Eva (1962) A Man Obsessed

"A Venetian Drama Noir"

 

Directed by Joseph Losey (M, The Prowler, The Big Night)

Written by Hugo Butler and Evan Jones from an adaptation of a James Hadley Chase novel. Cinematography was by Gianni Di Venanzo and Henri Decaë. Music was by Michel Legrand with some tracks by Billie Holiday. 

The film stars Jeanne Moreau as Eva Olivier, Stanley Baker as Tyvian Jones, Virna Lisi as Francesca Ferrari, Giorgio Albertazzi as Sergio Branco Malloni, James Villiers as Alan McCormick, Lisa Gastoni as The red-headed Russian, Riccardo Garrone as Michele, Checco Rissone as Pieri, Enzo Fiermonte as Enzo, Nona Medici as Anna Maria, Roberto Paoletti as senior Pieri Eva's first escort, Alexis Revidis as The Greek, Peggy Guggenheim as a Baccarat player at casino, and Venice at it's winter dreariest. 

Jeanne Moreau as Eva Olivier

Stanley Baker as Tyvian Jones

Virna Lisi as Francesca Ferrari

This film is following pretty much the same trail as Joan Crawford's Possessed (1947).  Possessed was about a woman, Louise, who is found wandering the streets of Los Angeles calling out "David" to any man she meets. She is under severe emotional distress. She is taken to a hospital, plied with drugs, questioned by a psychiatrist who eventually pries a story out of her. She was a nurse who was in charge of the care of the invalid wife of wealthy man. Louise has a casual affair with a playboy neighbor David Sutton which turns serious into a serious obsession after David tries to break it off. 

In Eve the situation is reversed. Tyvian Jones is a successful Welsh author whose book about the life of a Welsh coal miner was optioned and adapted by a European production company and made into a very successful film directed by Italian director Sergio Branco. The film has won top awards at the Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica di Venezia otherwise known as the Venice International Film Festival. 

A bleak off season Venice

Tyvian Jones is very much a fish out of water, but with his new found wealth (he buys a private island with house, in the Venice lagoon,  a country villa (and an Alpha Romeo Spider to drive to it) and with great discipline and various machinations on his part, i.e., he quits drinking, he gets decked out by the best Italian tailors and he refines his mannerism, he begins to easily hobnob with movie people, various "artistes," and the wealthy who flock to Venice. 

The Film Festival

Jones water skiing

Film Festival events

So basically, Tyvian is living large in Venice, there is a mutual attraction between Francesca, Sergio Branco Malloni's assistant and Tyvian, and they get engaged much to Sergio's dismay because Sergio himself also had the hots for her. Francesca likes her job working for Sergio but Tyvian gets displeased with her numerous absences from Venice. However Tyvian does accept an advance for the rights to his next novel from Sergio.

When Francesca leaves for probably Cinecittà Studios with Sergio, Tyvian heads to a club where he first sees Eva a very expensive Roman call girl who is attracting the attention of all the males around her including Tyvian. 

Lust at first sight

Later at a formal gathering for Festival attendees Tyvian again spots Eva cavorting with the glitterati, he approaches but she rebuffs him, and it only inflames the allure that Eva casts upon Tyvian. 

That night is a storm and when Tyvian arrives at his island house in the Venice lagoon he sees a strange motoscafo (a Venetian water taxi / hired boat) moored at his dock and a light on in his house. During a sudden rain storm the craft had rudder problems and had to tie up at the nearest dock, which was his. In his house Tyvian finds the alluring Eva (delivered, as if from providence, right into his lap) and her wealthy john Senior Piere both soaked to the bone. 

Arrival at Tyvian's island home

Turing on the lights

Eva runs a bath up in the master bedroom while Tyvian and Pieri square off in the great room. Pieri tells Tyvian that he paid Eva and that surely he understands that he wants to get laid. Tyvian tells him tough luck buddy it's his house and throws him out. 

Roberto Paoletti as senior Pieri

Tyvian strongly attracted to Eva tries throughout the remainder of the night to seduce her. He asks the standard question that probably every prostitute gets "how did you start in the business?" Eve tells him about her childhood and that when she was ten years old her father died leaving her and her three siblings orphans (her mother had died young) and that a kindly old neighbor took them in but at the price of her giving him sexual favors. As soon as she finishes that sob story, she laughingly mockingly tells him that men will believe anything. 

By early morning tired of fighting off Tyvian's more and more forceful advances the hard as nails Eva hits him upside the head with a Murano glass ash tray. 

Eva, looking exasperated, gets feed up

She steps over his unconscious body grabs her clothes runs down to the dock and takes off in Tyvian's speedboat and is last seen walking across an early morning St. Mark's Square. She heads back to Roma.

Tyvian, now uncontrollably obsessed with Eva follows her to Roma. There he discovers that she lives in a penthouse  apartment with another call girl on Via Giuseppe Ceracchi. Tyvian basically begins to stalk Eva watching her various assignations with her customers.

Eva's penthouse

Phone calls from customers

The various call girl "war" trophies from their admirers

Tyvian continues to try to make it with her over a number of days getting jealous in the process from watching her interact with her many johns. She finally quits playing hard to get with him, and Tyvian finally succeeds in getting to sleep with her for money. Eva tells him all she is interested in is money and (probably from experience with guys like Tyvian) warns him not to fall in love with her. 

He starts to go out brazenly with Eva in Roma, Francesca's friends see him and tip her off. Francesca and Sergio confront Tyvian. 

He starts to go out brazenly with Eva in Roma, Francesca's friends see him and tip her off. Francesca and Sergio confronts Tyvian. 

The situation cools off for a while. Tyvian and Francesca continue to grow their relationship  but things start to go really Noirsville after one, a drunken Tyvian reveals his secret to Eva who publicly humiliates him, two, Sergio pays to have an private investigator check on Tyvian, and three, Tyvian marries Francesca, but is still obsessed more that ever with Eva. 

Noirsville

Francesca (Virna Lisi) with Sergio Branco Malloni (Giorgio Albertazzi) 

Losey along with Gianni Di Venanzo and Henri Decaë excellently depict a dreary, gloomy off season Venice in various shades of grey in a café au lait Noir, that perfectly matches the "50 shades of gray" psychology of the two main characters Tyvian and Eve. Neither are likable, and both Stanley Baker and Jeanne Moreau are compelling in achieving this air of despair. Its a bleak film with beautiful bleak images that complement it's bleak disconsolate ending. 7/10