The Bishop's Bedroom (1977)
"La stanza del vescovo" (original title)

Mario (Tognazzi), a rich and eccentric war hero befriends Marco (Dewaere), a loner with a sailboat and takes him home to meet his estranged wife Cleofe (Lia Tanzi Gabriella) and sexually ... See full summary »

Director:

Dino Risi

Writers:

Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero Chiara (novel),

Stars:

Ugo Tognazzi, Ornella Muti, Patrick Dewaere

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ugo Tognazzi	...	Temistocle Mario Orimbelli
Ornella Muti	...	Matilde Scrosati in Berlusconi
Patrick Dewaere	...	Marco Maffei
Lia Tanzi	...	Landina - fiancé of Maffei
Gabriella Giacobbe	...	Cleofe - wife of Orimbelli
Katia Tchenko	...	Charlotte
Karina Verlier	...	Germaine (as Karine Verlier)
Franco Sangermano	...	Mazzoleni - the Examining Magistrate
Max Turilli	...	Angelo Berlusconi (as Marcello Turilli)
Piero Mazzarella	...	Brighenti
Renzo Ozzano	...	Warrant Officer Gambino
Francesca Juvara	...	Martina
Giuseppe Brugnarolo

Storyline

Mario (Tognazzi), a rich and eccentric war hero befriends Marco (Dewaere), a loner with a sailboat and takes him home to meet his estranged wife Cleofe (Lia Tanzi Gabriella) and sexually repressed sister in law Matilde (Muti). Mario confesses his love for Matilde and so ensues a love triangle.

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Plot Keywords:

sister in law | commedia all'italiana | sunbathing | erotica | boat | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Crime

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

14 September 1977 (France)

Also Known As:

The Bishop's Room

Filming Locations:

Castelli di Cannero, Cannobio, Verbania, Piedmont, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Carlton Film Exports, Merope, S.N. Prodis

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (Telecolor)

User Reviews

Typical Ornella Muti strangeness

Messy and slightly disturbing film that juggles the ingredients of a drama, a sex comedy and a murder mystery. Orimbelli (Ugo Tognazzi), a rich and eccentric war hero befriends Maffei (Patrick Dewaere), a loner with a sailboat and takes him home to meet his estranged wife Cleofe (Lia Tanzi Gabriella) and sexually repressed sister in law Matilde (Ornella Muti).

Maffei has trouble sleeping in the Bishops bedroom. Instead of finding out where the film gets it's title from, he prefers peeping at Ornella Muti instead. Both the mystery and the unhappy maiden are forgotten when Ugo and Patrick go out sailing and pick up some floozies for a wild weekend. After this rather explicit and totally unnecessary episode Orimbelli confesses his love for Matilde to Maffei. Forgetting the fact he is actually married to her sister, they take Matilde out on Maffei's boat. But just when this love triangle is getting interesting, they are called back home to testify in a murder case.

The movie keeps the twists coming and throws in another couple of pointless subplot about Matilde's first husband and strange nighttime noises, but it is hard to stay interested with all these unlikable characters. Maybe the original novel by Piero Chiara made more sense of it all, but as a film it is pretty incomprehensible. Of course this is quite normal for a film starring Ornella Muti.

4 out of 10