Actress and singer Catherine Spaak died in Rome at 77 last Sunday. Born in France to Belgian parents, Spaak was a naturalized citizen of Italy. She found early success when she appeared in the Dino Risi-directed road trip comedy "Il Sorpasso" (1962), with Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Spaak also starred in Roger Vadim's "La Ronde", Henri Verneuil's "Weekend at Dunkirk", Marco Ferreri's "The Man With the Balloons" and Dario Argento's "The Cat o' Nine Tails".
In 1964 Spaak appeared in all the three segments of the film "Tre notti d'amore" (Three Nights of Love) directed by Renato Castellani, Luigi Comencini and Franco Rossi. In all the three episodes, Spaak played the role of a woman longing for love in a Sicillian village, a monastery, and a modern Italian urban setting.
The plots aren't desperately brilliant and the film heavily relies on seductive Spaak and on pop tracks from the '60s to add it a fun twist.
Yet there are some intriguing elements in the segments – Spaak's costumes, designed by Piero Gherardi, better known as the costume and set designer (Gherardi had studied to become an architect) of a few Federico Fellini's films, among the others "La Dolce Vita" and "8½". Gherardi created for Spaak costumes that affect the mood and attitude of the main character and, in some cases, also of the characters surrounding her.
In the first episode, Spaak stars as the sensual French widow of a mafia boss. When she arrives at the train station of the small Sicilian village where she has to bury her husband, Giselle is wearing a lampshade-shaped hat reminiscent of Balenciaga's creations.
Gherardi created for Giselle a wardrobe inspired by French couture: throughout the episode, Giselle seems to be wearing the same black dress, matched with a different overdress. In one scene for example her basic little black dress is matched with a dotted tulle overdress; in another it is covered with long and sensual fringes.
The different layers add mystery to the character, and also attract the attention of the local men. Everyday at the same hour, Giselle walks through the village to the graveyard to bring flowers to her husband and everyday she turns the head of a different local man who gets killed by the overprotective relatives of her husband. Her black dresses become therefore not just part of her mourning wardrobe, but they are a sort of bad omen, almost the announcement of a new victim. The shots in which Giselle's black silhouette stands out as she walks along the yellow houses and streets of the village are particularly striking for the use of colour.
The second episode is less intriguing in terms of fashion: it revolves around Ghiga, a young woman who lives a carefree life and loves enjoying herself. Ghiga has a car accident and ends up recovering in a convent where she starts seducing the young friar taking care of her, Fra Felice (John Phillip Law).
For most of the episode Ghiga lies in a hospital bed covered in plaster, but at the beginning of the film we see her wearing a swimsuit with tight knee length trousers accessorised with a straw hat. As she recovers we see her wearing a sleeveless white tunic with a pair of black trousers underneath, almost a hint at the costume we will see her wearing at the end – a nun's habit.
In the third episode Spaak played the role of Cirilla, the young wife of an older man, an architect who leads a stressful life and suffers from claustrophobia.
Cirilla has a youthful and fun wardrobe that contrasts with the formal suits favoured by her husband. At the beginning of the episode Cirilla is joyously dancing with her friends in a peach babydoll. For an informal evening out she opts for an all white look (that freaks out her husband who calls her a "ghost") with a dramatic cape with checkered lining; but for an elegant night out she wears a rather original dress in purple with a detachable frothy multi-layered collar in purple, pink and blue.
During the party her husband explains a guest that Cirilla designs her own clothes, that's why they are so original (her wardrobe also includes a black and white swimsuit matched with a layered golden swimcap).
The film features a fashion reference: a friend of Cirilla, Donatella, wears a red monokini that references the infamous topless swimsuit designed by Rudi Gernreich in 1964, the same year the film was released. The swimsuit convinces Cirilla that she has to grow up and become more mature for her husband and she tries to do so by briefly changing her hairstyle and going for a "granny look", a black dress with a white lace collar. Yet, soon, she abandons this style and goes for what she calls a "Sherlock Holmes number" – a jumper, beige trousers and a plaid beret – an attire she wears to follow her husband and discover if he betrays her with another woman. This look allows her to regain her confidence and marks her return to her youthful moods and her passion for dancing.