Two wounded and lonely women come together under strange circumstances. Leonora, an aging prostitute, had witnessed her young daughter die. She is a woman with a wounded heart because the guilt she carries. Cenci, the younger woman, is in denial from the loss of her mother. Both are deeply disturbed persons who, as fate would have it, will be united in a stately house in London.
Cenci, who has been spying on Leonora, decides she is her dead mother; both have a striking resemblance, so it's easy to see the confusion in Cenci's state of mind. Leonora, decides to go along in the ruse because she sees the possibility to cash on a situation that has been thrown in her lap. Leonora, though, is not prepared for the arrival of Albert, the late mother's estranged husband, and who is ultimately her downfall.
Albert, we discover, has taken advantage of Cenci's vulnerability. He is a predator with incestuous desires for the step-daughter that comes his way when he married the late Margaret. Cenci has been turned off by his advances, but as the man reappears in her life, she sees the fictional world she has built around herself come crashing down. When confronted with reality she reacts violently against Leonora, who has no other choice but to leave the strange household she has been drawn into. Cenci will prove too weak to cope with all that befalls her.
We read the original short story in which the film is based years ago. The adaptation by George Tabori of the Marco Denevi tale gets an excellent treatment in the hands of Joseph Losey, a brilliant director in his own right.
Elizabeth Taylor got a good opportunity in which to excel. Her Leonora is one of her better roles of that period of her career. Mia Farrow also was a promising talent who surprises with her take on Cenci. Robert Mitchum is Albert, the lecher that abused his step daughter and marked her for life. Peggy Ashcroft and Pamela Brown are quite effective as Cenci's eccentric relatives.
Cenci, who has been spying on Leonora, decides she is her dead mother; both have a striking resemblance, so it's easy to see the confusion in Cenci's state of mind. Leonora, decides to go along in the ruse because she sees the possibility to cash on a situation that has been thrown in her lap. Leonora, though, is not prepared for the arrival of Albert, the late mother's estranged husband, and who is ultimately her downfall.
Albert, we discover, has taken advantage of Cenci's vulnerability. He is a predator with incestuous desires for the step-daughter that comes his way when he married the late Margaret. Cenci has been turned off by his advances, but as the man reappears in her life, she sees the fictional world she has built around herself come crashing down. When confronted with reality she reacts violently against Leonora, who has no other choice but to leave the strange household she has been drawn into. Cenci will prove too weak to cope with all that befalls her.
We read the original short story in which the film is based years ago. The adaptation by George Tabori of the Marco Denevi tale gets an excellent treatment in the hands of Joseph Losey, a brilliant director in his own right.
Elizabeth Taylor got a good opportunity in which to excel. Her Leonora is one of her better roles of that period of her career. Mia Farrow also was a promising talent who surprises with her take on Cenci. Robert Mitchum is Albert, the lecher that abused his step daughter and marked her for life. Peggy Ashcroft and Pamela Brown are quite effective as Cenci's eccentric relatives.