Love Me Strangely

Last updated
Love Me Strangely
Love Me Strangely.jpg
Directed by Sergio Gobbi
Written by Dominique Fabre
Sergio Gobbi
Starring Virna Lisi
CinematographyDaniel Diot
Music by Georges Garvarentz
Release date
1971
LanguageFrench

Love Me Strangely (French : Un beau monstre, Italian : Il bel mostro, also known as A Strange Love Affair, Two Girls in My Bed and A Handsome Monster) is a 1971 French-Italian drama film written and directed by Sergio Gobbi. It is loosely based on the novel Un beau monstre by Dominique Fabre. It starred Virna Lisi, Helmut Berger, Francoise Brion and Howard Vernon. [1] [2]

Contents

Plot

Alain Revent sadistically abuses women. In the beginning of the movie, he is shown making his wife find an unidentified object, most likely a bottle of medicine. The woman doesn't seem to find it and is in an intense state of terror because of the abuse Alain perpetuated with her. The woman, driven to suicide, leaps out of a window as soon as Alain leaves the room for a moment. He enlists the aid of another pervert named Dino, known as "the handsome beast", and they proceed to emotionally torment his second wife, Nathalie. Officer Leroy begins to suspect the truth and is determined to save the unfortunate woman from Alain's clutches before she too is driven to suicide. The woman is driven to anorexia because of the abuse she has been suffering. Alain hides her bottle of medicine. After a visit from Alain's friend, Dino, she decides that she wants a divorce. Alain reacted in a threatening way. He proceeds to rape the woman in her sleep and use the excuse that she's pregnant as an excuse to not divorce, which came as a shock to the woman. She then recalls the moments Alain raped her.The woman runs away from her house, in fear. However, as she developed a slight dependence on Alain, she tells the officers that she doesn't need help and that Alain needs her. She stops at a hotel where she gets a call from the man, telling her that he's coming to find her. After they reunite, they kiss passionately, then they go home, quietly. However, in the last scene of the movie, the police are shown investigating something that is revealed to be the bodies of Nathalie and Alain next to each other on the ground. The two spouses have most likely committed suicide together.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<i>Teheran 43</i> 1981 film

Teheran 43 is a 1981 Soviet-French-Swiss political thriller film made by Mosfilm, Mediterraneo Cine and Pro Dis Film, directed by Aleksandr Alov and Vladimir Naumov. It is based on events around Operation Long Jump, the 1943 attempt by Nazi Germany to assassinate Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin and Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Tehran Conference.

The César Award for Best Actress is one of the César Awards, presented annually by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to recognize the outstanding performance in a leading role of an actress who has worked within the French film industry during the year preceding the ceremony. Nominees and winner are selected via a run-off voting by all the members of the Académie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josiane Balasko</span> French actress, writer, and director

Josiane Balasko is a French actress, writer, and director. She has been nominated seven times for César Awards, and won twice.

<i>Destination Unknown</i> (novel) 1954 spy novel by Agatha Christie

Destination Unknown is a work of spy fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 1 November 1954 and in US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1955 under the title of So Many Steps to Death. The UK edition retailed at ten shillings and sixpence (10/6) and the US edition at $2.75.

<i>A Certain Smile</i>

A Certain Smile was originally published in French as Un certain sourire by the Paris publisher Juillard in 1956. It was the second novel by Françoise Sagan and was written in two months. Two translations into English then followed in 1956. That by Anne Green was published by E.P. Dutton in New York and that by Irene Ash was published by John Murray in London, followed in the same year by a Penguin Books paperback edition. The story is related by a Parisian student who has an experimental love affair with a much older man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmut Berger</span> Austrian actor

Helmut Berger is an Austrian actor, known for his portrayal of narcissistic and sexually-ambiguous characters. He was one of the stars of the European cinema in the late 1960s and 1970s, and is regarded as a sex symbol and pop icon of the period.

Victoires de la Musique is an annual French award ceremony where the Victoire accolade is delivered by the French Ministry of Culture to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry. The classical and jazz versions are the Victoires de la musique classique and Victoires du Jazz.

<i>The Witches</i> (1967 film) Commedia allitaliana anthology film

The Witches is a 1967 commedia all'italiana anthology film produced by Dino De Laurentiis in 1965. It consists of five comic stories, directed by Luchino Visconti, Franco Rossi, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mauro Bolognini and Vittorio De Sica. Each story is about witches and features Silvana Mangano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Françoise, Princess of Condé</span> Princess of Condé

Louise Françoise, Duchess of Bourbon, was the eldest surviving legitimised daughter of Louis XIV of France and his maîtresse-en-titre Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan. She was said to have been named after her godmother, Louise de La Vallière, the woman her mother had replaced as the king's mistress. Before her marriage, she was known at court as Mademoiselle de Nantes.

<i>Forbidden Fruit</i> (1952 film) 1952 film

Forbidden Fruit is a 1952 French drama film directed by Henri Verneuil and starring Fernandel, Françoise Arnoul and Claude Nollier. Drawn from the novel Act of Passion by Georges Simenon, it omits the book's grim resolution and instead invents a happy ending. The story it tells is of a doctor in a provincial city with a devoted wife and children who falls for a sexy but transient young woman and then loses her before his domestic and professional life are both ruined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie Cordy</span> Belgian actress and singer (1928–2020)

Léonie Juliana, Baroness Cooreman, also known by her stage name Annie Cordy, was a Belgian actress and singer. She appeared in more than 50 films from 1954 and staged many memorable appearances at Bruno Coquatrix' famous Paris Olympia. Her version of "La Ballade de Davy Crockett" was number 1 in the charts for five weeks in France in August 1956. She was born in Laeken, Belgium, where in 2004, King Albert II of Belgium bestowed upon her the title of Baroness in recognition for her life's achievements.

<i>Bluebeard</i> (1972 film) 1972 film by Edward Dmytryk

Bluebeard is a 1972 film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Richard Burton, Raquel Welch, Joey Heatherton, and Sybil Danning.

Beau Masque is a Franco-Italian film directed by Bernard Paul and released in 1972.

<i>LImmortelle</i> 1963 film

L'Immortelle is a 1963 international co-produced drama film directed by Alain Robbe-Grillet, his first feature after the worldwide success of Last Year at Marienbad which he wrote. Entered into the 13th Berlin International Film Festival, it also won the Prix Louis Delluc.

<i>The Devil and the Ten Commandments</i> 1963 French film

Le Diable et les Dix Commandements is a French film from 1962 directed by Julien Duvivier that consists of seven sketches played by an ensemble cast that includes Michel Simon, Micheline Presle, Françoise Arnoul, Mel Ferrer, Charles Aznavour, Lino Ventura, Fernandel, Alain Delon, Danielle Darrieux, Jean-Claude Brialy, and Louis de Funès.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valérie Donzelli</span> French actress, film director and screenwriter

Valérie Donzelli is a French actress, filmmaker and screenwriter. She has directed five feature films and two short films since 2008, including the film Declaration of War (2011).

<i>The Possessed</i> (1965 film) 1965 Italian film

The Possessed is a 1965 Italian mystery film written and directed by Luigi Bazzoni and Franco Rossellini and starring Peter Baldwin, Virna Lisi, Pia Lindstrom and Philippe Leroy. It is based on the novel La donna del lago by Giovanni Comisso. The film was years later released on U.S. television as Love, Hate and Dishonor.

<i>Monsieur</i> (1964 film) 1964 film

Monsieur is a 1964 comedy film directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois and starring Jean Gabin, Liselotte Pulver and Mireille Darc.

Nathalie Maillet was a French-Luxembourgish architect, promoter, and racing driver. She previously competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and was the former CEO of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for five years before her passing in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Françoise Dorin</span>

Françoise Dorin was a French actor, comedian, novelist, playwright and songwriter. She was most successful in the 1970s, authored about 30 plays and more than 25 books as well as writing songs for various artists. Dorin wrote the song N'avoue jamais which was performed by Guy Mardel on behalf of France at the Eurovision Song Contest 1965. She was appointed Commandeur of the Légion d'honneur, the Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and the Grand officier de l’ordre national du Mérite. A street in Paris' 17th arrondissement was voted unanimously by the Council of Paris to be named after Dorin following her death.

References

  1. Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN   8876059350.
  2. Aa. Vv. La Revue du cinéma, image et son. Ligue française de l'enseignement et de l'éducation permanente, 1971.