With just two conflicting reviews on the site and a low overall score I was not expecting much from this but couldn't resist the presence of Gloria Guida. Much to my surprise I enjoyed it a lot. The opening sequence is inaccurately described in one of those reviews but does represent a stunning opening. It also gives the film a certain edge that it retains till the end. The imbalance between the sexes as portrayed in Italian films is nothing new but dealt with very well here. Small cast on the seeming lovely isle of Elba intermingle and create drama out of very little. Gloria Guida performs particularly well and does a really good job in the crowded bus at the beginning and in an implied incestuous scene later on, both scenes played without her speaking, just with her eyes and slight movement of the mouth. Everyone performs well and if the randy fisherman seems to overact it fits perfectly within the strange tale. Needless to say Gloria looks wonderful throughout and was very brave to go naked in the pine forest.
Review of That Malicious Age
