All Ladies Do It

Synopsis

Diana (Claudia Koll) is a Roman wife happily married to sympathetic Paolo (Paolo Lanza) but she is keen on playing benign games of seduction with other men while resisting the advances of chic lingerie shop owner Silvio (Renzo Rinaldi) and she narrates her adventures to Paolo in order to stimulate their otherwise monotonous sexual life. However, under the influence of her lesbian friend Antonietta (Isabella Deiana) and raunchy sister Nadia (Ornella Marcucci), Diana starts to move the ongoings further while Paolo is still prone to believing that events narrated by her are merely fantasies. Nevertheless, when the French Sadean antiques dealer Donatien Alphonse (Franco Branciaroli) leaves marks on her body, Paolo understands that Diana is cheating on him and throws her out of the house. Diana then seeks further sexual adventures, while she and Paolo reflect on the nature of sexuality and monogamy, and their future as a couple.

Reception

In a retrospective analysis, Sight & Sound critiqued both "The Key" (1983) and "All Ladies Do It," observing that the latter displayed a noticeable reduction in narrative complexity and humor. It was pointed out that the depiction of Venice in this film relied more on studio-based settings compared to "The Key." Furthermore, Brass' adaptation of the story is set during Mussolini's era, with a shift in the setting to Venice.