I agree with the other comments in everything. I didn't know the actress Sandra Cecarelli, I was mesmerized by her face, what a Face! What a cinematic presence! She burns a hole on the screen every time she appears! she could have been another Garbo in 1930's Hollywood, or another Ingrid Bergman or another Melina Mercury.
Her voice, also lovely and whispery -sort of Ava Gardner's voice-, reminded me of Laura Antonelli's ultra feminine voice in that incredible masterpiece: "L'Innocente" (1976) by Lucchino Visconti and as a matter of fact, I was thinking about that movie while watching this one, since the film they are shooting within this film, takes place during the same historical period. Could it be that Giuseppe Piccioni (the Director) was influenced by Visconti? The way they blend both stories, the contemporary and the historical - film within the film- is masterful.
Most of the film is totally absorbing, yet, I couldn't explain why I lost interest in it after her pregnancy. It bogs down from then on. Fascinating study of jealousy and machismo. Woman, as usual, the victim. Fascinating also because one will never know (as in My Cousin Rachel) if she is innocent or evil.
We know that her last-second invitation to him to rejoin them (Her and the newborn baby) when leaving the hospital, was the biggest mistake she could've ever committed for her own sake -and why not, maybe the baby's too.
He will never change; at least he was honest enough clarifying this point to her: "I didn't change, but I improved a little". Actors should never fall in love with actors, especially when they are jealous!! Excellent director, excellent cast, excellent music, excellent everything!!
