Out now in a gorgeously restored Blu-ray from Rarovideo is the unforgettable 1978 Fernando Di Leo film To Be Twenty (Avere Vent’Anni). What can one say about this notorious and little-seen Italian exploitation movie of the 70s without ruining its impact by revealing too much?
Avere Vent’Anni– was exported internationally in a drastically different. much tamer, version called To Be Twenty. The Blu-ray includes the uncut original and the bowdlerized export, which, after you see the director’s cut, is not only wildly dissimilar, is just a stupid sexy bit of fluff set in a more “free love” period, without any punch or purpose.
Avere is about Tina (dark-haired beauty Lilli Carati) and Lia (blonde, sexy, Gloria Guida), two swinging gals merrily hitchhiking across Italy in the 70s in revealing outfits. “We’re young, beautiful and pissed off!” is their mantra. They don’t shy away from using sex to their advantage. Short on cash, Tina says to a flustered shopkeeper, “A pack of Marlboros, and I’ll give you a blowjob.” The girls end up living in a commune for a time, where they have sex with strangers and are forced to sell encyclopedias by the commune’s corrupt leader (who looks like a mime fool).
All this plays out like a goofy, Italian sex comedy, complete with a bubbly musical score. But when the girls stop by a local tavern and start dancing lasciviously to the music on the jukebox, the men drinking there don’t take kindly to them. “One can’t even dance in peace,” Tina complains “what a rotten world!” Then suddenly the film spins violently out of control. I refuse to say anymore more except that the finale comes out of left field, but is in keeping with the film’s theme how men are threatened by women who flaunt their independence and sexuality. The American version (included on the Blu-ray) begins with the final scene, but freeze frames during the attack and then suddenly shows the gals on the highway with their thumbs out. “Thank God those police came by when they did,” they say, hitchhiking off for more wacky adventures.
Fernando Di Leo, who also directed many crime dramas and the enjoyably sleazy Slaughter Hotel (aka Cold Blooded Beast), was also an un-credited co-writer on the script for Sergio Leone’s A Fistful Of Dollars and For A few Dollars More, and died in 2003. In interviews, he tells fascinating stories about the cast- especially about poor Lilli Carati, who would end up with a severe drug problem and drifted into hardcore porn. The Blu-ray includes a documentary on the film, a new digital transfer from the original negative and a fully illustrated booklet with excellent critical analysis by Nathaniel Thompson. (You need to check out his great website Mondo Digital, which is exhaustively researched and witty commentary on many rare cult classics).
It’s impossible to covey the power of the movie without ruining it- when I first came across a bootleg of it years ago I knew little except that it was rarity, and I was left speechless and shaking when it was over. It still elicits that response these many years later and is such a fascinating feminist manifesto which is disguised as a sexist sex comedy. That’s why it’s so subversive, and so perversely potent.