Femmina violenta

A very faithful adaptation of Emile Zola's THERESE RAQUIN set on a remote Greek isle and quite ambitious if not entirely successful. Raquel Welch plays a rural peasant who's extramarital lust leads to murder but her contemporary beauty (flared nostrils, lustrous mane, and blindingly white teeth) end up a barrier to the suspension of disbelief and the lady's histrionics aren't always up to the task, either -especially when clinging to the legs of her dead husband's paralyzed mother, begging for forgiveness. On the plus side, there's able assistance from such experienced thesps as Flora Robson, Jack Hawkins, and Richard Johnson to keep things moving in the right direction. Not half as bad as I thought it would be.