DEVIL IN THE FLESH Movie Review
Il Diavolo in Corpo
This unnecessary remake of the 1946 Claude Autant-Lara classic Devil in the Flesh (Le Diable au Corps) is a modern-day updating of the original story, about a schoolboy who becomes sexually involved with a soldier's wife in World War I. Director Marco Bellocchio has changed the war to the one which modern terrorists are waging in Italy; Giulia (Maruschka Detmers) is engaged to Giacomo (Riccardo De Torrebruna), an imprisoned terrorist who's on trial for killing her father, and who claims he's seen the light and given up his violent ways. As the trial continues, Giulia makes the acquaintance (through very odd circumstances) of a handsome young student named Andrea (Federico Pitzalis). Before long they're lovers, and they move with all deliberate speed from a discussion of urban guerrilla warfare to the long and explicit fellatio sequence that made this version of Devil in the Flesh a hot topic on the art house circuit (though more people expressed opinions about it than could have possibly seen it in its limited American run). Except for “the big scene,” which was certainly a first for a studio release (it went out with an “X” rating), Devil in the Flesh isn't much of a picture, lacking the genuine eroticism of the original as well as political bite. You almost get the feeling that Bellocchio gave Giulia a touch of insanity as an excuse for the movie's flabby, motivationless screenplay. Detmers is one of the most heart-stoppingly exquisite actresses in movies, but she was far better served by Godard in 1983 in his witty and intelligent First Name: Carmen. As for Devil in the Flesh, there's a well-worn slang term for the movie's famous sex act that could be used to describe the whole picture.
NEXT STOP … Fists in the Pocket, First Name: Carmen, Patty Hearst
1987 (R) 110m/C IT Riccardo De Torrebruna, Maruschka Detmers, Federico Pitzalis; D: Marco Bellocchio; W: Ennio de Concini, Enrico Palandri, Marco Bellocchio; C: Giuseppe Lanci; M: Carlo Crivelli. VHS, LV ORI