La pelle (1981)
Director:
Liliana Cavani
Writers:
Curzio Malaparte (novel), Robert Katz (screenplay)
Stars:
Marcello Mastroianni, Ken Marshall, Alexandra King
The Italian La Pelle was released in English-speaking countries as The Skin. Set in the twilight of World War 2, the film is a compendium of bitter recollections concerning the Allied liberation of Naples. These memories were originally bundled together in book form by Curzio Malaparte, played herein by Marcello Mastroianni. If you've gathered that the tone of the film is anti-American, you're not far off base: it's too bad that cowriter/director Liliana Cavani was more interested in her agenda than in entertaining the audience. The best performance is rendered by Burt Lancaster as General Mark Clark.