A Place For Lovers

1969, Movie, R, 88 mins

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This dreadful trash was apparently foisted upon an unsuspecting public for the benefit of voyeurs--Dunaway and Mastroianni were having an affair while the film was being made. The doomed-by-disease story had been done countless times before but never this poorly. Dunaway is an American divorcee who moves into a posh villa near Venice for a short stay. She's a fashion designer (which accounts for her numerous changes of clothes), and a pal has lent her the residence. While watching TV, she recognizes Mastroianni, the man being interviewed, as someone with whom she spoke at an airport a while back. Mastroianni at the time made some mild advances and gave her his card. He's an engineer who designs air bags for automobile accidents. She's bored and not terribly interested in watching Italian-dubbed versions of American TV shows, so she calls the number and Mastroianni hurries over. The two spend the next several days making love (interminably and boringly). Now a group of friends comes by to have a nice old-fashioned orgy, complete with pornographic films and lots of moaning. Mastroianni cannot understand how blase Dunaway is about all this and drives off in a huff (in a car that resembles a Maserati but only slightly). What he doesn't know is that she's terminally ill (as viewers may have surmised from all the heavy, pale makeup she has on her face). The following day Dunaway happens into a local car track where Mastroianni is testing his air bags, and she talks him into an Alpine vacation. They are happy again although she shows no interest in his work and doesn't let him know much about herself. Dunaway's friend, Mortimer, finds them in the Alps and tells Mastroianni about the illness. Mortimer suggests that Dunaway go to a Paris hospital for pain-killing drugs to ease her final days. Dunaway runs away, and Mastroianni follows her, stopping a suicide attempt. Then, in the only exciting moment in the picture, he asks her to drive them back to the chalet, knowing full well that she just might veer off a cliff. The ride is hair-raising, and they almost crash. She gives him the key to the car and returns with him to the chalet, secure in the realization that he loves her enough to have risked his life for her. The two decide to stay together until she dies. De Sica's direction is dismal, his son's music abominable, the acting awful, Mastroianni's accent impenetrable, the six-writer script pretentious, and the editing nonexistent. The Alps, however, never looked better. The only Dunaway performance worse than this is in MOMMY DEAREST. leave a comment
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A Place For Lovers
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