Movie Review: Husbands and Lovers

Husbands and Lovers (La villa del venerdì) a.k.a In Excess

Metro Film S.r.l., Italy, 1991.

Based on the short story "Husbands and Lovers" from collection "La villa del venerdí e altri racconti" by Alberto Moravia.

Screenwriter Stefan (Julian Sands) is unhappy with his wife Alina (Joanna Pacula) but he loves her. They have an open relationship and Alina has a lover musician Paolo (Tchéky Karyo). When they are going to go make movie with Piero (Marco Di Stefano) Stefan meets a sexy girl in gas station toilet. Alina asks if she can go to Paolo's house every weekend. Stefan agrees. Stefan can go to Louisa's (Lara Wendel) house but he does not want to.

Stefan and Alina

Paolo

The film being produced revolves around Lolita-esque Sarah (actor unknown). Stefan can not concentrate on scriptwriting because he his jealous of Alina. Gentle Stefan starts behaving destructively. Then he spends a night with Louisa. Paolo likes to play it hard which shocks, startles and enthralls Alina. The S&M games make Alina love Paolo. As an intellectual Stefan has it hard time understanding Alina.

Sarah

Louisa

Stefan starts behaving destructively

Not having read the original short story, it is hard to compare the movie with it. Cinematography is stylish Italian style with beautiful people but the movie is a lackluster. Joanna Pacula takes her clothes off in every five minutes. However when this movie was made, Italian erotic dramas had already seen their best days. The conversations feel uninspired and  the screen chemistry between the actors is minimal. It is hard to understand why Stefan and Alina were married in the first place! On the other hand the actors are just great at portraying a couple in a stale marriage.

Music by Ennio Morricone with classical pieces from Eric Satie. Costumes of Julian Sands and Joanna Pacula by Giorgio Armani. Stefan can be seen reading Alberto Moravia's book "La vita interiore." The Scandinavian DVD runs 1h 34 min and is probably uncut although the longest run time reported in IMDB is 1h 43 min.

Rating: Average

Starring: Julian Sands, Joanna Pacula, Tchéky Karyo, Lara Wendel, Marco Di Stefano, Jeanne Valérie, Veronica Del Chiappa, Ines Nobili, Sonia Topazio, Sara Ricci

Director: Mauro Bolognini