Love and Anarchy (1973) review

Googly-eyed Giancarlo Giannini is driven to kill Mussolini as revenge for the Italian dictator's treatment of Anarchists, but becomes distracted by the prostitutes Wertmüller sets in front of him. Too much time is spent on the brothels and not enough on the political aspects - there are the fascists and there are the prostitutes, and both (in typical Wertmüller style) are a part of a grotesque menagerie of Italians, bragging and rambling at hyper-speed. Like Seven Beauties, it's too ramshackle to actually make valid points about either fascism or anarchism - it's more like a dirty, half-shaded vaudeville act with caked makeup, greasy bedrooms and hysterical participants. I'm starting to think that Swept Away is actually the anomaly in the director's oeuvre, wonderfully combining physical comedy, gorgeous scenery, type-A characters and sexual politics into a solid whole.