Ill Sole Nella Pelle: Summer Affair

Sunshine on the skin.

Take the flower power hippie generation, add some Disco music and mix it all in a blender with an idealistic teen orange crush love story as the main ingredient, and what do you get?  Il Sole Nella Pelle (Sunshine On The Skin) Ornella Muti's first film ever to feature herself in a nude scene. The myth has it that Muti was only sixteen years old when she starred this movie, so the nude scene involving her persona gave this flick some kind of  "cult" vibe that turned it into one of the most sought after movies of her career. The film was only available in VHS for decades until there was a DVD release in 2007 (Good luck finding it, it's out of print) Overseas it was known as Summer Affair, Sun On The Skin and Violación Bajo El Sol.  

According to some of the most popular and respectable movie websites of the internet, Il Sole Nella Pelle was filmed and released in 1972 BUT that information is completely lacking in accuracy. However, after a thoroughly investigation which included checking archive VHS, movie rental stores, Italian film books, the internet and even asking Ornella Muti herself, here's the list of conclusions about what's true and what's not on Il Sole Nella Pelle:

1. Let's start with the most obvious fact the film itself delivers. In the opening scene there's a guy wearing a Kiss t-shirt. Kiss was not internationally popular until 1975 after the release of their magnificent double live album "Alive!" So it is impossible for it to be filmed before that year. Although Kiss did exist before 1972, their first album wasn't release until 1974 so the 1972 date is completely wrong.

2. Ornella Muti wasn't 16 years old when she starred the film. Actually, she was 20 years old so the infamous underage myth is a complete hoax.However, the rumor really helped booster her acting career. 

3. According to Ornella Muti herself (yes, the S.P.A.M. Alternative has its ways) the movie was released somewhere between 1975 and 1977. She is not that clear on dates since at that time she would act for several movies at the same time, making her very active during the 70's.

Original Japanese press release.

"Not for the underage"

OK, after the necessary/unnecessary Factomania explanation let's continue with our review of the film.

The Italians are often accused of ripping off American films. While there is a lot truth to that, it often works the other way as well (i.e. the American "slasher" films owe a great debt to Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood" and any number of other Italian giallo). Sometimes though the similarities are just a strange kind of synchronicity. If it hadn't been made years earlier I would swear this film was a rip-off of TWO different Brooke Shields movies. Unfortunately, those two films are "The Blue Lagoon" and "Endless Love".

Like "Endless Love" this is a film about a young, naive girl named Lisa (played by Ornella Muti, who started out as an Italian Brooke Shields but turned out to be a daring and talented actress) who meets an older hippie drifter (played by Allesandro Oranio, later Muti's real-life husband). She comes from a functional wealthy family. Her father works for Lamborghini (Gearheads, we can see some delicious Lamborghini Miura testing and assembling) Eventually, she meets Robert in a nudist hippie community. He's free spirited, a roamer who loves mother nature and playing the guitar. 

Made for each other.

Eat organic.

Since Robert is obviously not Lisa's father cup of tea, the childish sweetness in Lisa transforms into teenage angst after she's told not to keep on dating the hippie delinquent. 

Overall, Il Sole Nella Pelle is a cliche summer romance film that would do very well amongst today's sappy youth. The morals the film wants us to see are basically, the rich don't mix with the poor, or the functional do not blend the dysfunctional. Also, hippies are bad just because.  Perhaps this movie is one of the weakest in Ornella Muti's career.  However, it's a movie of its time. By 1975 the flower power counter culture had grown tired of itself and disco was the new sensation. The opening scenes seem to have been forced into the movie to give you a sense of "oh, this is very up to date cause it features a disco music choreography" Nevertheless, the plot of a hippie community and a forbidden love sort of contradict the earlier disco frenzy making the film seem dated even for 1975's standards.

Ornella Muti is pretty good, although she doesn't really have much of a character here truth be told. Oranio is not bad, but he is such an effeminate pretty-boy (who was probably cast against Muti because she was one of the few girls prettier than he was) that it's hard to understand why her father would have found him so threatening. The great Italian character actor Luigi Pistilli is also in the cast in a minor role as a cop searching for the runaway couple. The final scene where Robert is arrested and then escapes to his beloved freedom looks really cheesy according to today's standards. 

No more innocence.

I'm soaking  wet, If you know what I mean.

Like many other actors careers Ornella Muti's had its ups and downs, and by the time this movie was filmed, she was still a beginner in the scene. I would only recommend this movie to diehard Muti's fans. If you're not one of those you can skip this one and won't be missing much. Fortunately, Her career is filled with great movies. The only value Summer Affair holds, is that it features her very first nude scene. In the forthcoming reviews we will take a look at some of her best films, so stay tuned and until then, take care...

Since we couldn't find a trailer we give you the entire English dubbed version of the movie, courtesy of youtube: