mOVie friDAy.04 | giRL WiTH a piSTol

This film was released far before I was old enough to go to cinema but I saw it many times whenever was scheduled on telly untill I finally I managed to find (hard thing to do) a dvd copy in a tiny shop in Rome.  
I used to organize dedicated evenings at my places to watch it with friends and I believe it was the first film I showed Theo when we met, even before he was really able to properly understand the Italian language! The thing is: I simply love this comedy by Monicelli. It's a pearl of a movie.

.. Monica Vitti - Antonioni's muse and one of my icons of the 1960s- stars as the main carachter Assunta. This film was significant in providing her with her first major comic role, after which many other followed.
Her portrayal of a Sicilian woman coming from a tiny village is superb.
A blond of rare unconventional beauty in real life and in most of her films, she was transformed into a wonderful Sicilian lady with the help of a dark wig with a huge long single braid, wich was (as a gossip goes) worn upside-down.

picture credits

Assunta returns to her family after the night spent with Vincenzo. credits

... It all begins with beautiful Assunta being kidnapped in the most amazing way by Vincenzo (Carlo Giuffre) and taken against her will to his remote home in the country, where he waits for her sitted on a bed. He plans to "dishonor her" and by doing so, according to old Sicilian customs, win her hand in marriage. 
In a hilarious turn of events, Assunta willingly gives in to the amorous advances of Vincenzo as she confess she was secretely in love with him. The innocent girl suddenly turns into an insatiable passionate woman. This behavior is in Vincenzo eyes disreputable therefore he decides to abandon her and disappears before she wakes up. Returned to her family seduced and abandoned, Assunta finds herself rejected  by her family who is now "dishonored" just as she is, rejected by her fiancé and taunted by the local villagers. Finally, not having any male family member to rescue her honor by killing Vincenzo or forcing him to marry her, Assunta decides to leave Sicily and pursue the fleeing Vincenzo. She tracks him down to Britain and follows him there with a gun in her purse and a special mission: save her own reputation forcing him to marry her or kill him to wash off the offence.

Vincenzo seduces Assunta after the kidnap - credits

 Director Monicelli and Monica Vitti on the set -credits

Assunta dreams of shooting Vincenzo to save her honor - credits

The film moves through various cities including Edinburgh, Sheffield, London, Bath and Brighton. Confronted with such new experiences and cultural back rounds, Assunta will slowly change her views and shed her southern Italian country-girl image for a mod makeover.  The movie is then a series of hilarious events and encounters with many carachters who help her to find and fall in love with Dr. Osborne (Stanley Baker) a divorced physician. Finally - going through a little draw back - she will abandon her plans to kill Vincenzo and be just happy to take her own revenge- a real satisfatory ending.

Whilst working as maid for a Scottish family, Assunta receives her first phonecall by Vincenzo himself - credits

Assunta with George who'll help her looking for Vincenzo in Sheffield - credits

Assunta trying to fulfill her mission and kill Vincenzo, spotted by coincidence in a restaurant with another woman - credits

Assunta returning from her English classes - credits

...The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Monica Vitti won the David di Donatello as Best Actress.


I hope you can find somewhere The girl with a pistol, I definitely recommend you to watch it. I love it because... 1.the film is grounded in wonderful atmosphere of the late Swinging 1960' 2. I love Monica Vitti performance 3. the film beautifully shows how the contrast between Italian culture/custumes in those years and British ones 4. its music is lovely 5. foreign carachters actually speak their own language with local accent any time that is possible.

For now you can have a sneek preview of the title sequence here
{the over-exposed part in duo-tone color towards the end of title sequence, 
shows Assunta's kidnapping scene}

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