"The Chastity Belt" should be better regarded. Okay, it's not great cinema, but it is a frolicking romp of a flick with a few subdued late-60's naughty bits, a libertine Pasollini feel to it's general proceedings, and a great overall look. Tony Curtis (so under-rated) plays a knight in hot pursuit of the key to unlock Monica Vitti's ... um ... armor. Curtis is great clever fun, lampooning the movie star image he cultivated in films like 'Taras Bulba,' 'The Vikings' and 'Spartacus.' Monica Vitti had to be at her most beautiful just at that moment of the world, so ravishingly beautiful is she here. The great cinematographer Carlo Di Palma shot the film after he shot three classics for MIchelangelo Antonioni and before he shot ten distinctive films of Woody Allen's mid-career. Danilo Donati provides the costumes. Donati has been Oscar-nominated, like, six times, winning two Oscars for Zefferelli's 'Romeo and Juliet' and Fellini's 'Casanova.' He should've been nominated for this one; his work is eye-popping and yet historically accurate. It's true that this movie won't change your life and it has some slow and even confusing patches and not enough nudity or raucous goings-on to make it completely noteworthy. It's also, on occasion,
poorly dubbed. However, anyone interested in Curtis or Vitti, or anyone interested in a sometimes-funny outing with a film that's quite unusual and far better and far more adventurous than most comedies made today, should enjoy this one.
