Histoire d'aimer

Now Monica Vitti has departed, this film can serve well as a memory of her talents.

Rather than the distant and enigmatic heroine of Antonioni, we have an earthy woman of fierce passions whose excesses we can not only feel for but also laugh at, for as well as being beautiful and sexy she is also very funny. To praise her is not to ignore the performances of three other giants - Claudia Cardinale, Vittorio Gassman, Giancarlo Giannini - and the enjoyable clashes between the characters they portray. As the male principals are cheerful caricatures of Italian manhood, given to lust, violence and deceit, the story really belongs to the women and to the sympathy they evoke for their predicaments.