devil in the flesh

THE FLICK: Although it was the first movie since Emmanuelle to be marketed as a mainstream film with an “X”-rating, it’s obvious director Marco Bellocchio is using sex much the same way Spielberg used violence in Saving Private Ryan. In other words, there’s a point to all that heavy breathing besides just juvenile titillation. What that point is, however, is quite challenging to discern, since Devil in the Flesh is a film that shatters itself in three or four thematic pieces. First is the surface level plot about a daydreaming schoolboy, Giacomo (Frederico Pitzalis), who falls passionately in love with Guillia (Maruschka Detmers), the emotionally (and perhaps mentally) unstable fiancé of an Italian terrorist. As their affair deepens, Guillia’s emotional state becomes more and more unstable; alternately pushing the two lovers apart and then pulling them back together. Meanwhile, their fate as a couple seems doomed by the impending release of Guillia’s fiancé and his overprotective mother. Adapted from a politically charged turn of the century Italian novel, Devil in the Flesh updates the material with contemporary revolutionaries The Red Brigade standing in as a ready metaphor for both social anarchy and personal enslavement. We watch as two members of the organization attempt to discreetly make love while caged in a courtroom. While Guillia, almost a prisoner herself in an upscale apartment, sneaks in her lover to indulge in the passions that seem to keep her from committing suicide. Bellocchio makes the connections clear enough, but the political arguments dissolve into a cacophony of background noise – particularly if one is unfamiliar with Italian history of the era (a tip, read the DVD liner notes first). Guillia and Giacomo’s relationship is at the core of the film. And Maruschka Detmers turns in a performance ripe with sexuality, baring her emotions as well as her body. The fellatio scene, which earned the film its taboo American rating as well as some controversy overseas, is still a bit of a shock. Short of Chloe Sevigny in last year’s The Brown Bunny we’re just not used to seeing dramatic actors participate in unsimulated sex. But Guillia and Giacomo’s initial sexual experience – an uninterrupted 5-minute take that’s embarrassingly voyeuristic but beautifully honest - proves Bellocchio has something to say about the liberating and, yes, revolutionary part sex can play in a relationship. THE FEATURES: No Shame films presents Devil in the Flesh with a “no excuses necessary” transfer, remastered from the original negative. That is looks good is a given, but what else have they tacked on? As previously mentioned, there are some very helpful liner notes included on the insert. This isn’t just recommended reading; it’s almost essential to understand the political state Italy was in at the time the film was made. To further illuminate on these issues, two ex-Red Brigaders turn up in Stolen Years, Hidden Lives, a 25-minute series of interviews that both support and repudiate much of what Bellocchio put in the film. The director himself participates in a long-winded discussion entitled Bellocchio’s Flesh, another 25-minute piece in which he waxes philosophical on many subjects...but only briefly on the sex scene controversy. A Trailer and Still Gallery wrap things up. The extras, while full of all the correct ingredients, unfortunately lack any cohesive structure or style. A film like this deserved a well-edited backstory to support its place in cinematic history (or at least its worthiness to be included on your shelf), not just a series of subtitled raw shots. Still, No Shame is the closest you can come to a Criterion DVD without taking out a short-term loan. Their choice of films is varied and interesting and Devil in the Flesh is no exception. If you liked their previous output of Italian art house fare and sleazy genre treats, you’ll be quite satisfied.