Well I can safely say that I never thought I would ever see Marcello Mastroianni - star of several important Federico Fellini and Michaelangelo Antonioni art films - appear in a room full of giant ceramic penises. It's certainly a defining feature of sorts to have the number one Italian actor of the 60's New Wave find himself in this sort of scenario. But to be fair, aside from these giant phalluses having an important part in the plot, The Sunday Woman is a fairly restrained bit of Italian cinema. It certainly, partially at least, falls under the giallo sub-genre but it has the feeling more of an Agatha Christie style whodunit than of a typical Italian murder-mystery. The reason for this is that the story revolves around a very unlikable murder victim whose behaviour ensures that there are plenty of suspects, while the overall emphasis of the film is squarely on the mystery side of the story with very little thriller aspects at all.The murders are committed off-screen and there is a distinct lack of suspense scenes. This sets it apart from the usual giallo conventions. To be perfectly honest though, if the movie had added more of that sort of stuff it would be even better and might have entered the upper bracket of its genre. As it is, it's a much less salacious affair – giant penises aside – and more reliant on its plotting and acting. It's fairly solid on that front with not only Mastroianni at its disposal as the police inspector but also the reliable Jean-Louis Tritignant in one of his less broody roles as one of the chief suspects, while it was good to see Aldo Regianni from Dario Argento's The Cat o' Nine Tails in another shifty role as Tritignant's homosexual lover. It's also worth pointing out the Il Maestro himself, Ennio Morricone, once more contributes a quality score. He produced so many during this period that is very easy to forget just how good they all actually were and, well, this is yet another one.It's possibly a little overlong in fairness. The material doesn't really justify a running time just shy of two hours. Having said that it does remain compelling nevertheless and the answer to the mystery isn't too obvious and is quite satisfying. I also liked the strange moments where we see slow-motion fantasy flashbacks of the suspects striking down on the unfortunate victim with their ceramic penis weaponry. It's just so strange but somewhat memorable. I wouldn't necessarily describe The Sunday Woman as a must see for fans of Italian genre cinema though. It may disappoint some who seek the thrills of a typical giallo for example. But I personally consider it one, just a far more low-key entry, and one that has enough intrigue and strange moments to ensure that it works pretty well.

I have to say, I'm really disappointed with this film. I'm a big fan of the Italian thriller known as the Giallo and while I went into this film knowing that it is not a Giallo; I was still hoping that director Luigi Comencini would be able to make the film interesting enough to at least be entertaining. The plot provides a decent base for a murder mystery flick and begins with a murder, which is promptly investigated by Commissioner Santamaria. Any chance of this being a good film is promptly cut away however by the fact that it's all so boring. The film contains practically no suspense whatsoever and while some of the exchanges between the lead characters are fairly interesting and there's a few red herrings thrown in; it really is very difficult to keep focused on The Sunday Woman. The performances are all rather flat too and most of the actors look about as bored as I must have looked watching the film. It's clear that the director wanted the film to be of high quality, and while the tatty VHS I saw it on does the film no favours, I have to say he didn't succeed there either. There's a score from the great Ennio Morricone and some Italian humour thrown in too; but I've seen better of both in other films. The Sunday Woman does have some favourable comments on it so maybe I'm just missing something here; but personally, I can't see much to like in this film.

The story is taken from the Fruttero & Lucentini's book of the same title. Mysterious murders take place in Turin, Italy; victims are always people from the upper class. The movie is not a masterpiece. The solution of the cases is not well explained, the director goes too fast in showing us who the guilty is. The movie lacks some dramatical moments. Nevertheless, "La donna della domenica" is still an enjoyable movie. First, the cast is excellent: Marcello Mastroianni is very charming in the role of the elegant policeman Santamaria; Jacqueline Bisset too is delightful in the part of the snobbish lady; also Jean-Louis Trintignant works very well. Other Italian actors (with a long experience in the theatre and at the movies) complete the cast, for example Claudio Gora and Lina Volonghi. Luigi Comencini, one the inventors of the Italian comedy, directs this 1975 thriller with a lot of humor. And, as usual, the music of Ennio Morricone is fantastic (actually that's one of the highlights of the film).

"La donna della domenica" is an outstanding film, but one that is unlikely to be fully appreciated by non-Italians, most of whom might see it as a whodunnit of sorts. Its strength lies, instead, not just with its excellent cast, but also with the caustic way in which it describes Turin's high society: full of characters that, behind their apparent stylishness and elegance, betray a penchant for hypocrisy and an inability to look further than the conventional way in which they live.It looks more like a comedy, and a well-written, witty one at that.