Nero's Mistress

A very silly movie indeed. A spoof of Nero and ancient Rome. I loved Nero's elegiac song in the palace court, surrounded by the chubbykin cherubs. Nero to mamma Agrippina, "How beautiful you are," he says, as he plans to kill her and others who annoy him or stand in his way in this movie where everybody seems to have homicide on their minds and snakes in their hands. Nero's philosophy: "I have more important things than politics. I have to sing." Seneca turns the criticism of Nero's singing like a dog into a laudatory affirmation.

This is all Marx Brothers mayhem, with the weirdest casting imaginable: Alberto Sordi as the demented Nero (perfect), Gloria Swanson as mom Agrippina (seething), Brigitte Bardot as gold-digger Poppea (lusty), Vittorio De Sica as Seneca (cautiously two-faced). The movie's release in America in a dubbed version was minimal, but it's really quite enjoyable.

This somewhat outdated comedy from Italy somewhat anticipates the coming boom in Italian sword and sandal films. The well-known stories about the crazy Roman Emperor Nero are told. The topic is still very popular, as can be seen impressively in the current film SENECA by Robert SCHWENTKE.

This film by Stefano VANZINA /STENO (PLATTFOOT with Bud SPENCER) impresses with colorful images (on camera: Mario BAVA!!!) and excellent actors. Alberto SORDI (GOLDEN GLOBE for IL DIAVOLO / AMORE IN STOCKHOLM) can be seen as Emperor Nero. Vittorio De SICA (ACADEMY AWARD nomination for A FAREWELL TO ARMS) portrays the poet Seneca. As a big Hollywood surprise, Gloria SWANSON (ACADEMY AWARD nomination for SUNSET BOULEVARD, among others) plays the emperor mother Agrippina. This cast is truly a show! But the main eye-catcher is of course the very young BAMBI AWARD winner Brigitte BARDOT, who as Poppäa gets to bathe beautifully in donkey milk. Mon Dieu! The BB!

The actors are probably also the ones who made it possible for the global streaming service NETFLIX to bring this Italian classic out of obscurity. It doesn't hurt to look!

A very easy portrait of episodes of Nero reign. The names of actors are the basic motif to see it. But the acting is very nice, seductive , the irony is well crafted and Alberto Sordi as immature emperor is just admirable.

A comedy without high ambitions, giving not exactly revelation but good open window to the parody of Italian sandals and sand films , for a beautiful self irony of Gloria Swanson and for the young Brigitte Bardot proposing a lovely Poppea. And, not the last Vittorio De Sica as a Seneca proposing the joy of acting.

In short, a charming film for the dose of irony, for remind of cliches about Nero and for the sparkles about Nero proposed, in Quo Vadis, by Sienkievicz and ...Peter Ustinov.

But while there is slapstick, it sometimes feels like it is just a "normal" movie ... and not the completely out there comedy it actually is. Maybe that is because of me not being fluent in Italian and certain things being lost in translation ... or maybe the mood and flow of the movie is actually all over the place.

Having said that, the comedy does work if you don't expect much. The actors are really good and they sort of elevate an otherwise quite subpar movie I'd say ... it is a matter of taste (even if most would say bad taste)

As was the case with TWO NIGHTS WITH CLEOPATRA (1953), this Alberto Sordi vehicle lampoons the then-affluent peplum genre; helmed by another comedy specialist, it's a superior effort – with the star's particular brand of fooling (a mix of pompousness and naïveté) somewhat better suited this time around to the requirements of his role, that of notorious music-loving and mad Roman Emperor Nero.

Besides, the film has an eclectic – and rather surprising – mix of talents, on both sides of the camera: in fact, it co-stars Vittorio De Sica (a great director but also a wonderful actor) as Seneca, Gloria Swanson (her renowned comeback in SUNSET BOULEVARD [1950], alas, didn't lead to much) as Agrippina – Nero's fearsome and domineering mother, Brigitte Bardot (on the verge of becoming an international sex symbol) as a rather ordinary-looking Poppea, and even future Hammer leading lady Barbara Shelley – though not in a prominent role, presumably, as one of the innumerable maidens at Nero's palace; and, then, there's horrormeisters Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci – here in the capacity of cinematographer and assistant director respectively!

The film manages to be quite engaging and stylish (no wonder, given Bava's involvement)…even if it was rather a chore to watch, since the Italian TV channel which showed it has been suffering from a horrendous reception for some time! The simple plot involves Agrippina's unannounced arrival at Nero's resting quarters to verify rumors of his liaison with Poppea; Seneca, Nero's adviser, is assigned by the Emperor the task of stalling her at every turn…even if he has to marry her to do so! Of course, Nero is eager to flaunt his alleged musical genius and the bevy of associates and conspirators enclosed within the palace boldly hisses or meekly applauds his would-be compositions; at the end, distressed by rejection (especially by those closest to him) leads him to set the empire's capital on fire...