The Ape Woman
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The Ape Woman (La donna scimmia, Le Mari de la femme à barbe) is a 1964 Italian-French drama film directed by Marco Ferreri. It was entered into the 1964 Cannes Film Festival. The movie was inspired by the real-life story of Julia Pastrana a 19th-century woman exploited as a freak show attraction by her manager Theodore Lent.
Plot
The "Ape Woman" is Annie Girardot, completely covered with hair; the entrepreneur Tognazzi discovers her in a convent in Naples; he marries her (a condition imposed by the nuns) and begins exhibiting her to the public. He tries to sell her to a funny guy who insist on her virginity, but she is a little reluctant. After tasting success in Paris, she dies during childbirth. Tognazzi recovers her mummy from the museum of natural history and exhibits it in Naples. The subject looks a little camp, but the film is considered one of the most touching of Ferreri's.
Cast
- Ugo Tognazzi - Antonio Focaccia
- Annie Girardot - Maria
- Achille Majeroni - Majoroni
- Filippo Pompa Marcelli - Bruno
- Ermelinda De Felice - Sister Furgonicino (as Linda De Felice)
- Elvira Paolini - Chambermaid
- Ugo Rossi - Ponszoner
