Private Vices, Public Pleasures (1976)

In a sumptuous villa surrounded by a vast park, Rudolph of Habsburg, the heir to the imperial throne spends the summer contesting the old emperor in the only way that is congenial to him: ... See full summary »

Director:

Miklós Jancsó

Writers:

Miklós Jancsó (story), Giovanna Gagliardo (story)

Stars:

Lajos Balázsovits, Pamela Villoresi, Franco Branciaroli

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lajos Balázsovits	...	Rudolf / Crown Prince of Austria
Pamela Villoresi	...	Sofia / Rudolf's half sister
Franco Branciaroli	...	Duke / Rudolf's half brother
Teresa Ann Savoy	...	Marie von Vetsera / hermaphrodite (as Therese Ann Savoy)
Laura Betti	...	Theresa / housekeeper
Ivica Pajer	...	General
Zvonimir Crnko
Umberto Silva	...	Priest
Demeter Bitenc
Susanna Javicoli
Anikó Sáfár
Ilona Staller	...	Woman in orgy
Gloria Piedimonte
Cesare Barro
Gino Marturano	...	(as Luigi Marturano)

Storyline

In a sumptuous villa surrounded by a vast park, Rudolph of Habsburg, the heir to the imperial throne spends the summer contesting the old emperor in the only way that is congenial to him: the mockery, the curse and above all the orgy. Surrounded first by the narrow circle of his own court, including the hermaphrodite lover, Marie von Vetsera and the obscene housekeeper Theresa, then by the young of the aristocracy, he gradually enlarged the hospitality by summoning a company of wandering actors and even a group of campagnoli, to whom it does not seem true to be able to have fun with beautiful noble girls. Thus he unleashes a sexual saraband with all the possible turpitudes and deviations. Having rejected his father's repeated reprimands and ultimatums and caused the general in charge to be sodomized, the dolphin and its intimates are exterminated by the imperial police.

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Plot Keywords:

erotica | male objectification | female full frontal nudity | female pubic hair | female full rear nudity | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Details

Country:

Italy Yugoslavia

Language:

Italian German French Hungarian English

Release Date:

6 May 1976 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Private Vices, Public Pleasures

Filming Locations:

Croatia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmes Cinematografica, Jadran Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 68191 delivered on 28-4-1976.

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Connections

Referenced in Rewind This! (2013)

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Soundtracks

Baa Baa Black Sheep
Traditional nursery rhyme

User Reviews

History lesson

Which makes it sound dull, but more on that later. Read the review by ArpadGabor to get some background information on the historical context of the movie. The motives are clear in the movie, but it shines a new light on some things I guess. One thing is for sure though: If people mistake this as pornography (as the reviewer also wrote), they are dead wrong.

This is like a study of society. One sided (rich people) it may be, but it's still vaguely intriguing to see how boredom gets them and pushes them to do crazy things. Like the scene almost at the beginning in the hay, which coincidently is the only scene that actually could lead to the pornographic conclusion. We do have a lot of nudity though and the love making is diverse.

Some people will be offended by that (especially because we're not only seeing "regular" couples/intercourse). This is by no means titillating or anything, but appalling? Maybe, depends on your threshold for such things.

You also don't really know the background on most of the people on screen or their relationship towards each other. While this adds to the mystery it's also frustrating and not really satisfying (no pun intended). A little more background and a little more fleshed out characters would've gone a long way. As it is, it's a decent film, with a neat message