(142) ARMIDA (1970) Bruno Mattei's directorial debut
6215DVD
also
known as ARMIDA IL DRAMMA DI UNA SPOSA [Armida, a Wife's Drama]
and O LIPOTAKTIS [The Deserter] (edited version)
director
Bruno Mattei (as Jordan B. Matthews)
Franca Parisi · Franco Ricci (as Frank Sherman) · Maria
Kiriakis · Peter Hunter · Roland Bryan
The
soldier Alexis is a deserter from the horrors of war in France. He meets
a young woman named Armida and takes refuge in her farmhouse. Soon,
she and her cousin Liza begin their own war as they compete for his
affections.
Officially,
Bruno Mattei's directorial debut was the hardcore footage for Jess Franco's
99 WOMEN in 1969. However, this remarkable movie stands as his
first theatrical feature. Bruno had been a prolific film editor [he
said that he'd worked on 300+ movies in the '60s]. Throughout his career,
he often used pseudonyms - perhaps more than any other filmmaker ever.
After the success of his 1980 zombie flick HELL
OF THE LIVING DEAD, he became attached to the Vincent Dawn alias.
Bruno Mattei dabbled in many genres, from nunsploitation (THE
OTHER HELL) to SciFi thrillers (ROBOWAR),
from naziploitation (WOMEN'S
CAMP 119) to giallos (EYES
WITHOUT A FACE), from Spaghetti Westerns (SCALPS)
to sleaze (BELLE
DA MORIRE), before his death from a brain tumor in May, 2007,
at age 75.
There
is irksome disagreement over the pedigree of this film. Some critics
(including the Internet Movie Database) claim it is a remake of the
Greek O LIPOTAKIS, also from 1970, credited to director Christos
Kefalas. However that film was not actually released in 1970, rather,
it was shelved until 2012, finally shown [severely edited] on Greek
TV, and made available as the truncated bottom part of a DVD double
feature. The 'surviving' movie is identical to this Italian version
[albeit, shorter] with a different credit sequence. Both prints list
Franca Parisi in the starring role, but everything else in the credits
appears bogus (i.e., the music is quite obviously the work of Euro maestro
Alessandro Alessandroni [as the Italian print asserts] and definitely
not Giorgos Paris). Interestingly, Bruno Mattei is listed as the editor
in the Greek credits. But, the reality is: they are the same movie,
belonging to Mr Mattei, not Christos Kefalas. Incidentally, Bruno would
use the same narrative a few years later in his script for Joe D'Amato'sEMANULLE AND FRANCOISE (Emanuelle's Revenge).
An
Italian film with optional English subtitles; fullscreen format, black
& white,
uncut version (83 min.), DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC, playable on
any
American machine. Extras include selected Bruno Mattei trailers.
Violence/Rape/Sexual
Brutality/Nudity
Recommended for Mature Audiences
