I saw this film when it was up for Oscar consideration as a possible "Best Foreign Film" nominee. For the closing moments, the audience was absolutely outraged, booing and jeering constantly. It was stylistically different from anything we had ever seen, emphasizing the constancy of physical spaces and the transitory nature of human life. On the way out, I happened to see Arthur Knight, the Saturday Review critic, author of "The Liveliest Art." He seemed very comfortable with "Pecado Mortale," that had aroused more hatred than any movie that I had ever seen. Rimbaud once said, "The purpose of art is to shock and to wound." "Mortal Sin" did that in spades!
