I basilischi

The objective, ironic voiceover commentary gets to the heart of the matter at the end of the film: “We talk and talk and talk...” The constant talk of the inhabitants of a small Italian town on the Basilicata is only seldom followed by action. The same applies to the three young idlers whose garrulous wanderings through town involve imitating farmers’ daughters and secretly observing married women. After an unexpected trip to Rome, moving there and other ideas flash up only to disappear again in the endless gabbing and the general torpor and lethargy. With her brilliant debut, Wertmüller laid an often documentary-like foundation stone for her later satires.