is repetitive and a wee bit excruciating. Nevertheless, Fonda and Peter McEnery (as the handsome kid she becomes obsessed with) are first-rate, as is the chilling ending. A most peculiar concoction, multi-layered and often devastating, though it looks terrific with a lightly-mod production design and art direction. **1/2 from ****