Love And Anarchy
Set in fascist Italy before the war, Giancarlo Giannini stars as a young man from the country who has come to Rome to assassinate Mussolini. He poses as the cousin of a whore (Mariangela Melato) who is part of the opposition. He spends much of his time in the brothel where she works, biding his time until the appointed time of the assassination.
But, of course, spending a lot of time in a whorehouse will have an effect on a man. He falls in love with a winsome prostitute called Tripolina. She reciprocates the affection, and after he tells her what his purpose is there she conspires to stop him from carrying out the deed, as she believes he will be killed in the attempt.
The film is alternately funny, sexy, angry, and sad. The contempt for fascism, which of course is an easy target, is apparent. A major character is one of Mussolini's bodyguards, who is a frequent visitor to the brothel. He is being used by Melato so Giannini can get close to Mussolini. He is an arrogant buffoon, a representative of all that is wrong with the government.
The women of the brothel, on the other hand, are seen in a romanticized view. It's the best brothel in town, we are told, which for Rome must have been very good. The scenes in which men come in and choose their favorites has a Fellini-esque quality--it's interesting how Wertmuller's films, or at least the three I have seen, present a view of sex from a male's point of view.
Despite the overlooking of what drove these women to their situation, Love And Anarchy brims with feeling. Giannini, who plays a soft-spoken man, nevertheless has his moments of rage, such as when the fascist bodyguard indicates that he has slept with his beloved Tripolina. It's an age-old problem for men who fall in love with prostitutes--by doing so they have just cut off the income of their girl.
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