The Eroticist

The Eroticist

After reading the two line summary that describes this movie, I knew I HAD to see it.

What I got was a few genuine chuckles, some great female nudity and some pretty funny acting.

The movie is about a senator named Puppsi, pronounced Poop-C. Who succumbs to a "disease" where he can not control his sexual appetite. He's held off so long that he is actually grabbing bum bums and not even knowing it. The actor who plays Puppsi does a good job with the facial expressions and delivery. Great job casting this movie.

Obviously the movie is about him dealing with this "problem." There's a subplot involving the church and blackmailing that I really didn't care much for. You might, I didn't. The scenes weren't very funny and I found myself to be a little bored by them. But when Puppsi is on screen, it's pretty much always fun. Either by laughs or by some good nudity. By the way, the lead woman in this movie is gorgeous with a capital G.

The movie is pretty funny...if you enjoy sex comedies like Flesh Gordon 1 or 2, movies of that nature you'll most likely have a fun time with this.

Bringing this idea into film was awesome. I cant count how many times that I've wanted to squeeze a bum. Good comedic stuff from a legendary horror director.

Italian director Lucio Fulci is best known for horror flicks. He ventured into political satire with "All'onorevole piacciono le donne" (alternately called "The Senator Likes Women" and "The Eroticist" in English). The main character is a libidinous politician who spends a few days at a spiritual retreat full of hot women. Italian politicians have a reputation as corrupt lechers - Silvio Berlusconi's shenanigans could fill a book - so this movie comes across as a little too obvious, but I liked it. I got the feeling that they had a lot of fun making the movie. Not surprisingly, it faced censorship when it got released; some people just can't take a little criticism.

As for the some of the cast members. Lionel Stander was an American actor who appeared in movies from the '30s through the '90s; he played the Ferris Wheel owner in Steven Spielberg's "1941". Corrado Gaipa played Don Tommassino in "The Godfather Part 2".

The main thing that I derived from the movie is the same thing that I derived from "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", "Dr. Strangelove", "Wag the Dog" and "Fun with Dick and Jane": comedy is the best way to draw attention to political issues. Really fun movie, if really weird. Those were some hot nuns.

Italian cop & mafia thrillers of the Seventies regularly brought up political corruption and drawbacks, but a dark comedy on said topic was a rare thing. And that's exactly what horror cult director Lucio Fulci had in mind with „...All' onorevole piacciono le donne".

Senator Giacinto Pupis is a successful politician, bachelor, totally asexual and married to his job you could say. Now, while running for state presidency, he has developed a nasty habit: He can't control his urge to grab womens' butts. When such an incident is even caught on film and he's blackmailed, he flees into a convent headed by a friar who's dabbling in psychology and tries to help Pupis. Meanwhile in Rome, rumours around Pupis' mysterious disappearance spread: Police, army, mafia, and the unscrupulous cardinal Maravigli suspect a coup and a chain reaction gets started...

This movie did have problems with the Italian censorship board, but as so often, the extra publicity made it even more successful. It's easy to see why some people felt offended, as the politicians and state representatives are shown at their worst – stupid, greedy, malicious. The Catholic Church is getting hit the hardest, however, with Cardinal Maravigli depicted as puppet master that will work with the Mafia and will kill anybody who might cause problems to his interests. This is a very biting, dark satire that can at some points astonish and offend. Everybody gets the just desserts.

While the English title might suggest an easy erotic comedy, the movie is clearly talkative, plot-driven, has depth. A lot of parties and characters are introduced, and especially while Pupis is in the convent, a very complex subplot unfolds. For such a vehicle you need a convincing lead actor, and Lando Buzzanca is great as usual.

There is a marginal amount of nudity during the hilarious dreams (and one daydream) of Pupis. But this gets pushed extremely after 85 minutes, when Laura Antonelli is seen for about fifteen minutes – mostly in the nude. Her part is not written too well (added very late on request of the production). Why on earth would Pupis overlook the probably hottest nun ever during his crazy night at the convent? Said cathartic experience would have served far better as the turning point for him, and not this single encounter. Well, I certainly won't complain about seeing the nude Laura, what a feast for the eye, even with her extremely short „nun" haircut. There is at least one good aspect about all this: The "German" Italian of the convent members is as ridiculous as it is funny (all added in post-production dubbing of course).

So overall, „All' onorevole piacciono le donne" is a dark, fun and biting satire, focussing on the political aspects, and benefitting from the great Lando Buzzanca. Definitely offending and not stopping for anything. If you expect a typical sexy comedy, you might be disappointed and should better go for „Il Merlo Maschio" - Lando, Laura and lots of fun.

Whenever you talk of Lucio Fulci, you immediately think of the his role as the Godfather of Gore. Films like Zombie and The House by the Cemetery are more well known by this director, but he made many films before that were comedies and westerns. This is one of his satirical comedies that is both surreal and a major did at the Catholic Church and Italian politics.

I would not presume to get all of the jokes in this film, as most are not known outside of Italy, but it was funny enough when they lampooned the Catholic Church and their involvement in Italian politics. There are also laughs aplenty at the military and the police as they attempt to stage a coup. I would not like to give away military secrets, but the clandestine operations in this film remind me so much of what our country does to it's "friends," and vice versa.

There is even a nunspoitation aspect to this film as the Presidential candidate goes to a convent to get treatment for his particular paraphilia, and manages to deflower 21 nuns in a single night. His dreams had nuns in lace habits that exposed their breasts and buttocks so that he could grab them. A nun who got left out managed to find him and they enjoyed a night of passion.

This was hilarious and sexy and surreal and irreverent. Fulci at his best.

This film is still hilarious and sexy as hell 48 years after it was made. For an Italian political satire/titillation vehicle, that's a hell of an achievement!

A happy punter.