Bezenby Damiano Damiani created Euro-crime films, but his films come from a different angle, set in conditions of absolute reality and full of real people making real choices. No fast guns solve problems here. I've really come to appreciate films like The Case is Closed, Forget About It and Day of the Owl. Don't get me wrong - I love a car chase and a gun battle, but Damiani's films have there place up there too.Fifteen (or fourteen) year-old Ornella Mutti here plays Francesco, a peasant girl who draws the eye of local mob hood Vito. Vito looks up the local Mafia don, who has just been arrested along with most of his cronies. The don wants to work with Vito as Vito was kidnapped and beaten by a rival mob, but never opened his mouth. The don advises Vito to get married and Vito has chosen Francesco.After seeing off another suitor with intimidation, Vito woos Francesco, and a wedding seems to be on the horizon. It's also about this time that Vito starts acting like a total dick, and finds himself surprised that Francesco isn't the kind of girl who is going to take any of his crap. She shames him in front of his mates, jilts him at the altar, and even worse, the rival gang ridicule Vito using the information that a peasant girl stood him up at the altar. Vito of course then resorts to kidnapping and raping Francesco as a show of power, and is once again surprised to find she goes straight to the police and accuses him of rape.This is Sicily however, and people there fear reprisal from the Mafia. The townsfolk turn on Francesco and even her family do not want to speak to the police. Francesco finds herself alone in trying to bring Vito to justice...alone apart from that rival Mafia gang...It's possible that Damiani is making some sort of statement about the sexual revolution with this one. We know Francesco is in the right, and yet the women of the village attack a teenage girl who agrees with her. Francesco speaks with a woman who was in a similar situation but married her rapist because that's what was expected of her. A local priest blames her parents for being uneducated and not hiding the act of sex from her. Even her parents do not want to go against the established rules and class system. Only the young seem to empathise as Francesco rebels against the town, and still I'm simplifying the outcome of this on the characters of the film.This was Ornella Mutti's first film and it's amazing to see how she plays Francesco - a naïve teenage girl who believes in love but will not let that stand in the way of justice, or her being an individual. Her dogged attempts to bring Francesco to court are mixed with the emotions of a teenage crush as she constantly gives Vito a chance to repent, which also give way to pure rage as he constantly treats her like a child.Also outstanding are two actors I thought were just bit part players -- Gaetano Cimarosa as Francesco's cowardly father, and Enzo Andronico (from many a giallo) as the slimy lawyer trying to keep Vito in check. Don't miss this one - Ennio Morricone manages to create another emotional soundtrack that adds to the atmosphere.

PimpinAinttEasy The Most Lovely Wife is a gritty Italian crime thriller directed by Damiano Damiani. This is my first film by this director and I was very impressed. A patriarchal mafia boss who is about to be arrested, tells his young protégé that he must marry a beautiful wife who is poor and uneducated. The arrogant and impressionable young man sets his sights on a poor and seemingly gullible peasant girl and even scares away her fiancée. Even though the peasant girl falls for the young man, she refuses to marry him. He kidnaps and rapes her to show his enemies (who taunt him about her) that he is a man. Instead of caving down and marrying him, the girl (Ornella Muti) goes to the police and tries to get the young mafiosi arrested. Her family and society turn against her.The films locations alternates between the Sicilian country side and the city. Some of the poor Sicilians are portrayed as backward and impotent. Like other Italian films of this period (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion), the police and clergy are portrayed as extremely corrupt.The score by Ennio Morricone (which attracted me to this wonderful film) is spectacular - it sort of adds to the gradual build up of conflict between the sexes. Ornella Muti is bewitching as the young peasant girl who fights back. She almost looks like a young innocent witch as she slowly takes down the man who has wronged her. What an actress! - she was only 14 when she made this. She is a perfect foil for the arrogant and cruel young mafioso (Alessio Orano).The film did have a rather unimaginative title sequence. I couldn't believe this was the best the director could come up with when he had such a terrific score by Morricone.

zorzalcg Damiano Damini, the director of "La Moglie Piu Bella", two years earlier,in 1968, had made a movie about "la Mafia" titled "Il Giorno Della Civetta" starring Franco Nero, Claudia Cardinale and Lee J. Cobb. It was a stark tale, showing the helplessness of the law enforcers in front of the resignedly accepted power of the Mafia. In 1970 he had another project about the Organization, the story, loosely based in real facts, of the first Italian woman that refused the reparation by marriage of her lost honor. Instead she had the courage to denounce the violence that she suffered, at the local police station. It was very important to choose someone special for acting the leading role. Damiano Damiani chose the teenager Ornella Muti (14 years old), without previous experiences in front of the camera, to play the humbled girl, Francesca Cimarosa, who, at first, is very shy and submissive but gradually becomes a strong character person, fighting for her dignity even against her own parents that are frightened because of intimidation of the Mafia. It was said by Ornella Muti in several interviews, that she was making company to her older sister Claudia Rivelli, who was herself in search of a role in pictures when, suddenly, by pure chance, was saw by Damiani and that was all. Overnight, the teenager that was dreaming about being an actress, was in front of the camera, in an exigent leading role, making her cinematic debut under the implacable and experienced hand of Damiani. In my opinion it was a superb choice. Ornella was beautiful, shy, reserved, intense, brave and she was capable of projecting these qualities to the screen, reaching this way, the heart and the interest of the audience. An authentic natural talent, not always appreciated during the long career of the diva, always eclipsed by the sheer beauty and sexiness of her physique. Alesio Orano, future first husband of Ornella Muti in real life, plays the part of the nephew of the "local capo". At that time, he was a heartthrob, handsome, long dark hair and blue eyes. He is the dream love of the young heroine but also he possesses a streak of cruelty and he is absolutely perfect in his role. Gaetano Cimarrosa is excellent, acting as the intimidated father and Pierluigi Aprá is very efficient as the local "carabinieri", a helpless but honest police officer. It was said that this film is about feminism, but I consider it a story that has to do with the basic human dignity and choosing to live without fear in a society whose ethical values are profoundly twisted by the existence of the shady and stealth hand of the organized crime.

bensonmum2 The Most Beautiful Wife is the kind of movie I usually avoid. I usually don't go for these overly depressing tales. But The Most Beautiful Wife is oddly compelling and drew me in from the start. The film is based on a true story and deals with the barbaric treatment of women (who am I kidding, these are girls) at the hands of their future husbands. Rape was an acceptable means of forcing a marriage. No other man would want the woman as she was no longer a virgin.But as depressing as the subject matter may be, director Damiano Damiani and cinematographer Franco Di Giacomo created an incredibly lovely film with The Most Beautiful Wife. The contrast between the green, lush farm lands and the crumbling city scenes is pleasing. And Ennio Morricone's score is what I've come to expect - a work of genius. It suits the film perfectly.Ornella Muti gives a terrific performance in the title role. And when you consider that this was her first film and that she was only 14 years old, it makes all the more amazing. As the whole film is centered around her and as she is the focal point of almost every scene, it's imperative that her performance be believable if The Most Beautiful Wife has a chance at all to work. She pulls it off flawlessly. I doubt an actress twice her age with years of experience could have done any better. It's an impressive piece of work.