# Love and Anarchy
**Love and Anarchy** (Italian: *Film d'amore e d'anarchia, ovvero 'stamattina alle 10 in via dei Fiori nella nota casa di tolleranza...'*) is a 1973 Italian-French comedy-drama directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring [Giancarlo Giannini](https://www.edgepedia.org/giancarlo-giannini) and Mariangela Melato. Set in Fascist Italy in 1932, it follows a peasant anarchist who takes rooms in a Roman brothel while preparing to assassinate [Benito Mussolini](https://www.edgepedia.org/benito-mussolini), and falls in love with one of the women working there.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) • [2](https://www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/6796/love-and-anarchy) • [3](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/love-and-anarchy/download-pdf/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title | *Film d'amore e d'anarchia, ovvero 'stamattina alle 10 in via dei Fiori nella nota casa di tolleranza...'*[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) |
| Director and writer | Lina Wertmüller[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) |
| Country and year | Italy, France; 1973[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) |
| Setting | Fascist Italy, 1932[2](https://www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/6796/love-and-anarchy) |
| Lead cast | Giancarlo Giannini (Tunin), Mariangela Melato (Salomè), Lina Polito (Tripolina)[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) • [4](https://kinolorber.com/film/loveandanarchy) |
| Cannes 1973 | Nominated for the Palme d'Or; Giannini won Best Actor[3](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/love-and-anarchy/download-pdf/) |
| Italian release | 22 February 1973[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Tunin (Antonio Soffiantini), a farmer from Lombardy, sees his anarchist friend killed by the Fascists and travels to Rome to carry out the assassination the friend had planned.[2](https://www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/6796/love-and-anarchy) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_and_anarchy) His contact is Salomè (Mariangela Melato), a prostitute at a brothel whose former boyfriend was also killed by Mussolini; she agrees to help with the plan.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_and_anarchy) While the two prepare the attack, Tunin falls in love with Tripolina (Lina Polito), a younger prostitute in the house, and the romance threatens the operation.[4](https://kinolorber.com/film/loveandanarchy)
The plan draws on Salomè's client Giacinto Spatoletti (Eros Pagni), a ranking Fascist security official whom she hopes will provide information; he joins Salomè, Tunin, and Tripolina on a motorbike-with-sidecar day trip to the Agro Pontino countryside.[2](https://www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/6796/love-and-anarchy) When the appointed day arrives, the women have second thoughts, and Tunin, having doubts about the plan, oversleeps; in his fury he fires on a group of police officers and is ultimately killed in prison.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_and_anarchy) • [6](https://www.wissen.de/lexikon/liebe-und-anarchie)
## Production and style
Wertmüller wrote the screenplay and directed; the crew included cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, editor Franco Fraticelli, composers [Nino Rota](https://www.edgepedia.org/nino-rota) and Carlo Savina, and costume designer Enrico Job, with Romano Cardarelli producing.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) Most of the film was shot in Rome and Sabaudia, a town built by the Fascist regime in the 1930s, with the opening marshland scenes, where the anarchist friend is killed, filmed at Provaglio d'Iseo in Lombardy.[2](https://www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/6796/love-and-anarchy)
Critics have described the film's method as dark comedy joined to political satire. Wertmüller uses bold colors and disorienting, acute camera angles that exaggerate scale to set a farcical tone while chronicling the repression of the Fascists and the violence of the resistance alike.[7](https://filmref.com/2017/12/21/love-and-anarchy-1973/) The two female leads embody the title's opposing forces: Salomè stands for anarchy, avoiding romantic entanglement to focus on the cause, while Tripolina stands for love.[8](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/love-and-anarchy-aka-at-10-oclock-this-morning-on-the-via-dei-fi/1) • [9](https://mubi.com/en/films/love-and-anarchy/critics-reviews) The film belongs to Wertmüller's intensely productive early-1970s run with Giannini, which also produced *[The Seduction of Mimi](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-seduction-of-mimi)* (1972), *Swept Away* (1974), and *Seven Beauties* (1975).[10](https://sightlines.media/film/65332/love-and-anarchy-1973)
## Release and reception
The film opened in Italy on 22 February 1973 and in France on 20 May 1973, followed by releases in [Yugoslavia](https://www.edgepedia.org/yugoslavia), Finland, Poland, Portugal, Belgium, West Germany, and Greece over the following decades.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) At the 1973 Cannes Film Festival it was nominated for the [Palme d'Or](https://www.edgepedia.org/palme-dor) and Giannini won the Best Actor award for his performance as Tunin.[3](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/love-and-anarchy/download-pdf/)
Italian and international awards followed. Lina Polito won the Silver Ribbon (Nastro d'argento) for Best New Actress in 1974, and Giannini took the Silver Ribbon for Best Actor; Wertmüller was nominated for Best Original Story, and Melato received a New York Film Critics Circle nomination for Best Actress in 1974.[3](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/love-and-anarchy/download-pdf/) The film's American distribution in the mid-1970s, alongside *The Seduction of Mimi* and later *Swept Away* and *Seven Beauties*, made Wertmüller one of the most discussed foreign directors in the U.S. art-house market of the period.[10](https://sightlines.media/film/65332/love-and-anarchy-1973)
Reported running times differ across catalogs and distributors: 124 minutes (Cineuropa and the Harvard Film Archive), 120 minutes, 129 minutes, and 1 hour 48 minutes appear in different listings.[1](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/) • [8](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/love-and-anarchy-aka-at-10-oclock-this-morning-on-the-via-dei-fi/1) • [4](https://kinolorber.com/film/loveandanarchy) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_and_anarchy)
## References
1. [Love & Anarchy, Cineuropa film database](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/414740/)
2. [Love and Anarchy, the locations of the movie, Italy for Movies](https://www.italyformovies.com/film-serie-tv-games/detail/6796/love-and-anarchy)
3. [Love and Anarchy, Minerva Pictures catalogue PDF](https://www.minervapicturesinternational.com/catalogue/love-and-anarchy/download-pdf/)
4. [Love & Anarchy, Kino Lorber Theatrical](https://kinolorber.com/film/loveandanarchy)
5. [Love and Anarchy, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_and_anarchy)
6. [Liebe und Anarchie, wissen.de Lexikon](https://www.wissen.de/lexikon/liebe-und-anarchie)
7. [Love and Anarchy, 1973, Strictly Film School](https://filmref.com/2017/12/21/love-and-anarchy-1973/)
8. [Love and Anarchy, Harvard Film Archive](https://harvardfilmarchive.org/calendar/love-and-anarchy-aka-at-10-oclock-this-morning-on-the-via-dei-fi/1)
9. [Love and Anarchy critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/love-and-anarchy/critics-reviews)
10. [Love and Anarchy (1973), Sightlines](https://sightlines.media/film/65332/love-and-anarchy-1973)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of the 1970s › Released 1970 to 1976*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license