Damiano Damiani created Euro-crime films, but his films come from a different angle, set in conditions of absolute reality and full of real people making real choices. No fast guns solve problems here. I've really come to appreciate films like The Case is Closed, Forget About It and Day of the Owl. Don't get me wrong - I love a car chase and a gun battle, but Damiani's films have there place up there too.
Fifteen (or fourteen) year-old Ornella Mutti here plays Francesco, a peasant girl who draws the eye of local mob hood Vito. Vito looks up the local Mafia don, who has just been arrested along with most of his cronies. The don wants to work with Vito as Vito was kidnapped and beaten by a rival mob, but never opened his mouth. The don advises Vito to get married and Vito has chosen Francesco.
After seeing off another suitor with intimidation, Vito woos Francesco, and a wedding seems to be on the horizon. It's also about this time that Vito starts acting like a total dick, and finds himself surprised that Francesco isn't the kind of girl who is going to take any of his crap. She shames him in front of his mates, jilts him at the altar, and even worse, the rival gang ridicule Vito using the information that a peasant girl stood him up at the altar. Vito of course then resorts to kidnapping and raping Francesco as a show of power, and is once again surprised to find she goes straight to the police and accuses him of rape.
This is Sicily however, and people there fear reprisal from the Mafia. The townsfolk turn on Francesco and even her family do not want to speak to the police. Francesco finds herself alone in trying to bring Vito to justice...alone apart from that rival Mafia gang...
It's possible that Damiani is making some sort of statement about the sexual revolution with this one. We know Francesco is in the right, and yet the women of the village attack a teenage girl who agrees with her. Francesco speaks with a woman who was in a similar situation but married her rapist because that's what was expected of her. A local priest blames her parents for being uneducated and not hiding the act of sex from her. Even her parents do not want to go against the established rules and class system. Only the young seem to empathise as Francesco rebels against the town, and still I'm simplifying the outcome of this on the characters of the film.
This was Ornella Mutti's first film and it's amazing to see how she plays Francesco - a naïve teenage girl who believes in love but will not let that stand in the way of justice, or her being an individual. Her dogged attempts to bring Francesco to court are mixed with the emotions of a teenage crush as she constantly gives Vito a chance to repent, which also give way to pure rage as he constantly treats her like a child.
Also outstanding are two actors I thought were just bit part players -- Gaetano Cimarosa as Francesco's cowardly father, and Enzo Andronico (from many a giallo) as the slimy lawyer trying to keep Vito in check.
Don't miss this one - Ennio Morricone manages to create another emotional soundtrack that adds to the atmosphere.
Fifteen (or fourteen) year-old Ornella Mutti here plays Francesco, a peasant girl who draws the eye of local mob hood Vito. Vito looks up the local Mafia don, who has just been arrested along with most of his cronies. The don wants to work with Vito as Vito was kidnapped and beaten by a rival mob, but never opened his mouth. The don advises Vito to get married and Vito has chosen Francesco.
After seeing off another suitor with intimidation, Vito woos Francesco, and a wedding seems to be on the horizon. It's also about this time that Vito starts acting like a total dick, and finds himself surprised that Francesco isn't the kind of girl who is going to take any of his crap. She shames him in front of his mates, jilts him at the altar, and even worse, the rival gang ridicule Vito using the information that a peasant girl stood him up at the altar. Vito of course then resorts to kidnapping and raping Francesco as a show of power, and is once again surprised to find she goes straight to the police and accuses him of rape.
This is Sicily however, and people there fear reprisal from the Mafia. The townsfolk turn on Francesco and even her family do not want to speak to the police. Francesco finds herself alone in trying to bring Vito to justice...alone apart from that rival Mafia gang...
It's possible that Damiani is making some sort of statement about the sexual revolution with this one. We know Francesco is in the right, and yet the women of the village attack a teenage girl who agrees with her. Francesco speaks with a woman who was in a similar situation but married her rapist because that's what was expected of her. A local priest blames her parents for being uneducated and not hiding the act of sex from her. Even her parents do not want to go against the established rules and class system. Only the young seem to empathise as Francesco rebels against the town, and still I'm simplifying the outcome of this on the characters of the film.
This was Ornella Mutti's first film and it's amazing to see how she plays Francesco - a naïve teenage girl who believes in love but will not let that stand in the way of justice, or her being an individual. Her dogged attempts to bring Francesco to court are mixed with the emotions of a teenage crush as she constantly gives Vito a chance to repent, which also give way to pure rage as he constantly treats her like a child.
Also outstanding are two actors I thought were just bit part players -- Gaetano Cimarosa as Francesco's cowardly father, and Enzo Andronico (from many a giallo) as the slimy lawyer trying to keep Vito in check.
Don't miss this one - Ennio Morricone manages to create another emotional soundtrack that adds to the atmosphere.