rating:
(out of
4 stars)Italy, France; 1976
Directed by Luchino Visconti; produced by Giovanni Bertolucci; written by Suso Cecchi d'Amico, Enrico Medioli, Luchino Visconti
Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Laura Antonelli, Jennifer O'Neill, Rina Morelli, Massimo Girotti, Didier Haudepin
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
'L'Innocente' is a film that exists out of a lot of beautiful images put
together. This is one of those films you can watch only for the images; the
cinematography that captures the costumes and production design. The story
itself was not bad but it could not really engage me.
Tullio (Giancarlo Giannini) is bored with his wife Giuliana (Laura
Antonelli), tells her this and asks whether she wants to be sort of like a
sister to him, someone who supports him. His heart belongs to Teresa Raffo
(Jennifer O'Neill). When he discovers his wife is also lying against him he
becomes strangely jealous and chooses her again. Then he learns his wife is
pregnant from another man. Since he is the one who cheated first he is not
mad, but he does not want her to keep the baby. From here on the film is
sort of a battle, or struggle, between Tullio, his wife, the mistress Teresa
and the man who made Giuliana pregnant, mostly about honor. It is not a
conventional struggle, of course. The inevitable ending is the best part of
the film.
Again, the story could not engage me very much, although there are some
haunting moments that show the darkness of human nature, and a terrific
ending. I enjoyed the film for the images and for the music (original and
music from Mozart, Liszt, Chopin). For Visconti it is a good last film, a
worthy goodbye.