Laura Antonelli Movies

Since Moliere's plays are national classics of France, an air of reverence surrounds them. However, they are for the most part comedies based on older commedia del'arte storylines and acting conventions (which most closely resemble the broad humor of the American vaudeville or the British music halls). Moliere's big innovation was to give the stock characters from these ancient themes an actual script to follow, rather than leaving them to improvise their own lines. His lines were usually much, much wittier. Otherwise, these tales are every bit as farcical (and sometimes slapstick) as anything from The Three Stooges or, for that matter, the classical farces of Plautus. However, when the actors ham it up in their parts too much, eyebrows are raised. This multinational production of Moliere's classic L'Avare, or The Miser is an excellent case in point. The lead role of Arpagone, the miser, is played exhuberantly by Alberto Sordi, who for years has traded (on and off the stage) on his pinched, miserly appearance and his romantic skittishness - somewhat akin to the shtik perfected by Jack Benny in the U.S. These characteristics also fit the role to a "T." In the story, the miserly widower is trying to arrange things for the maximum safety of his funds and to prevent his children from doing something stupid, like marrying poor people. In the meantime, his well-known wealth has made him the target of sinister matrimonial designs by the murderous sister of a powerful cardinal. He decides to find a suitable bride for himself to stave off this unhappy prospect, and at the same time arrange good marriages for his son and daughter (who have other people in mind). A triple wedding will cost little more than a single one, and will save him lots of money. Needless to say, everything goes wrong (and finally goes right) in this romantic farce. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

In this episodic comedy, the rich are seen to be different from the rest of us: more lustful and less scrupulous, for starters. In one episode, a parish priest fresh from a pilgrimage to Lourdes is drawn into a situation (approved of by the Pope himself) where he must try to discourage the notions developed by an Italian princess, who dreamed of the priest's face and now entertains the idea of marrying him rather than the man society has destined her for. In another episode, the ever-hapless Paolo Villaggio plays an insurance agent who is drawn just a bit too deeply into one of his client's marital schemes. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Set in the 16th century, this bawdy comedy is erotic without pornographic detail as two women and one man enjoy a wild and lusty relationship. Angela (Laura Antonelli) is widowed and one day, as she gazes out her window, she is stirred by the sight of a dashing blond foreigner (Jason Connery, son of Sean). She eventually sends her ladies' maid to speak to him as a go-between, while the ladies' maid of the married woman next door is on the same errand. It seems the foreigner is more interested in Angela's neighbor but has no compunction about making love to both women. The dashing young man is soon literally dashing from one woman to the next in a mixed-up confusion, not wanting to give himself away as romancing two women instead of one. Meanwhile, the ladies' maids (and others) enter into the act, while the married woman's husband is due home at any time. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

As an ex-husband (Johnny Dorelli), his wife (Laura Antonelli), and their two children take a vacation on the ex's new yacht, the scene is set for disaster when it becomes clear that the ex-husband knows absolutely nothing about yachting. The crew quickly find out that the Mediterranean has its own challenges, and the wife discovers her particular nemesis in a thoroughly unlikeable playboy (Christian De Sica) who has his sights set a little too firmly on her alone. The interaction between the triad of wife, ex-husband, and playboy reaches a final resolution as the yacht moves closer to its own special fate. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Professional soldier Bernard Giraudeau is enmeshed in an affair with the beautiful but very much married Laura Antonelli. Transferred to a remote outpost, Giraudeau discovers to his chagrin that the only woman in the region (Valeria D'Obici) is about as appealing as a plate of pickles. Even so, Giraudeau falls madly in love with the woman, utterly forgetting Antonelli. He also forgets that he's a human being at fade-out time, metamorphosing into an epileptic bear! Perhaps Passion of Love made more sense in its original French-language version, Passione D'Amore. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this standard but toned-down sex comedy, seven different vignettes starring female leads like Monica Vitti, Ursula Andress, Laura Antonelli, and Sylvia Kristel portray various questionable exploits headed by women with minds of their own. Antonelli, for example, plays a dynamic businesswoman who picks up a young orchestra conductor and both yearn to spend some quality time together -- but to no avail. As the patient conductor follows her around like a footnote on a text, she continues to finish up dealings with other businessmen, lawyers, and various agents while her romantic interlude seems to be left cooling on the back burner somewhere. In another vignette, Monica Vitti and Michele Placido are in competition (and disguises), trying to con the pricey necklace off an unsuspecting woman at a casino. Other vignettes involve some nudity, but viewers looking for X-rated material will have to look elsewhere -- this sex comedy has more emphasis on the comedic than the lustful side of life. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Laura Antonelli plays a chaste young woman who has difficulty understanding--and reining--her blossoming sexual desires. ~ Kristie Hassen, Rovi

A beautiful woman (Laura Antonelli) is engaged to one man, but has an affair with both a young nobleman (Terence Stamp) and later his cousin (Marcello Mastroianni). This Italian production, also known as Divina Creatura, appears in both subtitled and dubbed versions. ~ John Bush, Rovi

Frustrated desire motivates the Sicilian newlyweds in this improbable sex comedy when they are discovered to be brother and sister just before their marriage can be consummated. They receive this news in a very unwelcome telegram, and spend much of the rest of the film trying to alleviate their frustration by various stratagems. Some of them are fairly innocent, such as novel-reading and pious works; others include seriously considering the option of incest. They have a number of embarrassing sexual encounters outside their relationship, but are saved from even more demeaning situations when a second telegram informs them that the first was definitely a mistake. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

How Funny Can Sex Be? is an eight-episode anthology film about love, sex and marriage in contemporary, mid-'70s Italy. Some of the segments--particularly those featuring Laura Antonelli and Giancarlo Giannini--are fun, but just as many fall flat. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Docteur Popaul, or Scoundrel in White is a black comedy by Claude Chabrol. It tells of the life and proper comeuppance of Dr. Paul Simay (Jean Paul Belmondo), an unusual sort of ladies' man. At his hospital, there is a bet to see who can seduce the most ugly women. Paul is confident he can win, because he already woos ugly women exclusively. He says he gets much better results from them. When he woos and finally marries Christine (Mia Farrow), buck-teeth, leg-braces and all, he eventually discovers that he has more than met his match. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Helmed by acknowledged horror master Lucio Fulci, the political satire All'onorevole Piacciono le Donne stars Lando Buzzanca as Gianni Pupis, a powerful politician who takes a fall in the public eye after his habit of slapping women on the behind leads him to humiliate a different country's leader, causing an international incident that leads Gianni to the church in hopes of rehabilitating his image. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi