Years of suppressing his physical desires and devoting himself to his career catch up to a powerful Italian senator and presidential candidate, as he finds himself overwhelmed by the urge to grab and fondle women's buttocks. A monk thinks he can help the politician overcome his passion...but is a stay at a nunnery really the answer? Racy political satire from director Lucio Fulci stars Lando Buzzanca, Laura Antonelli, Lionel Stander. 108 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: Italian Dolby Digital stereo; Subtitles: English; photo gallery.
The Senator Likes Women
AKA: All'Onorevole Piaccino le Donna
The Eroticist
A Nunsploitation.Net review
The Senator Likes Women is a strange sort of hodge podge of genres in the form of an erotic political satire -- three words that don't normally appear together.The movie begins with Senator Gianni Puppis winning his party's nomination to run for president. A pawn of special interests and lobbyists,t he senator has dedicated himself -- body and soul -- to politics leaving no room in his life for distractions like women.
Unfortunately, this extreme all-or-nothing tactic has addled his mind and the senator's subsconscious begins venting his sexual frustrations without his realizing it. Finally, his luck runs out as he is caught on film grabbing the ass of a foreign dignitary.
The Senator goes on a spiritual retreat to meet with a therapist in a remote monastery. The friar is cloistered alone with only an order of German nuns for company.
This setting is no help to the Senator whose conditions worsens as he sleepwalks and violates 21 out of the 22 nuns in the cloister. The 22nd nun, Sister Hildegarde (Laura Antonelli), returns later in the film to beg the senator to whip her into submission. Ever since he left, she has been plagued with temptations about what a coupling might have been like.
Her solution to his problem is for him to whip her until he is disgusted by women (thus curing him) and for her to then whip him, curing her of her lustful temptations.
The plan fails as the Senator falls in love with her and decides to abandon politics all together, that is until his biggest political backer, Cardinal Marvidi (Lionel Stander -- perhaps best known to American audiences as "Max" on TV's Hart to Hart or the voice of "Kup" from Transformers the Movie; Nunsploitation fans may remember him as Don Nini from the Gloria Guida film La Novizia) reveals the rather ghastly methods that have been used to put the Senator in power in the first place.
Blackmailed into continuing his political career, the Senator grimly takes on his new position as president, but in the end, no one really cares.
A funny movie with a grim, depressing ending, The Senator Likes Women has its fair share of humor, biting political commentary and sizzling eroticism.
The nuns are hot and their German accents make them seem that much more exotic. Unfortunately, the night the Senator defiles 21 nuns in not shown at all in the movie. Rather, it is alluded to in a dream in which he fondles and crushes oversized apples. The orgy is revealed in dialogue when the nuns go to confession the next morning.
Out of frustration, the friar half-jokingly closes the confessional due to "sin-overload!"
In the dream sequence, there is an awesome scene in which the nuns line up like soldiers to have their asses inspected, the head nun barking orders like a drill sergeant. They do an about face and the senator proceeds to inspect their bottoms.
As I watched the story unfold, I couldn't help but be reminded of contemporary American politicians, most notably Bill Clinton, but also former U.S. Congressman John LaFalce who reputedly also had a penchant for pinching ladies on the ass including -- according to one report -- former First Lady, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The story was funny and the nuns were sexy. Though I would have preferred the sex to be more raunchy and overt, it was still better than some other films I've seen in this genre. Laura Antonelli was superb in her role as the frustrated nun who comes to tempt the recovering Senator, especially when she strips off her habit and begs him to whip her.
This movie has received two North American DVD releases, the first by Dago Red and the second, far superior version by Severin under the title The Eroticist.
Dago Red DVD
The North American DVD released by Dago Red is a perfect examle of what NOT to do when releasing a movie on video. The transfer looked like the company took the 30-year-old film, tied it to the back of a truck, dragged it around the parking lot for 20 minutes and then transfered to DVD. The film is replete with color distortions, black lines running up and down the screen, and film damage and noise so bad, it looks like the movie is being filmed during an infestation of locusts.
No effort at all was put into restoring or cleaning up the film.
There are no extras except for a lame picture gallery consisting of four images that aren't even given full screen treatment. Instead the images are seen two at a time, as though this were a print publication with a page count budget to answer for.
The only language offered is Italian audio with optional English subtitles. The translation seems fine, but the subtitles are plagued with a recurring extra space that pops up frequently and mak es the subtitles rea d like this. V ery annoy ing.
Oddly enough, although the DVD has no features, it does come with an insert -- something most DVD distributors have phased out completely. Unfortunately the only thing the insert has is the four images in the DVD gallery (this time all four are budgeted to one page) and a bi-lingual synopsis (the same one on their press release). The back is a poster-like version of the DVD cover.
Severin DVD
In contrast, the Severin DVD is far superior. The picture quality is a million times better with all the grain and imperfections cleaned up. The movie is much more enjoyable and Laura Antonelli even looks more beautiful in this properly restored version.
The Severin DVD is a little skimpy on features. A 43-minute featurette "A History of Censorship" is included, but nothing more. The movie is still in Italian with optional English subtitles and there is no trailer or other extras.
I will however praise Severin for the beautiful menus. Be sure to go to the language set up screen just to see the beautiful menu featuring a topless Laura Antonelli! I would actually like to have this screen as a wallpaper for my desktop!
As an erotic politcal satire, the movie scores points in all three genres. It's funny and sexy (Did I mention that the German nuns are hot?) and takes an unapologetic swing at a broken political system run by special interests and lobbyists rather than voters.
The film deserves better treatment than it gets in an unrestored transfer from Dago Red that smacks of laziness and indifference. Why would anyone allow a distribution company to release their films if this is the treatment they can expect? This is a shamefully lazy, bare-bones DVD release. This movie may not be an Oscar-winner, but it certainly deserves better. Thankfully, Severin has stepped up to the plate and has given this movie decent treatment. With the availablility of the Severin DVD, I would recommend that fans actively avoid the Dago Red version.
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