If a film stars Marcello Mastroianni, I’ll be watching it. Ever since I spent an evening at my college’s secondary movie theater watching La Dolce Vita, I’ve never been let down by one of his performances. The quality of the films might vary, but Marcello keeps me entertained on the screen. The Sunday Woman puts Marcello in the role of a police commissioner trying to find a killer amongst the upper class of Turin, Italy. You might know the city from its Shroud of Jesus or hosting the Winter Olympics in 2006. This is a city full of the rich and powerful who don’t like their lives exposed by the newspapers or the police report. Quit a few tawdry secrets get revealed during Marcello’s investigation in The Sunday Woman.
Late one summer evening, architect Garrone (A Man Called Magnum‘s Claudio Gora) is beaten to death. While he’s not a world-renowned architect, he is connected to the posh society of Turin. Police Commissioner Santamaria (Marcello Mastriani) discovers that Garrone had been beaten to death with an object similar to what Alex beat the Cat Lady to death in A Clockwork Orange. He gets two immediate suspects when the servants of Anna Carla Dosio (Class and The Deep’s Jacqueline Bisset) arrive at police headquarters with a letter. Turns out that Anna had written a letter to her pal Massimo Campi (The City of Lost Children‘s Jean-Louis Trintignant) about how they need to kill Garrone. She swears it was just a joke, but she’s willing to help with the investigation. Campi is not up for cooperating since his life isn’t an open book. There is another angle that gets exposed when it’s revealed that Garrone was dealing with Ines Tabusso to create a new development on her falling apart villa. Currently the house has her and her sister, but the grounds are filled with prostitutes who take their clients into the overgrown gardens. During a raid on the grounds to prove to Ines that he is willing to help her if she’ll help him with the investigation, Santamaria discovers a familiar face. He’s not that innocent of enjoying the vice of Turin. Santamaria is warned by his boss to not upset the rich and powerful of the city, but he’s not going to give up locating the killer.
The Sunday Woman was made in 1975 during the era of the Poliziotteschi. On the surface doesn’t feel like the genre movies that featured cops having to fight the system while tracking down criminals. Marcello is much smoother than the sons of Dirty Harry that dominated the time. But there are elements of Poliziotteschi in the mystery since Marcello’s warned about upsetting the people above him. He does knock around a person. He doesn’t always go by the book if he senses the book is hampering his ability to get to the truth. He also has no problem flirting with a suspect as he does with Anna. The big thing that keeps it from being Poliziotteschi is Marcello doesn’t shoot first and ask questions later. He doesn’t consider his gun his real partner on the police force. He uses real police work to smoke out the killer. He’s also not bitter at the system. His charm shines through the investigation.
The Sunday Woman is an alluring murder mystery. Marcello Mastroianni proves an Italian police investigator doesn’t need to blast away to solve a case. Jacqueline Bisset plays a perfect prime suspect to work against Mastroianni’s seductive ways. This is a film that unravels an intriguing mystery and gives us a fine performance from Marcello Mastroianni. The Sunday Woman is a perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon on the sofa.
The video is in both 1.33:1 and 1.85:1 anamorphic. This was because the producer figured the film would have a better chance of being sold to television. While Director of Photography Luciano Tovoli made it TV safe, he also lined it up for a 1.85:1 theatrical presentation. You’ll want to fill your HDTV with his vision. The 2K transfer brings out the textures of Turin in the 1970s. The audio is Italian uncompressed mono PCM. You’ll hear all the creaks in the investigation. The movie is subtitled in English.
Interview with academic and Italian cinema expert Richard Dyer (18:15) gets into the class and sexual elements in the film. Dyer read the novel when it came out. He talks about the cynical satirical aspect. He gets into how the movie adapts the characters so they’re less burlesque. But the script does get into why the killing happened instead of just being satisfied revealing the killer.
Archival interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli (22:11) delves into his work in the film after he had shot The Passenger. Things got off to a rocky start since he was hired by the producer without asking director Luigi Comencini. There was a coldness on the set. Also didn’t help that Kodak was messing with the film. But the production went well. Tovoli also shot Dario Argento’s Susperia.
Academic and screenwriter Giacomo Scarpelli (36:01) discusses the life and work of his father, Furio Scarpelli. We learn about his dad’s early career and his time with writing partner Agenore Incrocci. They started by writing Toto scripts.
Archival French TV interview with Jean-Louis Trintignant (4:28) for promoting the film. He goes into the nature of Turin with the upper class and the poor Sicilians. This was first broadcast in 1976.
Trailer (3:38) has all the suspects swinging the sculpture.
Booklet that has an essay that references the original novel.
Radiance Films present The Sunday Woman. Directed by Luigi Comencini. Screenplay by Agenore Incrocci & Furio Scarpelli. Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Aldo Reggiani, Maria Teresa Albani, Omero Antonutti & Gigi Ballista. Running Time: 109 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: May 2, 2023.
