Il merlo maschio

Last updated
The Naked Cello
Secret Fantasy
Il merlo maschio.jpg
Italian Il merlo maschio
Directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile
Based onIl complesso di Loth
by Luciano Bianciardi
Starring Laura Antonelli
Cinematography Silvano Ippoliti
Edited by Mario Morra
Sergio Montanari
Music by Riz Ortolani
Release date
1971
Running time
112 min.
LanguageItalian

Il merlo maschio (The Male Blackbird), known as The Naked Cello in the United Kingdom or Secret Fantasy in the United States, is an Italian film in the commedia sexy all'italiana style, and presents a theme of candaulism, that was very rare at the time. It was filmed in 1971 by director Pasquale Festa Campanile, and starred Laura Antonelli and Lando Buzzanca.

Contents

Synopsis

Niccolò Vivaldi is a frustrated cello player whose career has stalled and who is unappreciated by his orchestra director.

He discovers that the beauty of his wife Costanza arouses in him admiration for her, and reflects on him. From then on, he decides to show it in public in order to gain personal glory. He takes photographs of her in poses that gradually became pornographic, and he begins to show the images to his friend and colleague Cavalmoretti and in a moment of madness to all the other members of the orchestra. Eventually, in a crescendo of exhibitionism, she playfully encourages him to photograph her nude in sensual poses, such as the screenshot below, and finally he exposes her completely nude (by an apparent accident with her dress) in front of everyone at Verona's Arena during the showing of Aida . Niccolò ends up in a mental institution.

Cast

Laura Antonelli in an iconic still from the film Il merlo maschio (1971) - Laura Antonelli.jpg
Laura Antonelli in an iconic still from the film

Reception

A contemporary review found the film bizarre. [1]

Analysis

The film was shot in Verona, and it shows many situations in the environment of practicing symphonic orchestras that at certain moment of the year are allowed to play in Arena. Il Merlo Maschio represents the Commedia all'italiana .

Unlike most Italian comedy films in that epoch, always repeating the storyboards of the first erotic dreams of the symbolic teenager Pierino, or the arousal reactions of secluded soldiers that watch for the first time the shapes of a beauty queen (Gloria Guida, etc.), The Male Blackbird is also a light and discrete sociological presentation of the theme of candaulism.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Guida</span> Italian actress and model

Gloria Guida is an Italian actress and model. She is best known for starring in commedia sexy all'italiana, particularly the La liceale series, and also in erotic coming-of-age-drama films in the mid-1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwige Fenech</span> French-Italian actress, producer (born 1948)

Edwige Fenech is a French-Italian actress and film producer. She is mostly known as the star of a series of commedia sexy all'italiana and giallo films released in the 1970s, which turned her into a sex symbol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lando Buzzanca</span> Italian actor (1935–2022)

Gerlando "Lando" Buzzanca was an Italian stage, film, and television actor whose career spanned 65 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilli Carati</span> Italian mainstream and pornographic actress (1956–2014)

Lilli Carati was an Italian actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefania Sandrelli</span> Italian actress (born 1946)

Stefania Sandrelli is an Italian actress, famous for her many roles in the commedia all'Italiana, starting from the 1960s. She was 14 years old when she starred in Divorce Italian Style as Angela, the cousin and love interest of Ferdinando, played by Marcello Mastroianni.

<i>Commedia allitaliana</i> Italian film genre

Commedia all'italiana, or Italian-style comedy, is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mario Monicelli's Big Deal on Madonna Street in 1958, and derives its name from the title of Pietro Germi's Divorce Italian Style (1961). According to most of the critics, La Terrazza (1980) by Ettore Scola is the last work considered part of the commedia all'italiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pasquale Festa Campanile</span> Italian screenwriter, film director and novelist

Pasquale Festa Campanile was an Italian screenwriter, film director and novelist, best known as a prominent exponent of the commedia all'italiana genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Grazia Buccella</span> Italian actress (born 1940)

Maria Grazia Buccella is an Italian actress, glamour model and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss Italia 1959 and represented her country at Miss Universe 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luciano Bianciardi</span> Italian journalist, translator and writer (1922–1971)

Luciano Bianciardi was an Italian journalist, translator and writer of short stories and novels.

<i>Operation St. Peters</i> 1967 film directed by Lucio Fulci

Operazione San Pietro is a 1967 Italian comedy film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film is a sort of unofficial sequel to Operazione San Gennaro, a successful heist-comedy film that Dino Risi had filmed the previous year.

<i>Commedia sexy allitaliana</i> Italian film genre

The commedia sexy all'italiana, also known as commedia scollacciata or commedia erotica all'italiana, is a subgenre of the Italian commedia all'italiana film genre.

<i>The Eroticist</i> 1972 film directed by Lucio Fulci

The Eroticist is a 1972 Italian commedia sexy all'italiana film directed by Lucio Fulci. It had censorship problems and was banned shortly after its release. Later it was released in a heavily cut version and prohibited for persons under 18 years.

<i>Il malato immaginario</i> 1979 Italian film

Il malato immaginario is a 1979 Italian comedy film directed by Tonino Cervi. It is a loose adaptation of Molière's Le Malade imaginaire set in 1600 papal Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniela Giordano</span> Italian actress (1946–2022)

Daniela Giordano was an Italian actress, who is foremost known for her appearances in the Italian exploitation cinema in the late 1960s and in the 1970s. She is not to be confused with the stage actress and director of the same name.

<i>Il gatto mammone</i> 1975 film by Nando Cicero

Il gatto mammone is a 1975 Italian commedia sexy all'italiana directed by Nando Cicero.

<i>My Sister in Law</i> Italian film directed by Lucio Fulci

My Sister in Law is an Italian commedia sexy all'italiana directed by Lucio Fulci and starring Edwige Fenech.

<i>Il turno</i> (film) Film

Il turno is a 1981 Italian comedy film directed by Tonino Cervi.

<i>Man of the Year</i> (1971 film) 1971 film by Marco Vicario

Man of the Year is a 1971 Italian commedia sexy all'italiana directed by Marco Vicario. The film was a blockbuster at the Italian box office.

<i>Rascel-Fifì</i> Film

Rascel-Fifì is a 1957 Italian crime-comedy film directed by Guido Leoni. It is a parody of Jules Dassin's Rififi. The film was a success at the Italian box office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aldo Puglisi</span> Italian actor

Aldo Puglisi is an Italian actor.

References

  1. IL MERLO MASCHIO (in Italian), retrieved 2024-01-07