Addio fratello crudele

Well, I have to say that 'Tis a Pity She's a Whore wasn't exactly what I was expecting. Given the title, and the fact that it was made in Italy during the 1970's, I was expecting something a lot more sleazy and bloody than this! The film is based on a stage play by John Ford, and this is always obvious as it's all very stagy and the focus seems to be on the performances. This might be a good thing if you were going into the film looking for something 'great' - but I just wanted sleaze! The plot line, however, is about as sleazy as it gets and puts most of its focus on the sick idea of incest. There's a bit of the standard 'arranged marriage' theme thrown in for good measure, and the plot focuses on Annabella; a woman who marries Soranzo after it was decided she would. However, this isn't good news for her brother - a man named Giovanni, as he's also in love with Annabella, and has managed to get her pregnant, despite the fact that she's his sister.

The plot is actually rather good, in that the central theme is interesting. It's the way that its portrayed that was the problem for me, however, as the plot pace isn't very exciting and it seems to take an eternity to get to the point. There's a fair amount of sex in the movie, but it isn't very graphic; so fans of the rough stuff are likely to be disappointed. One of my main reasons for seeing this film was because of the fact that it stars Charlotte Rampling. She might not be as beautiful as some of the other women making trash films around the same time (e.g. Edwige Fenech, Rosalba Neri, Barbara Bouchet), but Rampling is a classy lady who doesn't seem to mind starring in unsavoury movies, which is OK with me. She is joined by Fabio Testi and Oliver Tobias, who apparently was some sort of sex symbol around the time. The film does get more interesting towards the end, when the story opens up and we finally get to see some blood. I'm not saying this is an overall bad film - but the story and the way it's portrayed didn't work very well.

'Tis Pity She's a Whore' is the story of a passionate and romantic love between brother and sister Giovanni (Oliver Tobias) and Annabella (Charlotte Rampling), and the ensuing havoc when, pregnant, she marries an arrogant nobleman (Fabio Testi). Writer/director Giuseppe Patroni Griffi freely adapted his screenplay from John Ford's Jacobean tragedy. His film is highly personal and exquisitely conceived, with a radiant cast. Released in 1971, it has been available here only in a frustratingly truncated, coarsely edited, 91-minute, full-screen VHS version dubbed in English.

With some effort it can now be found in a 100-minute, wide-screen DVD version in Italian, with optional Japanese subtitles – but no English. If you know and love this film as I do, you won't care. You will revel in the sheer beauty of its design, photography, and cast (including Antonio Falsi as Giovanni's friend and confessor). Illustrative of writer/director Griffi's vision and eye is his creation of such a ravishing ensemble. All simply exude youthful animal magnetism and appeal.

The violence is typical of a tragedy of this period with subjects like incest, blasphemy, obsession, and revenge. Suffice it to say, the 17th Century was not a time when such things were taken lightly! But there are many moments of great poetry as well. Allegory and symbolism abound and, as Oliver Tobias (a major British sex symbol) never looked so extraordinary, Maestro Griffi unabashedly exploits the actor's resemblance to a suffering Christ throughout his gorgeous, breathtaking film.

'Tis Pity She's A Whore' is a lavishly produced and strongly acted movie which raises a lot of fascinating questions about where to draw the line between art and exploitation, and indeed, if there is any need to. Based on the play by Shakespeare's contemporary John Ford, it manages to work as an engrossing historical drama, and captivate as a passionate, albeit unconventional, romance, while still being sensationalistic enough to entertain any fan of AIP-style Seventies sleaze. The central relationship between Charlotte Rampling ('The Damned', 'Zardoz', 'Angel Heart') and long forgotten 70s sex symbol Oliver Tobias (who I grew up watching on several UK TV shows popular at the time, but now too obscure to bother listing) is incestuous, and the movie ends up with a surprisingly bloody climax that will please splatter buffs. Like the recent controversial adaption of 'Titus' it reminds the modern viewer that sex, violence and extreme imagery are are nothing new and have long been the subject of great literature. (Or if you prefer so-called "great literature") 'Tis Pity She's A Whore' is one of the great lost European movies of the early Seventies, and deserves a much larger audience. Knowing nothing about it before viewing, and not being familiar with the original text, I expected it to be a lighweight erotic romp worth a giggle or two, but was very impressed at just how powerful a movie experience it was. After watching it I immediately watched it again. Highly recommended.

I'm too practically minded to not observe that it's surely the flaws of the picture that first catch our attention. The editing is rather curt and brusque; the sound design is noticeably uneven, sometimes all but blowing out one's speakers and at others quite soft. Worse is gawky pacing that on the one hand will not let any scene or story beat manifest, breathe, and resolve naturally, let alone carry the weight or impact that they should, and that on the other hand is lax about plot development - even as the narrative is quite terrible at communicating time. (How long was Giovanni in seclusion after he first returned home? How long were he and Annabella meeting in secret before he confided to another about her condition? The movie doesn't tell us, and these aren't the only examples.) Pair all this with a distinct declination of clarity or abject plot in some moments, lending certain airy art film sensibilities to this period piece, and the result is invariably going to be a feature in which both film-making and storytelling is much less than pristine. Whatever else is true of ''Tis a pity she's a whore,' in some capacity it's already operating at a disadvantage.

That's the bad news. The good news is that in many other ways this is very well done. The involvement of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and composer Ennio Morricone is nothing to sneeze at; Storaro's keen eye makes for some wonderfully fetching visions, if not always true across the board, while Morricone's themes are unquestionably enticing as they greet our ears. The production design is simply outstanding, a real treat for the eyes as it adorns lovely filming locations, with art direction only half a step behind. Much the same can also be said of the costume design, and the hair and makeup work. I think this is also a great credit for chief stars Charlotte Rampling and Oliver Tobias, both giving strong, spirited, nuanced performances to bring ill-fated siblings Annabella and Giovanni to life. And I quite like Giuseppe Patroni Griffi's direction, orchestrating scenes with welcome, focused mindfulness in recognition that the film draws on a stage play as source material. In light of the terrific sets, furthermore, Griffi demonstrates splendid shot composition in some instances that's especially gratifying as a viewer.

Meanwhile, I'm actually quite fond of the adapted screenplay concocted between Griffi and co-writers Alfio Valdarnini and Carlo Carunchio. It's certainly not without its faults, above all with tawdry imprecision when it comes to plot development and the passage of time. Even for this, though, and the subsequent diminishing of the drama, the dialogue is rich and flavorful, echoing the flowery language of a seventeenth-century playwright, and the scene writing is quite robust and pleasingly detailed in building the feature bit by bit. Conveyance of the narrative and its full gravity is less than ideal, somewhat like a warped facsimile in which the fidelity of the image is lost, yet still sufficient to imperfectly impart the tale at hand. To that point, it's worth observing that the plot is rife with horrid misogyny in its last act (when Something Is Wrong, a woman is always to blame, dontcha know) and despicable, antiquated values and social attitudes, on top of the already extremely taboo subject of incest. I do admire the low-key approach taken to that topic, however - not celebratory, not condemnatory, but simply depicting it as a reality of the complexities of humans, whatever a society may think of it.

All told it wouldn't have taken much to correct those issues that trouble this title. I think it's quite good, yet for where it goes wrong, the severity of the drama is weakened, passing less meaningfully in consequence. This is especially unfortunate given the last several minutes that go so stridently dark, dire beats that as they present therefore almost feel out of place. Were the pacing more judicious, and moments more drawn out to accentuate their import, surely the final cut would have been altogether great and thusly gain more renown in the annals of cinematic history. As it stands, the full force of John Ford's play, including not least the central relationship, feels like it's been shortchanged. Please don't misunderstand, however: for all that is, truly, done well, ''Tis a pityi she's a whore' remains well worth checking out, an absorbing viewing experience that solidly keeps one engaged through all the ups and downs. Whether one is specifically a fan of someone involved, an avid reader of English literature, or just an ardent cinephile, this earns a firm recommendation. Only, would that my enthusiasm for it weren't tempered by discrete deficiencies.

Family drama concerning the love of a brother, Giovani, for his sister, Annabella. At first Giovanni tries to reject his feelings but through the efforts of Annabella he soon finds himself in her arms and her in his bed. Unfortunately Annabella is promised to wed Soranzo by her father, and as with all great sagas of love and lust, revenge soon raises its ugly head as the sordid saga heads towards its bloody finale.

This is one of the great unknown treasures of cult cinema. I'm looking forward to when an appreciating audience finds this challenging Italian costume drama and it is given the DVD SE treatment it deserves. This fabulous movie, based upon the stage play by John Ford, is directed with an eye for the beautiful, bizarre and tragic by director Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, stunningly photographed by Vitorrio Storaro, beautifully scored by the great Ennio Morricone, and contains ravishing costumes, authentic locations and stunning sets, not forgetting muscle bound men, buxom women and Charlotte Rampling looking absolutely gorgeous.

This is the kind of film Jess Franco would have made if he had any talent. Indeed, for anyone who enjoys cult movies and/or Italian/European trash cinema of the late sixties/seventies this film offers it all. The ending is a corker, one that the makers of Caligula would be envious of.

NB: Tis Pity She's a Whore was released to video by Redemption in the UK in the mid nineties. Wisely they chose to release it in widescreen and used a nice print. No longer available.