Passion of Love

I have seen this film twice, and despite certain mixed feelings I have of it I give it a 9. The ending of the film deserves this high rating because in its way it challenges the audience to question what is ' against nature, ' and that for me is always a good thing to do. It also hints that it is also a subjective view of beauty influenced by others, and how much we depend upon the viewpoint of others concerning physical beauty in another person. No spoilers, but a young and ' handsome ' soldier after the victory of Garibaldi in the late 19thc Is sent to a garrison far away from the married woman he passionately desires played rather blandly by Laura Antonelli. There he meets Fosca a supposedly' ugly ' woman played extraordinarily well by the actor Valeria D'Obici and slowly but surely she falls in love with him. The torment of this passion leads to excess and a state of what the world called then madness. Excellently directed by Ettore Scola it is arguably one of Italy's greatest films, but seeing the so few reviews here I can assume it has fallen into the great ' lost ' films realm, along with such Italian films as ' Il Mare ' and ' Fists in the Pocket, ' and this is saddening. Too consumed by the directors Fellini, Antonioni, and arguably Visconti we are in danger of losing sight of masterpieces that have fallen now by the cinematic wayside. That said this film does have images that I disliked, especially when Fosca is made up to look like a female Nosferatu. Subjective it maybe to the teller of this story, but I feel Scola should have resisted falling into horror excess. This is my opinion, and I firmly believe this film should be seen by as many as possible. In no other film that I can think of has the question of outer beauty been put into so much doubt, and I applaud it for that.