Fresh and Exciting

Excellent but underrated film

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Tullio Hermil (Giancarlo Giannini) is a chauvinist aristocrat who flaunts his mistress (Jennifer O'Neill) to his wife (Laura Antonelli), but when he believes she has been unfaithful he becomes enamored of her again.This movie is notable for being the last film made by Italian director Luchino Visconti, perhaps best known for "The Leopard". This time around he has really brought himself up to the 1970s and is not shy with the sensuality. Even the film's promo art seems to highlight the nudity, which is odd.What strikes me about the movie is the casting of Jennifer O'Neill. I suspect that it was largely due to her look. She was a weak actress in "Rio Lobo", but seems to recover here (helped by the dubbing). She would go on to appear in "Scanners"... anyone who has worked with Visconti, Hawks and Cronenberg deserves some respect.

"L'Innocente" is a pretty film to watch. This can be said for just about all the films of Luchino Visconti that I have seen. He really knew how to make a quality film--great sets, lovely costumes and nice cinematography. However, I will also say that I hardly ever have enjoyed a Visconti film (with the exception of "Rocco and His Brothers" and perhaps one or two others). While they look great, they also move at a glacial place and feature characters I really couldn't care less for...and this makes for very slow viewing. Artsy folks and critics LOVE films like "The Leopard", "The Damned" and "Death in Venice", I just found them to be overlong and curiously uninvolving.I could say all this about Visconti's final film, "L'Innocente"-- a film that once again looks great but also have no one in the film that you care one bit about as well as glacial pacing. Even the sight of an incredibly beautiful naked woman in some incredibly graphic scenes weren't enough to make the film interesting-- something that is VERY difficult to achieve. I could talk about the story, but frankly it COULD have been interesting...but wasn't. My only thrill came at the end when one of the characters killed themselves...at least then I knew it was finally complete!

A wealthy and arrogant aristocrat openly has an affair with another woman, thus driving his wife to start her own affair with a writer that leads to a pregnancy and baby. Giancarlo Giannini is magnificent in a role that instills in the viewer zero sympathy and outright hostility. The film heads into what can only be described as one of the most memorably tragic conclusions since Shakespeare, and is also one of the most beautifully filmed and costumed movies ever, with sumptuous deep red wallpapered rooms with velvet curtains. Wealth and position can cut both ways, with Giannini's role going down into a dark and bankrupt morality that in the end is like a swamp.

In the Nineteenth Century, in Italy, the atheist and aristocrat Tullio Hermil (Giancarlo Giannini) is married with Giuliana Hermil (Laura Antonelli) and has a paramour, Teresa Raffo (Jennifer O'Neill). He decides to leave his wife and to stay with Teresa, but after a period, she dispenses with him. Tullio comes back to his wife, but she had an affair with a writer, friend of his brother, and is pregnant. Tullio asks Giuliana to make an abort, but she refuses. When the child is born, Tullio hates him, but Giuliana tries to protect the baby. In the end, a tragedy happens. This movie is an intense drama, and certainly not indicated for a general public. The cast has an outstanding performance under the magnificent direction of Luchino Visconti. The movie shows also a wonderful and very detailed reconstitution of the Italian aristocracy in the Nineteenth Century. The very sad story does not bring redemption to any character. In Brazil, it is only available on VHS, but it deserves to be offered to the viewers by the distributors on DVD, to highlight the beauty of the scenes. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): `O Inocente' (`The Innocent')