The Libertine (1968 film)

The Libertine (Italian: La matriarca, lit. 'The Matriarch') is a 1968 Italian sex comedy film directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile and starring Catherine Spaak and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

The Libertine
Theatrical release poster
Italian	La matriarca
Directed by	Pasquale Festa Campanile
Screenplay by	Ottavio Jemma Nicolò Ferrari
Story by	Nicolò Ferrari
Produced by	Silvio Clementelli
Starring	Catherine Spaak Jean-Louis Trintignant Luigi Proietti Luigi Pistilli Renzo Montagnani Fabienne Dali Nora Ricci Edda Ferronao Vittorio Caprioli Gabriele Tinti Venantino Venantini Frank Wolff Paolo Stoppa Philippe Leroy
Cinematography	Alfio Contini
Edited by	Sergio Montanari
Music by	Armando Trovajoli
Production companies	Clesi Cinemtografica San Marco
Distributed by	Euro International Films
Release date	28 December 1968 (1968-12-28) (Italy)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Box office	128,378 admissions (France) $359,883 (Spain)[1]

Plot

Mimi, a young widow, discovers that her recently deceased husband kept a secret apartment for his kinky desires. Frustrated that he did not explore his sexual fantasies with her, she embarks on a quest to understand perversion and sexuality. She uses her late husband's apartment to seduce various men, each time learning more about the depths of human depravation, as well as the extent of the sexual double standard for women (late in the film, she states, "I notice men only call me a whore when I say no. Or stop saying yes.")

Finally, she meets the man who shares himself fully with her, appreciates her sexual daring and accepts her for whoever she is.

Cast

• Catherine Spaak as Margherita, a.k.a. Mimmi
• Jean-Louis Trintignant as Dr. Carlo De Marchi
• Luigi Proietti as Sandro Maldini
• Luigi Pistilli as Otto Frank, a.k.a. Mr. X
• Renzo Montagnani as Fabrizio
• Fabienne Dali as Claudia
• Nora Ricci as Mimmi's mother
• Edda Ferronao as Maria
• Vittorio Caprioli as the librarian
• Gabriele Tinti as the man in the car
• Venantino Venantini as Aurelio
• Frank Wolff as Dr. Giulio
• Paolo Stoppa as Professor Zauri
• Philippe Leroy as the tennis instructor

Reception

Howard Thompson of The New York Times said the film was "not nearly as clever, sophisticated and amusing as it archly pretends."^[2] The Guardian called it "pseudo-sophisticated, so fake as to be positively sick making and, what is more, thoroughly unerotic."^[3] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post complained "the film's own attitudes are far too conventional".^[4] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times thought the film was "at times... pretty hot stuff... has a little more style and wit than most Radley Metzger releases."^[5] Terry Clifford of the Chicago Tribune thought the film was "more clumsy than clever... just as unimaginative as the film it attempts to parody."^[6]

See also

• Sadism and masochism in fiction
• Libertine

References

1. Soyer, Renaud (25 February 2006). "L'Amour à cheval – Box Office Jean Louis Trintignant 1970". Box Office Story (in French).
2. Thompson, Howard (16 May 1969). "Screen: Restless Widow: The Libertine' Stars Catherine Spaak". The New York Times. p. 41.
3. Malcolm, Derek (15 August 1969). "The slow, the bad, and Buster". The Guardian. p. 6.
4. Arnold, Gary (16 August 1969). "A Comic 'Libertine'". The Washington Post. p. C6.
5. Thomas, Kevin (20 August 1969). "MOVIE REVIEW: 'Libertine' Westwood Run". Los Angeles Times. p. e19.
6. Clifford, Terry (25 August 1969). "The Movies: 'The Libertine'". Chicago Tribune. p. a9.

External links

• The Libertine at IMDb