Nest of Vipers

A heated sex melodrama set in Fascist Italy just before World War II, this isn't bad at all. About a provincial innocent who comes to Venice to study music, befriends a fellow student (gay), has an affair with the friend's mother (attractive), then casts her aside in favour of a millionaire's daughter (attractive and rich), it boasts handsome production values recalling the sunbathed settings of Bertolucci and of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. The Fascist context may be incidental, but Cervi makes some headway against the sexploitation elements in his tale of a passionate and jealousy-driven bourgeoisie, keeping things the right side of interesting up to his Chabrol-style climax of brutal murder and complicity in its cover-up.