Salvare la faccia (1968)

The synopsis below has been provided by the Movie Guide Database. Reading this (having not seen the movie to access how accurate it is, to begin with), we can only suggest that the movie might have been better titled, "Inexplicable Overreactions of Seriously Dysfunctional Family" - daughter caught in a brothel and father puts her in a mental institution. Because father put her in a mental institution, daughter turns from "lover of life" into an sadistic murderer, bent on destroying everyone who put her there. Hopefully, there's more to this movie than the bare outlines of the story might suggest. The Italian title of the movie, "Salvare la faccia" ("Saving Face"), might point towards a storyline that in fact reveals the inanity of placing family dignity and respectability above the needs of the family members themselves.

"La Russa is the daughter of Brazzi, a wealthy and prominent industrialist. She is a lover of life, completely free of all inhibition. She falls in love with Castelnuovo, not knowing that he wants to use her to his advantage. La Russa is lured to a brothel, where the two proceed to make love. They are surprised by a police vice squad and press photographers. To avoid scandal, Brazzi has La Russa confined to a mental institution. He must also pay off Castelnuovo when the young man threatens blackmail. Later, La Russa is released and returns home. She tells everyone she is happy but really seeks revenge for her confinement. She has Castelnuovo film her father making love with his mistress. When Brazzi shows some business clients film of his trip to the Holy Land, the sex footage is mixed in as well. La Russa then seduces her brother-in-law, thus driving her sister (Pitagora) to suicide. Finally, she has her revenge on Castelnuovo. Learning that her father is going to visit the man, she drugs her former lover's champagne. She props up the unconscious man in bed and fixes a pistol to point directly at his face. The trigger is attached by string to the doorknob. When her father enters the room, the gun goes off, killing Castelnuovo. She later confronts Brazzi, telling him she knows he murdered her ex-lover but will not tell the cops. But she promises her father one thing: she intends to make the rest of his life a living nightmare. There is some really interesting photography in the film, with some fine editing patterns. The leads also give good performances and instill the film with life. However, the dialog, poorly recorded in English, is completely insipid. There's also some completely unnecessary elements, such as bad rock music, a masturbation-in-a-bathtub sequence, and unrelated conversations about the nature of power and money. These factors bring down what could have been an interesting and intriguing feature.

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