THE INNOCENT Movie Review

L'lnnocente
The Intruder

Director Luchino Visconti's final film is a satisfyingly rich, 19th-century drama about a spoiled, hypocritical aristocrat (Giancarlo Giannini) who's sexually bored by his seemingly meek wife (Laura Antonelli). He takes up with a beautiful countess (Jennifer O'Neill) who becomes a pleasant enough distraction for him, until he learns that his “timid” wife is having a furiously passionate affair with another man. Giannini's refusal to acknowledge his double standard, together with his sudden “feelings of love,” for his wife, discovered only when she's no longer his alone, provides a foundation of deeply ironic comedy for this stately and elegantly designed and paced melodrama. Antonelli had been appearing at the time in a series of slightly risqué sex comedies that were popular in the U.S., and the strength of her performance here may well have surprised some critics who hadn't taken her seriously until then. Giannini is superb as well, giving a finely graded performance that is the precise opposite of his manic flailing and mugging when acting under the direction of Lina Wertmüller. The Innocent is photographed in widescreen format with deeply saturated colors by Ruggero Mastroianni; try to find a letterboxed version.

NEXT STOP … Senso, The Leopard, The Age of Innocence

1976 (R) 125m/C IT Laura Antonelli, Jennifer O'Neill, Giancarlo Giannini, Didier Haudepin, Marc Porel; D: Luchino Visconti; W: Luchino Visconti, Suso Cecchi D'Amico; C: Pasquale De Santis. VHS CVC, FCT, VES