Incontro d'amore (1970)

On a spiritual quest, a British scholar travels to the beautiful and exotic island of Bali with a photographer and his wife. The scholar has two native wives and a native boyfriend, a ... See full summary »

Directors:

Paolo Heusch, Usmar Ismail

Writers:

Fulvio Gicca Palli (story), Pier Giuseppe Murgia (story)

Stars:

John Steiner, Laura Antonelli, Umberto Orsini

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Steiner	...	Arthur Glenn
Laura Antonelli	...	Daria, Carlo's Wife
Umberto Orsini	...	Carlo Primi
Petra Pauly	...	Brigitte De Young
Johannes Schaaf	...	Bradford
Ettore Manni	...	Police Commissioner
Lydiawati	...	Linuk, Carlo's Companion (as Widyawati)
Tienpeka Blanco
Mila Karmila	...	Itsak, Glenn's Balinese Wife
Tjempaka Blanco	...	Bali Man
Mila Kamilki
Fifi Young	...	Bali Woman
Carla Mancini
Renato Spera	...	Brigitte's Father
Tjokorde Gde Agung Sukowati	...	Tjokorde, Tourist Agent

Storyline

On a spiritual quest, a British scholar travels to the beautiful and exotic island of Bali with a photographer and his wife. The scholar has two native wives and a native boyfriend, a sculptor. The photographer has a native mistress, and encounters a missionary with a nymphomaniac daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

topless woman | monument | monkey | female nudity | funeral pyre | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Details

Country:

Italy West Germany Indonesia

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

29 December 1970 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Avventura a Bali

Filming Locations:

Bali, Indonesia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gerico Sound, International Film Company, Roxy Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in I Am Self Sufficient (1976)

User Reviews

Absurd hoodoo-voodoo on Bali!

Ugo Liberatore has fashioned a rather unusual confection in Bali. Part- murder mystery; part-existential melodrama; part-metaphysical erotika; part-exotic travelogue; that ultimately cannot help be be somewhat less than its rather exploitative parts. There is a bloody, giallo-esque murder at the beginning which engenders a rather clunky conceit of the ostensible wife-slayer, Umberto Orsini, relaying the heady Bali-bound tale of marital infidelity, Balinese hoodoo-voodoo; and the great, existential woes of the preternaturally sulky, blonde bombshell, John Steiner; who, unsatisfied with his two slinky, Asian honey-pot wives, finds the satiety he desires among the considerable, sun-warmed bosom of Orsini's voluptuous wife; played in rather somnambulist fashion by the super-sexy Antonelli; who does little more here than brood, and look inordinately delicious in her snug black bikini; which, as you might well imagine, is more than adequate compensation for her minuscule character development, and vapid stare. Again, highlighting the sterling plot; or lack thereof; or mentioning the spurious motivation of the comic book characters does the film no good deed at all: it is better to immerse the noggin with suitably robust libations, and then glory at this sunny bounty of giddy nonsense.

The story is hysterical, and palpably absurd, and can only be enjoyed if taken with an enormous pinch of hallucinogenics; but, miraculously, all the film's myriad faults do finally coalesce into a remarkably entertaining yarn; this is because A) it is all wholly, and unrelentingly absurd and B) The location and photography of the impossibly beautiful island paradise of Bali is truly sensational; and C) (a jolly good C it is too!) Giorgio Gaslini's score is lushness personified; slathering unctuously over the steamy proceedings like a sublime application of warm, slippery coconut oil, across the magnificently burnished busts of Laura Antonelli.