Some of the most critically acclaimed adult films were taken from popular books or films. Naked Came the Stranger was based on a NY Times bestselling book. The Opening of Misty Beethoven is based on Pigmallion / My Fair Lady. Josephine Mutzenbacher was based on a classic book from the early 1900s written by the same author of Bambi. But in most of the cases, the subject matter had already lent itself to become an adult movie. That was not the case for La Ciociara.
You cannot watch the movie La Ciociara (cho-chaa-ra) without having some context to the scandalous-yet-ambitious film by famed Italian director Mario Salieri. The movie, released in 2017, stars Roberta Gemma and Rebecca Volpetti. It was released to critical acclaim in the adult industry, but was met with scorn and scandal in Italian government and society.
La Ciociara is based on an historical fiction novel that takes place during World War II. The title is in reference to an undefined and impoverished region that lies southeast of Rome, Italy. Since World War II, the name has become synonymous with the atrocities committed against the women (and some men) of the region by what were supposed to be the liberating Allied forces. The French army utilized the use of Gourmiers to help win the battle of Monte Cassino, and the atrocities were committed by these soldiers in the wake of their victory over the Germans.
In 1958, Alberto Moravia wrote the book La Ciociara 9inm based on his experiences from living in the region in 1943 shortly after the armistice of Cassibile between Italy and the Allied forces. It is a fictional story about a widowed shopkeeper who flees to the area with her daughter to protect her from the horrors of war only to be subjected to the crimes of the Gourmier. In 1960, the book was made into a movie starring Sophia Loren whose performance would win her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
The story is about one of the darkest and most controversial eras in Italian history. When director Mario Salieri announced his intention to do an erotic version of the film, he would spark protests from survivor groups, media lawyers, the daughter of the original director—Sophia Loren—and even members of the Italian parliament. The main objection was they assumed he would be depicting the atrocities committed against the women in the story, even though Salieri was very clear that, out of respect for the survivors of that era, the story would avoid any representation of those events in his version of the story.
The ensuing scandal that erupted due to the film and its release in 2017 prompted Salieri to make an accompanying documentary to explain the historical events on which the film was based, how the story was brought to life by its original author, and what Salieri’s intentions were in making an erotic version of the film.
