Directed by: Giuseppe Patroni Griffi
Stars: Charlotte Rampling, Oliver Tobias, Fabio Testi, Angela Luce, Eva Axén
Language: English
Country: Italy | Imdb Info

Also known as: Addio fratello crudele, Peccato che sia una puttana

Description: In Renaissance Italy, forbidden passion ignites between brother and sister Giovanni (Oliver Tobias) and Annabella (Charlotte Rampling). Their secret affair pushes them beyond morality and faith, culminating in Annabella’s pregnancy. To preserve her honor, she hastily marries the arrogant nobleman Soranzo (Fabio Testi), unaware that jealousy and betrayal are already weaving their inevitable snare. As lies unravel and rivalries surface, vengeance brews in blood-soaked whispers until tragedy consumes them all.

Giuseppe Patroni Griffi’s lush adaptation of John Ford’s Jacobean play fuses art-house aesthetics with the raw edge of European 70s erotic cinema. Draped in decadent period settings and infused with blasphemy, obsession, incest, and revenge, the film balances poetic allegory with shocking violence. Rampling radiates tortured sensuality, while Tobias—styled as a Christ-like figure—embodies doomed desire. The finale erupts into operatic carnage, confirming this as both a lost classic of Italian art cinema and a daring exploitation of love’s darkest extremes.