The Most Lovely Wife is a gritty Italian crime thriller directed by Damiano Damiani. This is my first film by this director and I was very impressed. A patriarchal mafia boss who is about to be arrested, tells his young protégé that he must marry a beautiful wife who is poor and uneducated. The arrogant and impressionable young man sets his sights on a poor and seemingly gullible peasant girl and even scares away her fiancée. Even though the peasant girl falls for the young man, she refuses to marry him. He kidnaps and rapes her to show his enemies (who taunt him about her) that he is a man. Instead of caving down and marrying him, the girl (Ornella Muti) goes to the police and tries to get the young mafiosi arrested. Her family and society turn against her.The films locations alternates between the Sicilian country side and the city. Some of the poor Sicilians are portrayed as backward and impotent. Like other Italian films of this period (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion), the police and clergy are portrayed as extremely corrupt.The score by Ennio Morricone (which attracted me to this wonderful film) is spectacular - it sort of adds to the gradual build up of conflict between the sexes. Ornella Muti is bewitching as the young peasant girl who fights back. She almost looks like a young innocent witch as she slowly takes down the man who has wronged her. What an actress! - she was only 14 when she made this. She is a perfect foil for the arrogant and cruel young mafioso (Alessio Orano).The film did have a rather unimaginative title sequence. I couldn't believe this was the best the director could come up with when he had such a terrific score by Morricone.

Damiano Damini, the director of "La Moglie Piu Bella", two years earlier,in 1968, had made a movie about "la Mafia" titled "Il Giorno Della Civetta" starring Franco Nero, Claudia Cardinale and Lee J. Cobb. It was a stark tale, showing the helplessness of the law enforcers in front of the resignedly accepted power of the Mafia. In 1970 he had another project about the Organization, the story, loosely based in real facts, of the first Italian woman that refused the reparation by marriage of her lost honor. Instead she had the courage to denounce the violence that she suffered, at the local police station. It was very important to choose someone special for acting the leading role. Damiano Damiani chose the teenager Ornella Muti (14 years old), without previous experiences in front of the camera, to play the humbled girl, Francesca Cimarosa, who, at first, is very shy and submissive but gradually becomes a strong character person, fighting for her dignity even against her own parents that are frightened because of intimidation of the Mafia. It was said by Ornella Muti in several interviews, that she was making company to her older sister Claudia Rivelli, who was herself in search of a role in pictures when, suddenly, by pure chance, was saw by Damiani and that was all. Overnight, the teenager that was dreaming about being an actress, was in front of the camera, in an exigent leading role, making her cinematic debut under the implacable and experienced hand of Damiani. In my opinion it was a superb choice. Ornella was beautiful, shy, reserved, intense, brave and she was capable of projecting these qualities to the screen, reaching this way, the heart and the interest of the audience. An authentic natural talent, not always appreciated during the long career of the diva, always eclipsed by the sheer beauty and sexiness of her physique. Alesio Orano, future first husband of Ornella Muti in real life, plays the part of the nephew of the "local capo". At that time, he was a heartthrob, handsome, long dark hair and blue eyes. He is the dream love of the young heroine but also he possesses a streak of cruelty and he is absolutely perfect in his role. Gaetano Cimarrosa is excellent, acting as the intimidated father and Pierluigi Aprá is very efficient as the local "carabinieri", a helpless but honest police officer. It was said that this film is about feminism, but I consider it a story that has to do with the basic human dignity and choosing to live without fear in a society whose ethical values are profoundly twisted by the existence of the shady and stealth hand of the organized crime.

Most other comments are right on the spot.Excellent movie, good acting and marvellous music.There are a few things i'd like to add. Sometimes, this film slows down a bit, but never long enough to It's not a genre movie at all, but if you would want to tag it, I'd give it a thriller label.The main trouble with films like this is that it so hard to 'like' them. Not that this one is pure depressing, but you'll get to see a desperate world on the bottom of the mafia and the place where it has its roots. And it isn't like the godfather.My final verdict is an 8 out of 10. There is nothing wrong with this movie, but it hasn't the 100% perfection for a higher score. Still, very gripping and plain good.

Damiano Damiani is perhaps the Italian filmmaker most inspired by American cinema. He links political commitment to excellent thriller style. "La moglie piu' bella" is still shocking for me, knowing it is inspired by the true story of Franca Viola in 1965. The atmosphere is disquieting thanks to the the film-making and Ennio Morricone's music. This is also the first film of Ornella Muti, who was 14 years old at the time and pretended to be ill not to go to school for two months - the time of recording. It reminds me "La ragazza con la pistola" (The girl with the gun) by Mario Monicelli with Monica Vitti, although this one is much more ironic and aims at ridiculing certain Sicilians customs to better fight them.