I saw this one under its US VHS title HUSBANDS AND LOVERS. It's pretty undistinguished. Joanna Pacula and Lara Wendel look good. Julian Sands is his usual languid self. Tcheky Karyo certainly overacts but its seems even more extreme due to the underacting of the others. The actors and characters barely have a presence beyond their Armani clothing. Giuseppe Lanci's (NOSTALGHIA) cinematography is standard late 80's - early 90's soft focus. Morricone's music is nice but he doesn't seem to have been that inspired with the material. The film was produced by P.A.C. which also produced Lamberto Bava's BODY PUZZLE and Mario Bava's FIVE WOMEN FOR AN AUGUST MOON.

The plot is standard Moravia stuff. Intellectual husband. Faithless wife. If you've seen CONTEMPT (or read the source novel or several other Moravia novels like "Conjugal Love"), you've seen it done better.

I'd really like to read the original novel though. It was published by Bompiani but I do not know if it ever recieved an English translation and what title it would been given. The title translates roughly as "The Friday Villa" but I haven't seen that title in any of library catalogues or as part of any story collections.

Any opinions on the film? Anyone know about the book's availability in English? If anyone's read it in Italian, how does it compare to his other works?