''Love and Anarchy'' ( it, Film d'amore e d'anarchia, ovvero: stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza..., lit=Film of love and anarchy, or rather: this morning at 10, in via dei Fiori, in the well-known brothel ...) is a 1973 Italian film directed by

Lina Wertmüller Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich (14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021), known as Lina Wertmüller (), was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art house films '' Seven Beauti ...

and starring

Giancarlo Giannini Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beauties ...

and

Mariangela Melato Mariangela Melato (19 September 1941 – 11 January 2013) was an Italian cinema and theater actress. She began her stage career in the 1960s. Her first film role was in ''Thomas e gli indemoniati'' (1969), directed by Pupi Avati. She played in m ...

. The story, set in Fascist Italy before the outbreak of World War II, centers on Giannini's character, an anarchist who stays in a brothel while preparing to assassinate Benito Mussolini. Giannini's character falls in love with one of the women working in the brothel. This film explores the depths of his emotions concerning love, his hate for

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

, and his fears of being killed while assassinating Mussolini. ''Love and Anarchy'' was nominated for the

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival and Giannini was awarded Best Actor.

Plot

The film begins with Tunin (

) learning that his friend, an anarchist who was plotting to kill Benito Mussolini, has been killed by Mussolini's fascist police in the countryside. Tunin decides to take up the cause his friend died for. The movie then shows Tunin entering a brothel in Rome and meeting Salomè (

), and the two have a casual sexual encounter. Salomè explains her reasons for helping in the assassination plot as her former lover was wrongfully beaten to death by Mussolini's police in Milan. The story continues as Salomè arranges for her, Tunin and Tripolina ( Lina Polito), another prostitute at the brothel, to spend the day with Spatoletti (

Eros Pagni Eros Pagni (born 28 August 1939) is an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in La Spezia, at the age of 17, Pagni started attending the Silvio d'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome and then went back to Genoa and played rol ...

), the head of Mussolini's police. The four of them go to the countryside near Rome where the assassination will take place in a few days' time. Salomè keeps Spatoletti busy while Tunin scouts out the area and makes a plan. Tunin takes an interest, however, in Tripolina, and they fall in love. Tunin convinces Tripolina to spend the next two days with him before the assassination as he fears they may be his last. On the morning of the assassination, Tripolina is supposed to wake Tunin early. She loves him and is scared he will die so she decides she will not wake him. Tripolina and Salomè argue about this and what to do but in the end they decide to let him sleep. Tunin wakes up and is furious at both of them, and he goes into a tirade that draws the attention of the police. He starts a shootout with them and screams that he wants to kill Mussolini. He is captured and beaten to death by the police. The film ends the way it began showing the full title of the film "Stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza..." ''This morning at 10, on Via dei Fiori (Flowers Street), in a noted brothel'' which is the headline of an unnamed newspaper. The article, displaying fascist censorship, states that Tunin (who is unnamed) was arrested and then took his own life.

Cast

as Antonio Soffiantini 'Tunin' *

as Salomè * Lina Polito as Tripolina *

as Giacinto Spatoletti *

Pina Cei Pina Cei (born Giuseppina Casini; 13 June 1904 – 1 February 2000) was an Italian stage, film and television actress. She appeared in more than thirty films from 1933 to 1995. Life and career The daughter of the stage actress Luisa Cei, she ma ...

as Madame Aida *

Elena Fiore Elena Fiore (26 July 1928 – September 26, 1999) was an Italian film actress, best known for her roles in Lina Wertmüller films. Born in Naples, Fiore debuted in 1972 in the role Amalia Finocchiaro, an overweight, middle-aged woman full of sexu ...

as Donna Carmela *

Giuliana Calandra Giuliana Calandra (10 February 1936 – 25 November 2018) was an Italian film, television and stage actress, journalist and television hostess. Life and career Born in Moncalieri, Giuliana Calandra debuted in 1963 Pier Paolo Pasolini's '' La r ...

Isa Bellini Isa Bellini (19 June 1922 – 5 February 2021

as Zoraide * Isa Danieli as Prostitute *

Enrica Bonaccorti Enrica Bonaccorti (born 18 November 1949) is an Italian former actress, television and radio presenter, and lyricist. Life and career Born in Savona, Bonaccorti spent her adolescence in several cities, including Sassari and Genoa, because of ...

as Prostitute * Anna Bonaiuto as Prostitute * Anita Branzanti as Prostitute * Maria Sciacca as Prostitute * Anna Melato as Prostitute * Gea Linchi as Prostitute * Anna Stivala as Prostitute *

Roberto Herlitzka Roberto Herlitzka (born 2 October 1937) is an Italian theatre and film actor of Czechoslovak descent. He has appeared in 38 films since 1973. He was born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy. In 2004 he won the David di Donatello for Best Supporting Actor ...

as Paulasso

Production notes

Giancarlo Giannini starred in three other films Wertmuller made during this period: ''

The Seduction of Mimi ''The Seduction of Mimi'' ( it, Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore, lit=Mimi the Metalworker, Wounded in Honor) is a 1972 Italian comedy-drama film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini as Mimi and featuring Ma ...

'', '' Swept Away'', and ''

Seven Beauties ''Seven Beauties'' ( it, Pasqualino Settebellezze, "Pasqualino Sevenbeauties") is a 1975 Italian language film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller and starring Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, and Shirley Stoler. Written by Wertmüller, the ...

''.

English version

For the initial American release, editor Fima Noveck created a prologue which featured a montage of photos of Mussolini, along with a crawl explaining his rise to power and the violent activities sanctioned in his name during his reign. Also, in this edit, the full Italian title is not displayed, in favor of the abbreviated English title ''Love and Anarchy''.

References

External links