Paolo Zilli

Blonde in Black Leather

A mysterious leather-clad figure on a motorcycle rides into a deserted rural town in Italy, to the tune of Riz Ortolani's harmonica-driven score. The figure is Miele (Monica Vitti), a motor-mouthed pathological liar supposedly traveling to meet her gangster boyfriend, Big Louie. Miele brushes open the swinging doors of a laundress (Claudia Cardinale) to abandon her hubby and flee to Naples. What follows is a fun-filled road trip, with Miele's dishonesty increasingly transparent as Claudia gains confidence and proves the savvier of the pair.