The Seduction of Mimi

Starring:Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Turi Ferro, Agostina Belli, Luigi Diberti, Elena Fiore, Tuccio Musumeci, Ignazio Pappalardo, Gianfranco Barra, Livia Giampalmo, Rosaria Rapisarda, Umberto Lentini, Salvatore Savasta, Ottorino Russo, Giovanni Cori, Claudio Trionfi, Gianni Pulone, Antonio Micalizzi, Sara Micalizzi, Salvatore Centamore
Director: Lina Wertmüller
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com essential video

Barbra Streisand's self-absorbed remake of a 1958 French film stars Jeff Bridges as a college professor tired of sexual politics. He makes a deal with a dowdy colleague (Streisand) that they provide companionship for one another, with no thought of getting into bed. She agrees but soon becomes frustrated, the agreement only reinforcing her unfulfilled desire to have a complete relationship with a man. Mimi Rogers is on hand as Babs's striking sister, and Lauren Bacall received an Oscar nomination for her role as the heroine's selfish mother. The film is OK, but it becomes an irritating vanity piece for Streisand (who directed as well as stars). Her character constantly gazes upon her own reflection and is told at least a dozen times, one way or another, just how attractive she is. One wants to shout out, we get it already--you're pretty! The DVD release presents the film in both widescreen and pan and scan versions, plus a Dolby soundtrack. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

I can relate.......2007-07-04

I read a review on this site where the reviewer - obviously a man - said that the entire film is dedicated to the characters telling Barbra Streisand she's beautiful. Spoken like someone who has never felt - or been told - they are ugly, only to realize later in life that they're beautiful after all, even if just to one person. That's the premise: what is beauty, after all? Does inner beauty trump the external? (Goodness, we hope so!) How much does physical appearance matter? What is the nature of attraction? How can sex mess up a perfectly great relationship? The dialogue isn't a barrage of people telling Barbra she's beautiful at all. She looks in the mirror, trying to think of herself as beautiful, and fails. This is something that echoes the literary classic Jane Eyre (the book) that I relate strongly to. How many of us have looked in the mirror and seen only the flaws? I love this film. It makes me think about these issues. In a world where Paris Hilton makes headlines on less than zero merit, the questions this film asks are as relevant as they were when the film was made. And let's face it, we ALL want to dance in the street with Jeff Bridges! NOTE: Finding this film in widescreen format is a Herculean feat. In fact, amazon accidentally sent me the wrong disc to begin with, and I had to exchange it. (The guy who said that the film was all about Barbra Streisand's ego was also wrong about the DVD containing both formats: it does not.) If you're cool with pan-n-scan, the full screen might do for you, but if you're like me and want your movies in their true original format, make sure you are getting the widescreen.

Fun even if you're not a Streistand fan.......2007-04-02

This is kind of like a Howard Hawkes movie. You'll enjoy it more if you spend less time worrying about how the story unfolds and instead just delight in the performances of the actors. Lauren Bacall is such a treat. Streistand playing against Bacall, Brosnan, Rogers, Vaccaro and Segal is fun stuff. Unfortunately, Jeff Bridges is in completely over his head. He's awful (but then he always is). The fact that there's no real chemistry between him and Streistand probably goes unnoticed by most people because some might think his character is not supposed to be physically attracted to Streistand's Rose. But in reality it really hurts the move because there's no simmer between the two. The ending is really killed by the lack of chemistry. Bridges looks as if he's being forced to kiss an aunt with a mustache and Streistand appears to be replused by his presence.
I guess like Hawkes, Streistand doesn't like to reuse a pretty face. That's too bad because just about any of her previous leading men would have improved this otherwise very goood movie.

The Mirror Has Two Faces.......2007-03-12

This is a favorite movie of mine. All the stars are great in it and the story is very endearing and humorous with a redeeming message.

Amazing family story........2007-01-10

This film could be associated with many families, as a matter of fact the story and the caracters have a lot of similarities with my clan....A very enjoyable story with lots of meanings to it.Excellent and very worth while movie to see; I recomend it.

Any Movie That..........2006-12-16

Any Movie that ends with "Nessum Dorma" is cool - period. Think of the longing, the sweetness, the power of the song itself and you get some idea of how this movie will kick you in the gut when you least expect it.

Bridges is awesome in his role -- totally unselfconsciousness, completely believable, absolutly wonderful, and Streisand is strong and brave in hers -- so what's not to love? All those who hated it, watch it again. All of you who haven't seen it, watch it. If you've got a speck of romance in your soul, and a song in your heart, you'll get it.

Average customer rating:

Conjugal Codes and Double Standards
Mimi or Not Mimi?
Fantastic Classic
Comical Satire worth 10 points

The Seduction of Mimi
Starring: Giancarlo Giannini , Mariangela Melato , Turi Ferro , Agostina Belli , and Luigi Diberti
Director: Lina Wertmüller
Manufacturer: Fox Lorber
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 1572522453
Release Date: 1998-03-31

Amazon.com

This 1972 film by Lina Wertmuller (Seven Beauties, Swept Away) is a wild farce of the Sicilian milieu. Mimi (who is a man) is forced to leave his hometown when he can no longer get work as a result of voting against the local strong arms in a "secret" ballot. In the big city he finds work, but also finds that life there is very much as corrupt as it was at home. He falls in love and has a child by his lover, and when forced to take a job in his hometown again, he must hide his lover and their son from his wife. When he is too tired to please his wife in bed after making love all day to his lover, she becomes pregnant by another man, setting off a chain of events that ultimately lead to a public revenge scene that possibly has no rival. What's even more amazing is that the film manages to portray a complex protagonist in a searing comedy. A must-see, especially if you'd like a lighter view of the same world portrayed in The Godfather. --James McGrath

Customer Reviews:

Conjugal Codes and Double Standards.......2007-05-06

The theme of this story is the prideful narcissism that leads a self-serving, dissatisfied laborer to create overwhelming obligations he cannot control in the context of social corruption and uncertain employment.
This story is culturally valuable because it depicts part of the life of one man in a very universal manner. Mimi is every man: he lusts, he is jealous, he is vulnerable, he wants job security, he has morals and he sometimes compromises them. At the same time, however, Mimi's predicaments are presented in such an exaggerated, humorous manner that they provide relief from the audience's own frustrations. On a more particular level, this film reveals the impact that the "mafia" had on Italian society at this time. Yet, even this is done in so humorous a way as to never seem upsetting. The bitterness of the events that take place--the loss of love, humiliation and misuse of women, the loss of value and the buckling of Mimi to corrupt social powers--are given to an audience with enough comical sugar to allow it to go down easily. And although women are shown objectified and humiliated in this society, the men who do it are shown to be victims of their own absurdities and social traditions as well. This film both exemplifies the dangers of being narcissistic and acting rashly on jealousy and desire, and provides comic relief for a world plagued with problems.

Mimi or Not Mimi?.......2000-07-14

After purchasing this DVD, and loving it, I still have a disturbing question: is this the same theatrical release version, which, according to Wertmuller, was criminally cut by New Line Cinema (the original distributor) by up to forty minutes? Do I have to go to Italy to find out?

Fantastic Classic.......1999-05-24

Highlly recommen

Comical Satire worth 10 points.......1998-12-16

A man that wants everything, and ends up with nothing. Mimi, the laborer, is seduced into working for the Mafia - which he hates and fears - to pay for his extramarital affairs.

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

I can relate.......2007-07-04

Fun even if you're not a Streistand fan.......2007-04-02

The Mirror Has Two Faces.......2007-03-12

This is a favorite movie of mine. All the stars are great in it and the story is very endearing and humorous with a redeeming message.

Amazing family story........2007-01-10

Any Movie That..........2006-12-16

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