Ferdinando e Carolina (1999)

Ferdinando e Carolina: Directed by Lina Wertmüller. With Sergio Assisi, Gabriella Pession, Nicole Grimaudo, Adriano Pantaleo. On his death bed in the 1820s, King Ferdinando I of Naples tries to escape the ghosts of his bloody kingship by remembering his younger days, when he was allowed to go hunting and have fun, and inventing love games. Then he was obliged to marry Mary Caroline of Austria, daughter of Empress Mary Theresa, in a political marriage: unexpectedly, they became happy lovers, until court power games divided them, and a different historical season arrived.

“The eighteenth century king of Naples lies dying and we trigger flashbacks of his life played as a bawdy romp.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eVintage Wertmuller – the handsomest film she has done with shuttered sun falling over palatial interiors and mobs of impressively costumed servants, courtesans and officials milling round the historical monuments and manicured lawns. The compressed form is remarkable, as when finally a cut puts the dying kingu0026#39;s memory of the twenty year old naked Princess against a flash of her, aged, black veiled, long deceased, being dumped in the bed beside him. The women are presented gorgeously, juxtaposed with the comic, plain featured lead. The sinister side can just be spotted flashing by.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA lot of it needs more knowledge of Italian history than most viewers will bring to it – u0026quot;Culture is the weapon that will return Naples to Spain.u0026quot;”