Devil in the Flesh

In Marco Bellochio's most recent work, Raymond Radiguet's novel of the same name is loosely adapted by modern-day characters. Andrea is quietly and studiously finishing his last year of high school when Giulia comes into his life. He's the son of a precariously balanced shrink; she's a rich girl whose father was killed by terrorists and who is engaged to be married to a middle-class terrorist on his way out of prison. Giulia is gorgeous and neurotic. Living in a world of expensive objects and vast but empty apartments, she is in search of normality and stability. And, of course, two lovers from whom to choose. Eroticism is the key theme here (as evidenced by the film's near-omission from the Toronto Festival of Festivals by the Ontario Censor Board) though it remains a sunny, joyous, playful study of the subversive way of falling in love.