I was pleasantly surprised by this film because I had seen the low scores it had received from imdb. In fact, this was one of the more impressive love story films I have seen in a long time. The plot is essentially about a middle-aged man who gets tangled up with a 20-year old girl and finds that both of them have a hard time resisting the other. Soon after meeting, however, he discovers that he may actually be the girl's father! He struggles endlessly with this dilemma, but the temptation of romance and sex with a vibrant young woman is irresistable.
It's a story that takes an interesting look at one of the most prevalent taboos in virtually all modern societies: incest. But it does so intelligently and unpredictably. The man is a protagonist: he struggles and suffers over the morality of his actions, but he is also human and in need of passion in his life (which he no longer gets from his wife). The girl might seem to be the victim, but she is not, at least not on the surface. She is excited by mature, wise men, and it's of little importance that he is old enough to be her father.
As the romance intensifies, it's ridiculousness is magnified, but again it is done in very intelligent and subtle (and therefore realistic) ways. The mature and steady protagonist suddenly appears to be somewhat foolish. What will they ever talk about? What do they really have in common once they get out of their hotel bed? Yet he is too weak and desparate and lonely to do anything else. The immature girl is the one who begins to realize that the relationship has already peaked.
In the end, the film is an excellently told tale about the mid-life crisis so many middle-aged men face. The incest part of the story, which may disgust the more puritanical types, is only an additional wrinkle to a very interesting and complex (but not uncommon) situation.
A young Nastassja Kinski is convincing as the flighty but romantic 20-year old, and Marcello Mastroianni turns in another one of his great performances, solidifying my belief that he is one of the four or five greatest actors of all time.
It's a story that takes an interesting look at one of the most prevalent taboos in virtually all modern societies: incest. But it does so intelligently and unpredictably. The man is a protagonist: he struggles and suffers over the morality of his actions, but he is also human and in need of passion in his life (which he no longer gets from his wife). The girl might seem to be the victim, but she is not, at least not on the surface. She is excited by mature, wise men, and it's of little importance that he is old enough to be her father.
As the romance intensifies, it's ridiculousness is magnified, but again it is done in very intelligent and subtle (and therefore realistic) ways. The mature and steady protagonist suddenly appears to be somewhat foolish. What will they ever talk about? What do they really have in common once they get out of their hotel bed? Yet he is too weak and desparate and lonely to do anything else. The immature girl is the one who begins to realize that the relationship has already peaked.
In the end, the film is an excellently told tale about the mid-life crisis so many middle-aged men face. The incest part of the story, which may disgust the more puritanical types, is only an additional wrinkle to a very interesting and complex (but not uncommon) situation.
A young Nastassja Kinski is convincing as the flighty but romantic 20-year old, and Marcello Mastroianni turns in another one of his great performances, solidifying my belief that he is one of the four or five greatest actors of all time.