The Sensual Man stars Giancarlo Giannini, dapper as ever, as a sexually obsessed Italian nobleman, and details his erotic exploits over the course of the early to mid 20th century. We first meet him as a randy schoolboy peeking under the skirts of the household help, and the film follows him over the years with brief stopovers during the 1936 Fascist-era conquest of Ethiopia and the postwar comedown. By film's end our desperate hero is still trying to pick up women from the confines of his motor car, as he tearfully tries to break his sexual addiction. The film also features a typically over the top performance by Lionel Stander, here playing--believe it or not--Giannini's grandfather. This is not a film that plays well in English: the dubbing is adequate, but much of the film relies on close understandings of Italian character, society, and history, and these aspects of the story are poorly conveyed by the translation. Unfortunately, the dubbed version is the only version readily available in your local video emporium. Shot in autumnal hues by the great Tonino Delli Colli, The Sensual Man benefits from a romantic if unoriginal score by Armando Trovajoli.
Review of The Sensual Man
