The Girl from Trieste (1982) is an Italian love story starring Ben Gazzara
as an American cartoonist living in Italy, and Ornella Muti as the woman he
falls in love with. Mimsy Farmer plays his ex-girlfriend. IMDb claims a 113
minute running time, the DVD jacket says 90 minutes, and it is actually 98:44.
I have no idea what, if anything, was cut from this version, but there were no
obvious edits.
Gazzara is working at the beach when Muti is rescued from the surf. He
donates a blanket to cover her, and she shows up at his home to return the
blanket. The two end up in bed. He is absolutely captivated, but at the same
time frustrated because she seems to lie more often than she tells the truth,
and constantly disappears. He finally finds her during one of her
disappearances, and discovers that she is a patient at a mental hospital, and
has been diagnosed with manic depressive disorder. After a brief reunion fling
with Mimsy, he decides he loves Ornella, and moves her in with him. Living
with a nut case, even a beautiful sexy one, proves to be more of a challenge
than he expected.
This is a reasonably good story about a man trying to love a beautiful but
flawed woman, and hence has merit as a story. The excellent nudity is a bonus.
This was probably a very good looking film originally, but the transfer is
grainy and a little oversaturated in sections, no doubt a result of the
remastering. The English soundtrack is also occasionally mushy. The Widescreen
transfer, while far from perfect, is good enough that it won't be a major
annoyance.
Overall, this is a C-.
IMDb readers say 6.2, but based on only 40 votes. The low number of votes,
of course, indicates how rare this film has been.
Rare licensed DVDs has this available as a stand-alone offer (click
on the pic for info)
or as part of a value-priced four pack of forgotten treasures of
nudity (click on the pic for info)
