A middle-aged artist (Ben Gazarra) sketching on the beach witnesses a young woman (Ornella Muti) being rescued from drowning. He loans her a blanket. Later she returns the blanket and they have sex several times, but she always leaves right afterward, leaving the man to wonder who she is and where she goes. Things become more complicated as he begins to fall in love with her, and after his regular girlfriend (Mimsy Farmer), with whom he has a curiously open relationship, returns. He eventually begins to realize his mysterious new lover may be very much insane.
Muti is excellent in this movie, but it's unfortunate that she really has to struggle here against her own incredible beauty. You really have to suspend your disbelief that you are NOT watching someone who is quite literally one of the most beautiful women in the world in scenes where she has to fake drownings or sit in an outdoor café in a mini-skirt with her legs splayed to get attention from men. (With the average attractive woman this would be believable, but with someone that looks like Muti you would expect a riot, a traffic pile-up, or a line of guys waiting to administer mouth-to-mouth). Her affair with an old codger like Gazarra also strains credibility (the pair were also teamed, even more implausibly, in Marco Ferreti's biopic of poet Charles Bukowski "Tales of Ordinary Madness"). Still Muti turns in a truly superb performance. Gazarra is also more than adequate. Farmer is as irritating as usual, but at least here she's meant to be here.
This was apparently based on a novel by the talented Italian director Pasquale Campanile Festa, who also directed "The Libertine", "Hitch-hike" and "Body of a Woman" (and who definitely knew his way around the bodies of some beautiful women like Catherine Spaak, Corrine Clery, Lili Karati, and, of course Muti). Unfortunately, the import DVD I saw was obviously ported from a poor video source and is kind of grainy and too dark at times (most regrettably during some of Mutti's nude scenes). This is a very decent movie and really deserves a better transfer. Still it's a must-see for any Italian movie fans, teaming up one of Italy's most incredible (and incredibly beautiful) actresses, and one of Italy's most talented (if underrated when compared to more famous contemporaries like Fellini, Antonioni, or Pasolini) directors. Definitely recommended.
