A Night Full of Rain

1978

The full name of the film is "The end of the world, in our usual bed, on a night full of rain." That's an evocative, poetic title, even if it is prolix. Outrageously long titles were the signature of Director Lina Wertmuller. This one is relatively short compared to "Un fatto di sangue nel comune di Siculiana fra due uomini per causa di una vedova. Si sospettano moventi politici. Amore-Morte-Shimmy. Lugano belle. Tarantelle. Tarallucci e vino." (Aka: "Blood Feud")

Wertmuller's titles were not the only sign that she marched to a different drummer. She occasionally appeared on American talk shows back in the 70s, wearing eyewear from the Elton John collection and making outrageous pronouncements in heavily-accented English with exaggerated stresses: "Eet ees hee-LAR-ee-us."

The film itself is typical 1970s Italian arthouse fare, filled with usual excesses of that genre: disjointed narrative, people reciting political speeches for dialogue, bad dubbing, interminable close-ups of faces, people speaking as a Greek chorus, socialist politics, characters without names, and so forth. In other words, it's not the kind of film that would pack the American theaters for the Warner Brothers studio that financed it. Before she made this film, Wertmuller's reputation in Europe had prompted Warner to offer her a four-picture deal to make English-language films. This was the first, and it performed so badly that it would also be the last. When the Warner execs saw the box office results, their legal team promptly sought the quickest way out of Wertmuller's contract.

The basic premise of the film is to portray the turbulent relationship between a male chauvinist Italian man and a liberated American feminist. If you have that much information and know the title, I've already spoiled it for you, because that's all there is. The two of them are in bed on a rainy night in the later stages of a long relationship. They are arguing, remembering, arguing, reconciling, remembering, fighting physically, reconciling, threatening to leave, remembering, reconciling, fucking, fighting some more ...

You get the idea.

Although the imagery in this film is spectacular, it is the lowest-rated Wertmuller film at IMDb.

1. (7.86) - Seven Beauties (1975)
2. (7.50) - Love and Anarchy (1973)
3. (7.28) - Swept Away (1974)
4. (7.24) - 12 registi per 12 città (1989)
5. (7.04) - Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore (1972)
6. (6.88) - Francesca and Nunziata (2001) (TV)
7. (6.77) - Io speriamo che me la cavo (1992)
8. (6.76) - I basilischi (1963)
9. (6.62) - Sabato, domenica e lunedì (1991)
10. (6.10) - Ferdinando e Carolina (1999)
11. (6.04) - Crystal or Ash, Fire or Wind, as Long as It's Love (1989)
12. (6.00) - The Nymph (1996)
13. (5.95) - Summer Night, with Greek Profile, Almond Eyes and Scent of Basil (1986)
14. (5.94) - Blood Feud (1978)
15. (5.87) - Un complicato intrigo di donne, vicoli e delitti (1986)
16. (5.80) - The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics (1996)
17. (5.75) - A Night Full of Rain (1978)

I find Wertmuller's best films to be utterly unenjoyable, so you can well imagine that I found this an ordeal to watch.

So why watch it?

Quite a good reason. This is the first time it has been on R1 DVD, and it includes a nice clear topless scene from Candice Bergen. So here's your chance to get a good look at Murphy Brown's little titties. (Well, the right one anyway. See below)