Review of Summer Affair

I saw this movie in format 4:3, with a very mediocre quality of image, with a serviceable English dubbing under the title of "Summer Affair". At first I was disconcerted, because I knew that the original film was made in Italy under the title of "Il Solle Nella Pelle" something like The Sun on the Skin. I compared running times between the English version and the original Italian version using the data in the IMDb and verified that the first was 9 minutes shorter than the second. I was unable to get a copy of the original Italian version but I read the plot in a post of the web and, to my surprise, the ending was significantly altered and the mood of the original seemed to be more dark, more like a police account. All in all, Summer Affair is not only a dubbing job but a re cut of the original film with the addition of a disco act a little anachronistic for 1971 and the editing of the darker parts and the tragic finale. So let's talk about "Summer Affair". The core of the story was retained. Lisa (Ornella Muti) the only child of a rich industrialist falls in love for the first time in her tender 16 years old with Robert (Alessio Orano), a rebellious guy that travels along with a bunch of hippies. Obviously the parents of Lisa are appalled, particularly the father (Chris Avram) makes the mistake of forbid her daughter to ever see again such a bum. Lisa disobeys this order. Robert tries to say farewell to Lisa because he confess his longing to undertake a long sea voyage. She invites him to a property of her family by the sea as the last opportunity to be together. Without thinking of the consequences, they borrow a small sail boat and take off for a ride. But the boat get caught in a shallow rock and both youngsters are marooned in a desert island. This was the second feature film of Ornella's career and she was only 16 years old. Yes. She was naked or half naked for the first time before the camera. But I have to say that, in my opinion, the director Giorgio Stegani was very subtle and ended up with a very beautiful set of sensual images, specially the swimming moment and the scenes at the sand beach. He never forgot that it was not an X rated movie but the story of discovering for the first time, little by little the power of the eroticism, the sexiness of a young naked body and the defeat of the freezing shyness mixing with a good dose of fear. Furthermore, Robert was an authentic gentleman hippie, more like an older brother and a teacher. His love for her is pure and tender. When Lisa confesses that she doesn't know how to make love and that makes her feel insecure, Robert tells her that she must not rush into it and that he is willing to wait for the right moment, when all will come naturally. The love making is reduced to a series of ardent kisses under the sun. But this fairy tale is abruptly put to an end when the police and the media arrive. The father is very harsh with the boy, the press is cynical and the whole affair is a big scandal, ending in the walk of shame of Lisa and Robert handcuffed and running desperately towards the vessel in which his lost love is returning to her home. Once again, like in The Most Beautiful Woman before and in "Experiencia Prematrimonial" later, the chemistry between Ornella Muti and Alessio Orano is potent. It's a perfect blend of the sweet, shy and precocious girl possessing a sensuous body and angelical face with the blue eyed, dark long hair, dangerously handsome boy having a bad attitude for social correctness. This great combination is the strong point of Summer Affair. The downside is always the same. If you treat a thing like trash, this thing winds up being a trash. "Il Sole Nella Pelle" has been altered, edited, adulterated, used and abused. Fragments of the film has been scattered around the web, distorting the essence of the story. In conclusion, this movie would deserve a better treatment to regain its worthiness.