''Black Journal'' ( it, Gran bollito, lit=Large bollito) is a 1977 Italian

black comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...

directed by

Mauro Bolognini Mauro Bolognini (28 June 1922 – 14 May 2001) was an Italian film and stage director of literate sensibility, known for his masterly handling of period subject matter. Early years Bolognini was born in Pistoia, in the Tuscany region of Italy. ...

. It is loosely based on real-life serial killer

Leonarda Cianciulli Leonarda Cianciulli (18 April 1894 – 15 October 1970) was an Italian serial killer. Better known as the Soap-Maker of Correggio (Italian: ''la Saponificatrice di Correggio''), she murdered three women in the town of Correggio, Reggio Emilia, in ...

, who killed three women between 1939 and 1940, and turned their bodies into soap and teacakes. It stars

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

Max von Sydow Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...

Renato Pozzetto Renato Pozzetto (born 14 July 1940) is an Italian actor, director, comedian, and singer. Biography Pozzetto was born into a working-class family from Milan and grew up in the town of Gemonio (in the Province of Varese). After graduation, he made ...

and

Alberto Lionello Alberto Lionello (12 July 1930 – 14 July 1994) was an Italian film actor, voice actor, singer and presenter. Life and career Born in Milan into a family of Venetian origins, after studying acting at the Accademia dei Filodrammatici Lione ...

, with the latter three in a

dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

as both the victims of the killer, in drag, and those who apprehend her.

Plot

Lea, a mature Neapolitan woman who runs a ''lotto'' box office in a

northern Italian Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

city, had thirteen children, but all but one died from abortion or after a few months of life. The only survivor of her, Michele, is cared for by her with morbid affection: she is convinced that she has stolen him from Death by negotiating with it, so she is not willing to sell him either to the army or to another woman. When Michele gets engaged with a beautiful dance teacher, his mother, to avoid separation, makes a new sacrifice to Death, killing three spinster friends, from whom she makes soap and biscuits. The call to military service arrives for her son: to make him return home, Lea would like to multiply her sacrificial rites, targeting, this time, a mute servant and Michele's hated girlfriend. The

carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

will stop her on time.

Cast

Production

was originally going to direct the film 15 years earlier, with

Anna Magnani Anna Maria Magnani (; 7 March 1908 – 26 September 1973) was an Italian actress.Obituary ''Variety'', 3 October 1973, pg. 47 She was known for her explosive acting and earthy, realistic portrayals of characters. Born in Rome, she worked her ...

in the lead role. Later, he envisioned Sophia Loren as the leading actress. The film had several working titles from 1976 to 1977, including ''Black Journal'', ''La cuoca del diavolo'', ''Sapone di donna'', ''Donne all'interno'', ''La saponificatrice'' and ''La signora degli orrori''.

Ornella Muti Ornella Muti (born Francesca Romana Rivelli; 9 March 1955) is an Italian actress. She made her film debut as Francesca Cimarosa in the 1970 film ''La moglie più bella.'' Early life Muti was born in Rome to a Neapolitan journalist father and ...

was cast as the girlfriend of Lea's son, but dropped out in June 1977 and was replaced by

Laura Antonelli Laura Antonelli ( Antonaz; 28 November 1941 – 22 June 2015) was an Italian film actress who appeared in 45 films between 1964 and 1991. Early years Antonelli was born Laura Antonaz in Pola, Kingdom of Italy (in Croatian, Pula), former cap ...

References

External links

* * 1977 films 1977 comedy-drama films 1970s black comedy films Comedy films based on actual events Works about cannibals Cultural depictions of female serial killers Cultural depictions of Italian women Drag (entertainment)-related films 1970s Italian-language films English-language Italian films 1970s English-language films Films about Fascist Italy Films about superstition Films directed by Mauro Bolognini Films with screenplays by Luciano Vincenzoni Italian black comedy films Italian serial killer films 1977 multilingual films Italian multilingual films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-film-stub