Some time in the mid-70s, out-of-luck director Fernando di Leo had a million dollar idea: Why not do a remake of one of the top grossing blockbusters of 1969, with a slightly altered tagline: "Two chicks went looking for Italia and couldn't find it anywhere." And since those chicks would hitchhike across the country to join a hippie community, they didn't even need those pricey motorbikes! The Captain America role went to Euro teen star blonde Gloria Guida, the Billy part to the lesser-known Lilli Carati, a downright stunning brunette literally acting out every single word of her dialogue: „I'm young, hot, and p*ssed off. Does anybody here f*ck?" A radically pessimistic statement from the bleak opening beach scene to the unforeseeable (and utterly disgusting) climax, Avere vent'anni bites off more than di Leo could chew: His counterculture swan song about two female libertines who inescapably will go to the dogs never finds a rhythm, a loose, sloppy concoction of scenes that don't blend, a programmatic reading from Valerie Solanas's SCUM manifesto („A pip-squeak with dysfunctional femininity that despises women: That is man.") remaining fairly more than a nod to the feminist zeitgeist in Fernando's T&A exploitation circus. Two stars for the boisterous performance of the lead actresses, reciprocating between vulnerability, sexual aggression, and pure, breathless joie de vivre, especially in the dance scene on the piazza; another one for Ray Lovelock's fine interpretation of a disenchanted druggie, and one and a half for the super catchy theme song. Ah, and as for Signorina Carati: Eat your heart out, Dennis Hopper.

This movie is available in two versions. The English-language version is a badly-dubbed, waste-of-time sex comedy (not unlike a lot of the films co-lead Gloria Guida was starring in at the time). The Italian version is similarly light-hearted for much of its running time, but it does make some serious commentary on police corruption, the confused politics and ultimate hollowness of the 70's era counterculture, and the reactionary nature of male-dominated rural Italy. The ending is unforgettably brutal, inspired no doubt by films like "Last House on the Left" or "Late Night Trains". Like those films it was quite controversial, and really for the same ironic reason--because you really come to like the two lead characters and care what happens to them. This is no mean feat as Gloria Guida had no real acting talent beyond looking (really) good naked and the other lead, porno-starlet-to-be Lili Carati, was, if anything, even less talented.The plot of the movie is rather loose and picaresque. It follows these two "beautiful and p***ed-off" girls as they hitchhike, shoplift, crash at a commune, dabble in prostitution, sell encyclopedias to lecherous university professors, get rousted by the police, and finally meet a tragic end at a roadhouse. Along the way the way they more than fulfill the sexploitation skin quotient and frequently throw themselves at various men who hilariously rebuff them (although despite the famed sexual aggressiveness of Italian men, it is not impossible to believe that they might react this way if the tables were suddenly turned on them). It is this free-spirited sexual aggressiveness that proves to be downfall of the two girls, but this movie is ultimately more touching and tragic than cautionary and moralistic--traditional, male-dominated Italian society certainly doesn't come off to well here.The two versions have different discoesque musical arrangements that the characters do sexy, impromptu dances to--the Italian one is kind of catchy but the English-language is about as enjoyable as a barium enema. I would't bother with the English-language version, but the Italian version is definitely a worthwhile little movie.

WARNING: MAJOR PLOT SPOILERS! Gloria Guida was Miss Teenager in Italy in 1971 before she went on to specialize in frothy sex comedies or sleazy dramas, and preens, pouts and plots her way through her roles like a continental Linda Hayden. In 1975 alone she was in over 7 films, including two more for prolific director Silvio Amadio, best remembered for the ultraviolent giallo Amuck (1973) with Barbara Bouchet and Farley Granger. But Euro-sleaze fans tend to agree her best role was in To Be Twenty (1977), a seedy piece of nihilism from director Fernando Di Leo.In the original Italian version Guida and a fellow hitchhiked leave the liberated confines of a hippie commune and end up raped and murdered in the woods; in our English language version the film begins with the girls running through the woods pursued by would-be rapists, then stops abruptly with a freeze frame and the sounds of police sirens to the rescue. Next shot is the girls back on the highway, meeting the hippie commune leader (a nutty German who calls himself 'Shining Ray') they later bunk down with while cruising Rome looking for action. Guida generates an amount of sympathy for her character and proves herself to be more than just eye candy; I'm sure this makes her demise in the original Euro version all the more shocking. As for Guida herself, not much was seen of her after the late 70s, and in To Be Twenty it appears high living was taking a toll on her Miss Teenager features. Fortunately for her and her friend they both survive their Rome vacation and are last seen hitting the open road, in what must be one of the weirdest re-edits in the history of exploitation.

There are two versions of this film by di leo,a good reliable italian director of usually hard boiled detective films,. The american one has the ending toned down and some sex secenes shortened,the lesbian scenes between Carati and Guida is missing.The opening scene in the italian version has full frontals,missing from the american version.But the big difference is the ending,in the italian version it comes out of the blue.Its nasty vicious and never ever to be forgotten. So you have been warned.THat scene where the camera pulls away from the violated dead naked bodies in the woods,never to be forgotten