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Eroticist (The) AKA All'onorevole piacciono le donne (1972)
R0 - America - Severin Films Review written by and copyright: Jari Kovalainen (21st December 2007). |
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The Film
 If one has to think of the prototype Italian politician - appearance wise, many people would probably choose ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. This slick, playboy-like businessman loves money and power, and uses media mostly for his selfish needs or to slip out something controversial (well, “funny” if you ask the man himself). Media loves and hates him, but one thing is certain; they also need him. What would the daily news be without personalities like Berlusconi? “Better”, some say - but “dull”, others say. It’s no surprise that these colorful politicians have been incorporated in political satire. Average people enjoy this form of comedy a lot, but there’s a flip side of the coin; It can cause some controversies of its own, especially in Italy, where the political turmoil has been quite common over the years. Italian director/co-writer Lucio Fulci could also do some lighter subjects (he directed several comedies early in his career) and “The Eroticist AKA All'onorevole piacciono le donne (Nonostante le apparenze... e purché la nazione non lo sappia...) (1972)” (also known as “Senator Likes Women”) is his “political satire-sex comedy”-hybrid. It tells Senator Giacinto Puppis (Lando Buzzanca - e.g. “Monte Carlo or Bust (1969)”), as serious candidate for the next President of Italy. His focus has been firmly in politics (he has been a loner) and recently to beat his opponent in the Presidential race, one incident creates a serious threat to these plans. He’s been spotted bluntly grabbing the butt of a woman during the important event. This escalates soon and Puppis realizes that it’s beyond his control. He sees only women’s buttocks everywhere and wants to grab them all. Like in a trance - even in his sleep, his hand is restlessly trying to find more butts to grab onto. His Dominican monk friend Father Lucion (Renzo Palmer - e.g. “Street Law AKA Il Cittadino si rubella (1974)”) also reveals that there’s a “blackmailing scheme” in progress and offers some help; Puppis goes to the remote convent to “cure himself” under the watchful eye of Father Scirer (Francis Blanche). The only problem is that over 20 beautiful German nuns are also in the convent, most of them very “lonely”… While all this sounds more like a “sex comedy”, the story involves many characters, taking the satire of the Italian political world and state, and eventually all the way to the powerful Catholic church. They all get their share. Cardinal Maravigli (Lionel Stander - e.g. “Hart to Hart (1979-1984)” TV-series) is hungry for power and through Puppis plans to achieve it. Shady Don Gesualdo (Corrado Gaipa - e.g. “The Godfather (1972)”) is also watching Puppis’ every move. Police are spying on the army’s secret service, the army is spying on the police and political parties are scheming. Everybody is secretly listening to each other’s conversations. Last - but not least, the nun Sister Hildegarde (Laura Antonelli - e.g. “The Innocent AKA L' Innocente (1976)”) travels to meet Puppis. The senator has to “finish the job”, since Hildegarde is the only virgin left after the Puppis visited the convent. The Presidential race is about to get steamy… “The Eroticist” manages to be both funny and sexy (mainly thanks to gorgeous Antonelli) and its witty satire works quite well. Non-Italians (like myself) will most likely miss a lot of the political nuances and inside jokes that the story offers, but many of them are universal; politics, religion, power, money, scandals and sex. In a twisted way these all can merge together sometimes and that’s when the real headlines are made of. The film caused some roar in Italy when it came out and especially parties on the “left” weren’t too happy (Buzzanca also had problems with some particular journalists at the time). The film is still essentially a comedy though. Lead actor Lando Buzzanca (the look of Puppis is based on the real-life minister Colombo, from the Christian Democracy party) is very good in the role and quite a gifted comedian too. He’s surrounded with capable actors (and bare bums), which deliver a few quite funny incidents (with the touch of black humor). The scene where Cardinal Maravigli loses his cool during the sacred, holy event is priceless and there’s some old fashion slapstick-humor when Puppis goes wild with his “grabbing”-obsession (one time the target is actually a man - just wearing a kilt). Sharp dialogue (“It’s better to be drunk on brandy than on power!”) together with some healthy nudity keeps the film interesting and Fulci also manages to create a few strong visuals, such as the surreal dream/hallucination-sequences. Credits for these should also go to the cinematographer Sergio D'Offizi (e.g. “Cannibal Holocaust (1980)”) and makeup artist Giannetto De Rossi (both are interviewed in the extras), who together with experience and experimentation created something unique with a small budget. There are also some “darker tones” - if you will, in the film as you can see near the end scenes, which spices up the overall film and keeps Fulci’s “no real happy ending”-reputation intact. “The Eroticist” leaves some areas unexplored (e.g. the scenes in the convent fails to really deliver), suffering in the comedy department. The focus is also lost a few times during the film, which shows in weaker and duller parts. I would still say that “The Eroticist” is funnier, sexier and cleverer than I originally thought and that’s already very good news. As a side note, Lucio Fulci wasn’t the only Italian genre director who also did a few sex comedies. E.g. Sergio Martino did several and also maestro Mario Bava (e.g. “Four Times That Night AKA Quante volte... quella notte (1972)”). To my understanding they were quite popular in Italy at that time.
Video
The film is presented in Anamorphic 1.85:1 (image is very slightly window-boxed) and it’s fully uncut Italian version (using Italian credits). Overall the film can look very good and quite clean, but there are also sections where the black levels could be stronger and the image more consistent. Perhaps due the original production, it seems that the color scheme can vary slightly during these scenes (or even shots) and in some sequences the colors strike me as unnatural. Along with the usual grain, the film has some compression artifacts (especially in some of the darker scenes). While the DVD is clearly the best version of the film available and perfectly acceptable, it’s just not perfect. “Dual Layer” disc is coded for “R0” and the film runs 109:38 minutes (NTSC). There are some additional music and “black screen” after the end credits. Disc has 16 chapters.
Audio
The Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is the only audio track and optional English subtitles are included (you just have to change them from the audio menu). Again there’s minor hiss in the background, but generally nothing that would make it really “inferior” compared to other releases from the same era. It’s basic, quite decent Mono-track, where the dialogue is always heard.
Extras
“Nel Supremo Interesse Della Nazione - A History Of Censorship" -documentary (in Italian, with optional English subtitles - 43:07 minutes) features interviews from lead actor Lando Buzzanca, cinematographer Sergio D'Offizi and makeup artist Giannetto De Rossi. The history of “The Eroticist” is covered in an interesting way and enthusiastic storyteller Buzzanca feeds us anecdotes and views about the film and the people around it. He tells about the screenplay (after the first version the script changed), problems with one producer (who refused to give a car for Buzzanca’s transportation during the production), about turning him into a “minister Colombo” look-alike (he had to use an annoying wig), some controversial feedback after premiere, his opinions about the film itself (the “2nd half” was weaker, perhaps due the interference by the producers), and the way Fulci worked (based on Buzzanca, he didn’t always shoot “complete scenes”, but could shoot some other scenes in the middle also). The actor also boast that 260-280 films were made in each year during that time (not sure how close to truth that actually is) and many times the crew got work just because he signed to do a movie. He says great things about the film crews back then and tells that every comic actor should always listen to the crew (since their humor is very direct). Buzzanca calls Fulci cultured, intelligent and professional, while De Rossi says that he was energetic on the set (swore a lot), who sometimes “went wild” if there were amateurs on the set. D'Offizi tells a less admirable anecdote of Fulci, who once yelled something like “bring out the boobs!” in front of the whole crew to actress Laura Antonelli (she wasn’t pleased). Buzzanca also implies that Fulci might have done once to Antonelli what Senator Puppis frequently does in the film. Antonelli was a bit distant on the set, but I can’t really blame her. De Rossi tells about his contribution to the film, which included making Buzzanca look like “minister Colombo”, involving in the longer “dream sequence” (where he sculpted the tree trunk, with big apples) and also creating the “head” to the cane that Don Gesualdo uses. De Rossi also mentions, that the political situation then wasn’t that different than Italy has now (at the time of the interview referring to Berlusconi). D'Offizi also chimes in and reveals that the look of the longer “dream sequence” was partly result of experimenting (which paid off). Outside Fulci and Buzzanca, you’ll also learn about the other main actors. This clip is a very good piece, which really widens the film experience. Note, that the planned (and already announced) archive Lucio Fulci-interview was eventually dropped due the request of his daughter Antonella Fulci. Out of respect the interview was removed them from the disc.
Overall
While there are probably many messages hidden in the film, one is quite obvious; the political talk can grow quickly tired among mainstream viewers. If there’s an important football match or the game show on TV, many people will change the channel. I guess that’s the interesting aspect of the whole thing; Politicians have plenty to say, but in the end - do people really listen? Or better yet, care? The DVD-presentation includes quite decent A/V quality and very good documentary, so fans can just delve in. For more info, please visit the homepage of Severin Films.
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