Senso unico

Francesco, who lives in a small town in Sicily, realises that his life shows little signs of taking a turn for the better. He is a talented artist but can barely live from the comic strip he draws for an erotic monthly. So he works on the side, doing up stolen motorbikes for the local Mafia. The only woman in his life is the voluptuous motorbike rider Ghibbelina, the heroine of his comic strips. However all this changes when a film crew arrives in town with the eccentric B-film-maker Harry Archer and his novice actress Yasmin, an Indo-British beauty. Francesco falls head over heels in love and this even leads to a cautious affair. The artist is supported and advised by his best friend, Sasa, who is however also under Yasmin’s spell. But Harry Archer is also interested in his discovery.Senso unico is a modern love story and also a film about the clash of cultures and about the clash of dreams and expectations. The styling and the hip music (by the Indian Ranjit Barot and Sicilian Nello Mastroeni, including a real show by super star Lucky Ali) pay tribute to Bhattacharya’s Indian background. He was amazed to feel at home in Sicily straight away and his homage to this source of inspiration is virtuoso and melancholy – a truly cosmopolitan film made with a polyphonic structure that is wonderfully balanced.