Although idiosyncratic and decidedly off beat, Marco Ferreri realised the importance of star names and following the international success of this, his first film to feature Michel Piccoli, the actors who entrusted themselves to his direction were not only extremely talented but like Piccoli were not afraid to push the boundaries and take chances. Of course Piccoli's inherent quirkiness makes him ideal casting whilst the emphasis in this on mundane domestic activity might be tedious were it not for his mesmerising performance.

As an avowed communist Ferreri's films became even more anarchic as time went on but here the anarchy is more controlled and is essentially a study in alienation, the entrapment of Marriage and the way in which so-called technological advances merely serve to repress the human spirit.

Anton Chekhov's maxim that once a gun is introduced it must at some stage inevitably go off is realised to devastating effect here and the low-key, almost clinical way in which the weapon is eventually used still shocks fifty years on.

Piccoli is supported by the equally quirky and courageous Annie Girardot as his obliging maid and as his wife the delectable Anita Pallenburg who has been used on the poster as the film's 'come on'.

This director's most famous (and infamous) opus is 'La Grande Bouffe' but there are many who consider this earlier work to be his greatest achievement.

Looking at Ferreri's depictions of urban angst calls to mind Thoreau's 'The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.'

This movie follows Glauco, an insomniac who entertains himself at night with the small things in life, a newspaper, his dinner, or even his reflection. As the viewer follows his actions it is so slow, and so drawn out, that we actually begin to feel his boredom, and find entertainment in the details of the movie, much as he does in his life. If you're more of a fan of Bruckheimer than Visconti you will not find this movie entertaining enough, but paying close attention to the shots, scenes, and characters you will find this movie intensely interesting. It is through the feelings in the film, the closed in, slow and meaningless life he leads at home, we start to understand and appreciate the way he finds joy. (POSSIBLE SPOILER) Until his meandering ways lead him to the ultimate form of immediate entertainment, immediate and indefinite. It is a window into a new life, which we have to believe he will also grow tired of. And it finishes in the same odd fashion, our strange character riding off into the sunset.