My review was written in April 1992 after watching the film on Columbia TriStar video cassette.
The erotic drama "Husbands and Lovers" is a well-mounted adaptation of the late Alberto Moravia's novel "The Friday Villa". Picture flopped in Italy last season but should be arousing for Stateside video voyeurs.
Veteran director Mauro Bolognini, whose best work includes classic 1950s collaborations with Pier Paolo Pasolini like "From A Roman Balcony", made an all-star miniseries for Italian TV from Moravia's "Time of Indifference" in 1987. Working in English this time, he emphasizes the material's sexual nature, featuring an overabundance of nude scenes with the two principal players.
Married couple Julian Sands and Joanna Pacula fancy themselves modern and free-thinking enough to have affairs and not feel guilty. He works as a screenwriter, and they rent a lavish villa for weekends (hence pic's original "The Friday Villa" moniker), but Pacula spends every Saturday and Sunday with her love (Tcheky Karyo).
Supposedly Sands doesn't care, but despite Pacula's obvious allure (she spends most of the film in the buff though occasionally donning Giorgio Armani costumes), he obsessively picks up prostitutes to meet his sexual needs. Matters come to a head when Sands discove that Karyo is abusing Pacula , beating her and involving her in kinky sadomasochistic rites. Punch line is that she likes it.
True to Moravia's thematics, the film ironically stresses that husband Sands is still deeply in love with his wife but has lost his desire for her. Instead of the expected violent climax (at one point Sands is poised to shoot Pacula) the film ends on a tentaive note of reconciliation.
Imported cast add class to what might have appeared a mere sex film in other hands. Topnotch technical support likewise differentiates this item from a horde of recent unrated sexploitation pics.
