Avanti! (1972)

[James Luckard]

I'm working my way through the many Billy Wilder films I hadn't seen, and watched this last night.

I was astonished by how good it was, since it's rarely spoken of. I was also surprised to find no thread for it here.

From the coverart on the BD, and from what little I knew of it, I was expecting a madcap farce. Instead I got a beautiful, low-key romance that reminded me a lot of the brilliant Before Trilogy.

I'm really surprised this isn't spoken of among Wilder's best films. I can see the arguments that it might be a wee bit long, and that some of the comic bits could go, but 99% of it is so beautifully observed and brilliantly performed, that none of that matters.

I just watched Irma La Douce, Kiss Me Stupid, The Fortune Cookie and The Front Page, and I was beginning to wonder if Wilder made any genuinely good movies after The Apartment, as I didn't like any of those, but this one truly blew me away.

I will say I also found things to like in Fedora, which I also just watched, but it felt like it had MANY more elements that didn't work than Avanti does.

[James Luckard]

Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the BD. The transfer is clearly older but looked decent, with minimal dirt.

The interviews with co-stars Juliet Mills and Clive Revill were great. The only weird thing was that they were edited somewhat choppily, so that statements which were not originally spoken one after the other are now alongside each other, causing them to be misleading.

For example, Juliet Mills starts by talking about how Wilder saw her in her first stage play, when she was 16. Immediately after that, she says that Wilder called her and told her he had written the perfect part for her in Avanti!. If you look on Wikipedia, he saw her in a TV series many years after that stage play, and contacted her based on that series. She's not 16 in the film, haha, and the angle on her changes from one sentence to the next, so they clearly chopped a big chunk out of what she said. Whoever edited the two interviews does that a lot, I noticed it multiple times.

[yimitz]

I stumbled across Avanti! one night on a cable channel and thought it might be at least OK since it had Jack Lemmon in it. It has since become one of my all-time favorites.

I can also see that some might think it a little too long, and maybe it is a couple of jokes over the limit, but I like movies that take their sweet time to tell their stories and not rush things, and this is a great example of that.

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I just watched Irma La Douce, Kiss Me Stupid, The Fortune Cookie and The Front Page, and I was beginning to wonder if Wilder made any genuinely good movies after The Apartment, as I didn't like any of those, but this one truly blew me away.

I also liked Avanti but I have to disagree with your assessment of those other films. I did find Irma La Douce a bit disappointing but I thought The Fortune Cookie was a great film and although it's considered lesser Wilder, I really enjoyed Kiss Me Stupid as well. I found both of those to be enjoyable and really quite funny.

The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes was made after The Apartment, and although it was compromised from Wilder's original vision, I thought that was terrific too.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by RCRochester

I also liked Avanti but I have to disagree with your assessment of those other films. I did find Irma La Douce a bit disappointing but I thought The Fortune Cookie was a great film and although it's considered lesser Wilder, I really enjoyed Kiss Me Stupid as well. I found both of those to be enjoyable and really quite funny.

The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes was made after The Apartment, and although it was compromised from Wilder's original vision, I thought that was terrific too.

I just watched Private Life last night and LOVED it.

The Fortune Cookie was just too nihilistic and dour for me. I have a test for any script I read or film I see - would I care if every character in it got killed by a meteor? The Fortune Cookie didn't pass that test.

Kiss Me Stupid had interesting moments, and an intriguing idea, but I think the only way it would have worked for me was if Kim Novak's character had been the protagonist. She's the only one I felt sympathy for and was interested in. Wilder did too good a job of making it believable that she was generally falling in love with Walston, but he just seemed despicable. I think I could have enjoyed a version following her from the beginning, in which she found happiness either with Walston or by leaving him and moving on, but she was too secondary a character for me to really connect with the rest of the film.

I do love the very European morality of it though, which apparently shocked audiences at the time, and Dean Martin playing a hideous version of himself was a hoot, I love when celebrities are willing to send up their own image, like Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in Michael Winterbottom's Trip series.

[chewbabka]

Is this out of print or just out of stock at Kino?

[Dave Bannion]

The Kino is OOP I believe.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by chewbabka

Is this out of print or just out of stock at Kino?

Yep, it went OOP a while back, along with a few other KL Wilder films like Sherlock Holmes.

[chewbabka]

Thanks y’all

Just placed these though!

The Lost Weekend
One, Two, Three
Witness for the Prosecution
Five Graves to Cairo
Irma La Douce

Watched the Fortune Cookie last night and decide it’s time to just go all-in on Wilder. Already have The Apartment and Some Like it Hot of course, plus Double Indemnity and Ace in the Hole. Haven’t seen a film of his I haven’t adored.

[Raggady_jack]

Originally Posted by chewbabka

Is this out of print or just out of stock at Kino?

I've got the German release, the image quality is better than Kino's. If you're region free it might be worth picking up.

[thisis2]

Originally Posted by chewbabka

Is this out of print or just out of stock at Kino?

...i too would recommend the German Koch edition , which i have just watched....it has a natural filmic look..

[ajabrams]

Originally Posted by chewbabka

Thanks y’all

Just placed these though!

The Lost Weekend
One, Two, Three
Witness for the Prosecution
Five Graves to Cairo
Irma La Douce

Watched the Fortune Cookie last night and decide it’s time to just go all-in on Wilder. Already have The Apartment and Some Like it Hot of course, plus Double Indemnity and Ace in the Hole. Haven’t seen a film of his I haven’t adored.

Great choices! I highly recommend A Foreign Affair as well.

[chewbabka]

Originally Posted by ajabrams

Great choices! I highly recommend A Foreign Affair as well.

And currently $14.99 on Amazon, thank you! I’d practically be losing money right now if it weren’t for people like you

My unwatched Wilder pile is now seven titles (forgot to mention Sunset Boulevard and Seven Year Itch), soon to be 8… I’ve got my work cut out for me!

[moviemaker]

I just saw a 35mm print of Avanti at Vidiots here in Los Angeles (Glendale), and I was pleasantly surprised.

James, you described it beautifully, and I completely agree with you. It's criminal this film isn't more widely known or readily available on physical media.

[moviemaker]

The French Single disc edition is Region Free. And only $18 shipped. Win-win.