Il merlo maschio

Il merlo maschio (The Male Blackbird), known as The Naked Cello in the United Kingdom or Secret Fantasy in the United States, is an Italian film in the commedia sexy all'italiana style, and presents a theme of candaulism, which was very rare at the time. It was filmed in 1971 by director Pasquale Festa Campanile, and starred Laura Antonelli and Lando Buzzanca.

The Naked Cello Secret Fantasy
Italian	Il merlo maschio
Directed by	Pasquale Festa Campanile
Screenplay by	Pasquale Festa Campanile
Based on	Il complesso di Loth 1968 story by Luciano Bianciardi
Produced by	Silvio Clementelli Edward L. Montoro
Starring	Lando Buzzanca Laura Antonelli
Cinematography	Silvano Ippoliti
Edited by	Mario Morra Sergio Montanari
Music by	Riz Ortolani
Release date	September 22, 1971 (1971-09-22) Italy
Running time	112 minutes
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

Synopsis

Niccolò Vivaldi is a frustrated cello player whose career has stalled and who feels unappreciated by the orchestra's director.

He discovers that his wife Costanza's beauty arouses in him admiration for her, which he believes also elevates his own image. From then on, he decides to display her beauty publicly, hoping to gain admiration and recognition. He takes photographs of her in increasingly provocative poses that gradually became pornographic. He first shares the images with his friend and colleague Cavalmoretti and in a moment of madness, to all the other members of the orchestra. Eventually, in a crescendo of exhibitionism, she playfully encourages him to photograph her nude in sensual poses, such as the screenshot below. Eventually, he exposes her completely nude (by an apparent accident with her dress) in front of everyone at the Verona's Arena during the showing of Aida. Niccolò ends up in a mental institution.

Cast

Laura Antonelli in a still from the film

• Laura Antonelli as Costanza Vivaldi
• Lando Buzzanca as Niccolò Vivaldi
• Gianrico Tedeschi as the Orchestra conductor
• Lino Toffolo as Cavalmoretti
• Luciano Bianciardi as Mazzacurati
• Gino Cavalieri as Costanza's father
• Elsa Vazzoler as Costanza's mother
• Ferruccio De Ceresa as the Psychoanalyst
• Aldo Puglisi as the Pharmacist
• Pietro Tordi as the Doctor

Reception

A contemporary review found the film bizarre.^[1]

Analysis

The film was shot in Verona, and it shows many situations in the environment of practicing symphonic orchestras that at certain moment of the year are allowed to play in Arena. Il Merlo Maschio represents the Commedia all'italiana.

Unlike most Italian comedy films in that epoch, always repeating the storyboards of the first erotic dreams of the symbolic teenager Pierino, or the arousal reactions of secluded soldiers that watch for the first time the shapes of a beauty queen (Gloria Guida, etc.), The Male Blackbird is also a light and discrete sociological presentation of the theme of candaulism.