The Sunday Woman (1975)

An odious architect is beaten to death and a high society wife (Jacqueline Bisset, Day for Night) and her gay friend (Jean-Louis Trintignant, The Conformist) are the key suspects with a discarded letter implicating them in the crime. Commissioner Santamaria (Marcello Mastroianni, Fellini’s 8 ½) is assigned to the case and tries to uncover the murder suspect in upper-class Turin. With a murder mystery narrative worthy of Agatha Christie, The Sunday Woman is also a sharp critique of Turin’s upper crust. The screenplay, by the celebrated duo Age & Scarpelli, famed for their masterpieces in the Commedia all’Italiana boom including Big Deal on Madonna Street and The Organizer, is a whip-smart adaptation of the best-selling novels by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini with the lead character of Santamaria inspired by the real-life head of the Flying Squad. The much-heralded director Luigi Comencini (Misunderstood) often worked in a combination of comedy and drama, finding humour in tragedy, and is only waiting to be rediscovered as a master of post-war Italian cinema.Special Features2K restoration of the film from the original negative, presented in the original 1.33:1 and an alternate 1.85:1 widescreen presentationOriginal uncompressed mono PCM audioNewly filmed interview with academic and Italian cinema expert Richard Dyer, who looks at The Sunday Woman (2022, 18 mins)Archival interview with cinematographer Luciano Tovoli who discusses his work on the film (2008, 22 mins)Newly filmed interview with academic and screenwriter Giacomo Scarpelli, who discusses the life and work of his father, Furio Scarpelli and his writing partner Agenore Incrocci (2022, 36 mins)Archival French TV interview with Jean-Louis Trintignant in which the actor discusses The Sunday Woman (1976, 4 mins)Trailer