A JOKE OF DESTINY (Lying in wait around the corner like a robber)

Always a rebel, Lina Wertmuller was kicked out of 15 schools before completing her education at Rome's Academy of Theater in 1951. Already controversial, she produced avant-garde plays and toured with puppeteers performing Kafka – for children. Wertmuller won the Best Director Award at Cannes in 1972 for her second feature, “The Seduction of Mimi,” 10 years after her debut with “The Lizards.” “Swept Away” drew her first public success, followed by her generally acknowledged masterpiece, “Seven Beauties.” Less successful were “A Night Full Of Rain” and “Blood Feud,” both melodramas. Retrieving the black comedy appeal of her earlier work, A JOKE OF DESTINY is an ultra-modern parable with a Promethean theme. Ugo (“La Cage Aux Folles”) Tognazzi plays De Andreiis, a member of Parliament. His political enemy, the Italian Minister of the Interior, finds himself trapped with his driver in a computer-controlled, hermetically sealed lino with the power shut off – in front of De Andreiis' art deco villa. As he seeks help from experts, De Andreiis has to contend with his militant wife, her terrorist lover, a pot-smoking Granny, a horny daughter and a dumb cop, who help carry the satire to its surreal, Bunuelian climax – a bizarre “joke of destiny” in this age of technology. “A JOKE OF DESTINY is certainly one of the most ambitious and praiseworthy attempts to handle a serious theme with wit to reach our screens in time. . .one of the brightest adult movies we're likely to see this year. . .When Wertmuller is good she's great, and the cast she has assembled is a joy to watch.” -Films in Review