Che? (1972)

A young American woman (Sydne Rome) traveling through Italy finds herself in a strange Mediterranean villa where nothing seems right. Her visit becomes an absurd, decadent, oversexed ... See full summary »

Director:

Roman Polanski

Writers:

Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski

Stars:

Marcello Mastroianni, Sydne Rome, Hugh Griffith

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Alex
Sydne Rome	...	Nancy
Hugh Griffith	...	Joseph Noblart
Romolo Valli	...	Giovanni
Guido Alberti	...	Priest
Henning Schlüter	...	Catone (as Henning Schlueter)
Gianfranco Piacentini	...	Tony
Christiane Barry	...	Dresser
Dieter Hallervorden	...	German #2
Elisabeth Witte	...	Nurse
Mogens von Gadow	...	German #1 (as Mogen von Gadow)
Carlo Delle Piane	...	Young Oaf #1 in Car
Luigi Bonos	...	Painter
Livio Galassi
Carla Mancini

Storyline

A young American woman (Sydne Rome) traveling through Italy finds herself in a strange Mediterranean villa where nothing seems right. Her visit becomes an absurd, decadent, oversexed version of "Alice in Wonderland", with Marcello Mastroianni as the maddest of mad hatters and Roman Polanski a kinky March hare.

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Plot Keywords:

woman wearing pajama top | mediterranean | villa | italy | bare breasts | 

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Taglines:

The kinkiest caper of the year!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy France West Germany

Language:

English Italian French

Release Date:

3 October 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Diary of Forbidden Dreams

Filming Locations:

Italy

Box Office

Gross USA:

$64, 9 October 1973

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnia Cinematografica Champion,Les Films Concordia,Dieter Geissler Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 61462 delivered on 5-12-1972.

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Goofs

Nancy's hands are well manicured throughout the movie, but quite ordinary during close-ups, when she's supposedly playing the piano.

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Connections

References Citizen Kane (1941)

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Soundtracks

String Quartet Death and the Maiden
By Franz Schubert
Arranged by Claudio Gizzi

User Reviews

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Sydney Rome is an American traveling in Italy who flees to a private villa after being attacked by some really inept rapists. Within the estate she meets a bunch of crazy people, including former pimp Marcello Mastroianni in what has to be the craziest, most outlandishly go-for-broke performance of his career. Comparisons to Alice in Wonderland (always mentioned in conjunction with this film) are a huge stretch, I think. There's an innocent girl in a strange place surrounded by crazy people, but that's about the extent of the parallels. At best it's like Lewis Carroll reinterpreted by a horny high schooler who still giggles when he hears the word "breast." Nevertheless, for the first half hour or so I thought this was one of the funniest movies I had ever seen. Unfortunately it climaxed with Mastroianni crawling around in a tiger hide making meowing noises (whereupon Rome starts "taming" him with the whip). After that the film never really recovers the energy it started out with and viewers are left with little to do but wonder how Rome will be humiliated next (first her shirt is ripped, then stolen, then she walks around wearing a napkin until she finds another shirt, but then her pants are stolen, finally she loses the shirt, etc). I love unadulterated nonsense (SCHIZOPOLIS, FORBIDDEN ZONE, THE BED SITTING ROOM) but aside from a couple of choice moments this film's particular pointlessness was lazy and uninspired.