''L'ospite'', English title ''The Guest'', is a 1971 Italian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Liliana Cavani Liliana Cavani (born 12 January 1933) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Cavani became internationally known after the success of her 1974 feature film ''Il portiere di notte'' ('' The Night Porter''). Her films have historical concerns ...

and starring

Lucia Bosè Lucia Bosè (28 January 1931 – 23 March 2020) was an Italian actress. Life and career Lucia Bosè was born in Milan to Francesca Borloni and Domenico Bosè. After a number of years working in a bakery, Pasticceria Galli, in her native city, ...

. It follows a woman who, released from a mental hospital after twenty years, tries in vain to fit into society.

Plot

Writer Piero does research in a psychiatric hospital for his next novel. He finds several deficiencies in the treatment of the patients, but hears only self-justifications and criticism when he confronts the doctors with his observations. He takes a particular interest in the case of Anna, a woman who was hospitalised with depression after the death of her adored cousin twenty years ago. The only person in the institute to whom Anna feels an emotional bond is Luciano, a fellow inmate who maintains in a

catatonic state Catatonia is a complex syndrome most commonly seen in people with underlying mood disorders, such as major depressive disorder, or psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia. People with catatonia exhibit abnormal movement and behaviors, wh ...

. Shortly after, Anna is discharged and entrusted to her brother Renato, to the dismay of her brother's wife. Her attempts to make social contacts fail. During a visit by the couple next door, Anna recounts the husband's sexual advances towards her, for which she is slapped by the disbelieving Renato. She runs away and hides in her uncle's abandoned villa. There, in her fantasy, she relives her relationship with her cousin (who appears in the shape of Luciano), with both taking the roles of

Pelléas and Mélisande ''Pelléas and Mélisande'' () is a Symbolism (movement), Symbolist play by the Belgian playwright and author Maurice Maeterlinck. The play is about the forbidden, doomed love of the title characters and was first performed in 1893 in literature, ...

. Eventually, she is found by the police and taken back to the hospital. The last scene shows Anna comforting the motionless Luciano.

Cast

as Anna *

Glauco Mauri Glauco Mauri (1 October 1930 – 28 September 2024) was an Italian actor and theatre director. Biography After studying at the Accademia d'Arte Drammatica, he gave his stage debut in 1953. In 1961, he co-founded the "Compagnia dei Quattro" thea ...

as Piero * Peter Gonzales as Luciano * as Renato * Giancarlo Caio as the doctor * (credited as Gian Piero Frondini) * Alfio Galardi * Maddalena Gillia * Maria Luisa Salmaso *

Lorenzo Piani Lorenzo Piattoni (27 September 1955 – 14 August 2016), known professionally as Lorenzo Piani, was an Italian singer and songwriter. Biography After studying classical piano at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro, he released a single. As a musi ...

Production and release

Cavani had the idea for ''L'ospite'' after a visit to a mental hospital. It was produced by the Italian radio and television station

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

, shot on

16 mm film 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical Film gauge, gauge of Photographic film, film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm film, 8 mm and 35mm movie film, 35 mm. It ...

black and white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

and blown up to 35 mm film. According to Cavani, the film was made on a low budget with all participants, including Bosè, working for free. ''L'ospite'' was presented at the 1971 Venice International Film Festival. After a theatrical release the following year, it was broadcast on national television on 24 May 1973.

Reception

The day after the film's TV presentation, of ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'' praised Cavani's "artistic and civil commitment" and Bosè's performance.

Awards

* Targa AIACE (L'Associazione Italiana Amici Cinema d'Essai), 1972 * Timone d'oro, 1972

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ospite, L' 1971 drama films 1970s Italian-language films Films directed by Liliana Cavani 1970s Italian films Films set in psychiatric hospitals Films about mental disorders Italian black-and-white films