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This particular allegiance seems so intensely pathological, however, that Wertmuller weakens her thesis and un settles the movie dramatically. Raffaella is too shrill at the beginning, then too eager for the fine assortment of humiliations Gennarino has to offer. There is the sense that Wertmuller herself almost revels in the punishment Gennarino deals out; certainly the sequences of Raffaella's subjugation are among the most strident and unpleasant in recent mem ory. It is discomfiting, especially in a movie made by a woman, to see the ma jor female character turned into such an abject creature. The fact that Actors Melato and Giannini, who starred together as well in Love and Anarchy and The Seduction of Mimi, are so wonderfully skillful only tips the movie's emotional imbalance further. They bring an awk ward poignancy, a true but misplaced tenderness to Wertmuller's ruthless and unruly romance.