''Tis Pity She's a Whore'' (, ) is a 1971

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

. It is directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, who co-wrote the screenplay, and stars

Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress. An icon of the Swinging London, Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film ''Georgy Girl'', which starred Lynn ...

as Annabella, Oliver Tobias as Giovanni, and Fabio Testi as Soranzo. The musical score was composed by

Ennio Morricone Ennio Morricone ( , ; 10 November 19286 July 2020) was an Italian composer, Orchestration, orchestrator, conductor, trumpeter, and pianist who wrote music in a wide range of styles. With more than 400 film score, scores for cinema and televisi ...

Plot

In the city of

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

, during the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

, Giovanni, the son of a propertied man, is sent to study abroad having never met his sister, Annabella, who is a couple of years younger than him. After ten years of separation, the now beautiful Annabella is reunited with her brother for the first time, as adolescents. The young siblings are immediately attracted and cannot help falling in love with each other. After struggling with their feelings for some time Giovanni and Annabella begin a secret relationship, and she becomes pregnant. Knowing that the world will condemn them, Giovanni leaves his father's villa, and Annabella accepts the marriage proposal of her suitor, the wealthy noble Soranzo. After Soranzo discovers that he has been the object of a deception, he makes plans for a bloody vengeance.

Cast

Reception

Italian film critic Marco Giusti writes that Rampling undresses as much as she can, but that it is Fabio Testi's physique that is imposing: Always naked and often framed at the height of his buttocks, it is causing the spectators some embarrassment. Giusti perfectly remembers the sight of Testi's big hairy buttocks on the screen of the cinema Verdi in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

. However, Teo Mora "forced" Giusti and Enrico Ghezzi to stage it at the Teatro dell'Archivolto in Genoa. Giusti acted as Soranzo, Testi's character; he has not done any theatre since.

Accolades

The film received two Nastro d'Argento Award nominations; Best Cinematography (

Vittorio Storaro Vittorio Storaro, A.S.C., A.I.C. (born 24 June 1940), is an Italian cinematographer widely recognized as one of the best and most influential in cinema history, for his work on numerous classic films including '' The Conformist'' (1970), ''Apoc ...

) and Best Production Design (

Mario Ceroli Mario Ceroli (born 1938) is an Italian sculptor. Biography His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi. One of his sculptures is on the Luigi Einaudi campus o ...

Bibliography

References

External links

* * 1971 films 1971 romantic drama films Italian romantic drama films Films directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi Films scored by Ennio Morricone Films about incest Italian films based on plays 1970s historical drama films French romantic drama films 1970s Italian films 1970s French films {{romantic-drama-film-stub