Berühre nicht die weiße Frau

A humorous and simply constructed parallel between two developmental stages of modern capitalism, differing from each other (but not so much) in the means by which they forge their path to progress at the expense of all "non-conforming" individuals. Therefore, there is only a very thin line between the year 1876 (the Battle of Little Bighorn) and Ferreri's present, and so he has no problem lightly crossing it. Both eras share a common enemy - the Reds! Only now, the red faces have replaced red ideologies. All other allusions, comparisons, and similarities (decipherable even for political beginners) between the pre-past and the past century stem from this assumption. The exceptional acting class of its time maintains a comedic level at an acceptable level (especially Mastroianni, Noiret, Deneuve), while Piccoli and Tognazzi do not deserve roles that are caricatured to the point of being barely tolerable. (14.07.2013)

The beginning of the movie excites the viewer when four seemingly serious gentlemen acting like university professors elegantly talk and casually plan a genocide. It seems like a cleverly dark comedy, but after a few minutes something gets stuck and the message is delivered to the viewer as clumsily as gentlemen trying to dance in armor at a noble court. Essentially, it is a satire presented from a left-wing perspective - Ferreri, as well as practically the entire Italian art scene of the 70s, was significantly left-wing - and so several classic political topics of the left at that time, such as the fight against imperialism, racism, elitism, etc., can be deciphered from the film (one of the characters, for example, wears a shirt with the inscription CIA and says that he is going on vacation to Chile to relax), but the unfortunately chosen form sinks the director's intentions. Although it is a satire, there is little humor and the film vainly searches for a defining style. It seems like a farce, but immediately one of the actors brutally loses his head in a shot that even many horror specialists would not be ashamed of. The director and the screenwriter devoted too much energy to the effort to reconstruct the Battle of Little Bighorn as realistically as possible in the backdrop of contemporary Paris, so the Indian fighters struggle with the Bluecoats on the site of a large construction site. Period uniforms contrast with an allegorical carriage or motorcycle, it's not very funny, and after some time, one starts to wonder about the deeper meaning of this nonsense. The cast is excellent and if one is to spend time on this film, it is because of the famous stars and their performances. Marcello Mastroianni is excellent as Officer Custer, Michel Piccoli excels in the role of the phony bon vivant Buffalo Bill, and Catherine Deneuve portrays a Victorian woman perfectly, who hides passion behind prudery, which we are accustomed to seeing in very naughty films of the present. The film is strong in its details and some scenes, but as a whole, it is somewhat unnecessary and I do not intend to return to it in the future. Overall impression: 55%. (17.10.2009)