The directorial debut of the standard bearer of popular Italian cinema, a documentary exploring the world of sex in the far off lands of Northern Europe.
Before becoming a valiant standard bearer of popular Italian cinema (from Giovannona Coscialunga to L’allenatore nel pallone), Sergio Martino made his debut with a documentary that explored the sexual practices of the countries of Northern Europe. From an Italian perspective this stimulated both deep-seated fears and for the most part still unexpressed desires, at a time of great social transformation. The impression is one of looking at a distant planet with which, sooner or later, we will unavoidably have to enter into contact with. After the success of the mondo film genre, the documentary follows the episodic formula in its search for titillation. However, more than the desire to provoke at any cost, the whole thing appears to be driven by a bemused curiosity, sometimes masked by a not very believable cloak of moralism: ceremonies that end up in orgies, clubs for lesbians only, couples (pay attention now!) not bound by the obligations of marriage, drugs, prostitution, pornography… Martino, and rightly so, does not miss an opportunity to inject a healthy dose of psychedelic music into the fantastic vignettes. Years later, the director will once again revisit the film’s title, with a slight variation in punctuation, for his autobiography: Mille peccati… nessuna virtù?
An investigation into the sexual revolution taking place in the countries of Northern Europe.
The directorial debut of the standard bearer of popular Italian cinema, a documentary exploring the world of sex in the far off lands of Northern Europe.
Before becoming a valiant standard bearer of popular Italian cinema (from Giovannona Coscialunga to L’allenatore nel pallone), Sergio Martino made his debut with a documentary that explored the sexual practices of the countries of Northern Europe. From an Italian perspective this stimulated both deep-seated fears and for the most part still unexpressed desires, at a time of great social transformation. The impression is one of looking at a distant planet with which, sooner or later, we will unavoidably have to enter into contact with. After the success of the mondo film genre, the documentary follows the episodic formula in its search for titillation. However, more than the desire to provoke at any cost, the whole thing appears to be driven by a bemused curiosity, sometimes masked by a not very believable cloak of moralism: ceremonies that end up in orgies, clubs for lesbians only, couples (pay attention now!) not bound by the obligations of marriage, drugs, prostitution, pornography… Martino, and rightly so, does not miss an opportunity to inject a healthy dose of psychedelic music into the fantastic vignettes. Years later, the director will once again revisit the film’s title, with a slight variation in punctuation, for his autobiography: Mille peccati… nessuna virtù?
An investigation into the sexual revolution taking place in the countries of Northern Europe.
