Unfaithfully Yours (1984)Suspicious minds jump to conclusions. Unfaithfully Yours (1984) is a romantic comedy about a jealous husband and illustrious symphony conductor, Claude Eastman (Dudley Moore), who plots to kill his beautiful, young wife, Daniella (Nastassja Kinski), because he is led to believe that she cheated on him with his friend and symphony colleague, Maxmillian Stein (Armand Assante). Claude first gets this unfortunate impression after his friend, Norman (Albert Brooks), had Daniella followed by a private eye--the first of many misunderstandings--kicking off an escalation of suspicion that threatens not just his marriage but Daniella and Maxmillian's lives.
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Unfaithfully Yours is a remake of the 1948 film of the same name, and the plot largely remains (apologies) faithful to the original. This adaptation begins in medias res with Claude conducting his symphony, looking up longingly at Daniella, and confessing to the audience through his narration of his intent to kill her. Four days prior, the couple is the picture of newlywed bliss when they are reunited at the airport. Claude describes how he met her while conducting in Italy, where Daniella was working on a movie. Daniella converses with Claude's personal assistant, Giuseppe (Richard Libertini), in her native tongue and carries herself with a breezy innocence. And in her glamorous attire and beautiful physique, Daniella represents the feminine ideal--quite a catch for the older Claude, and he knows it. It is mentioned in passing that Claude had been married before, and has even had dalliances of infidelity before his relationship with Daniella. Still, Claude carries on occasional risque conversations about attractive women he and his colleagues espy while navigating the streets and fancy restaurants of New York City. Audiences will be quick to pick up the double standard at play in Unfaithfully Yours. Claude's reaction to Daniella's perceived betrayal is not only overwrought, but takes him to extremes, namely his hair-brained scheme to murder his wife and frame Max for the crime because he believes Max seduced his her--a leap in logic triggered by Max's telltale argyle socks. Claude is played with impish exuberance by Dudley Moore, who plays him as a high-strung, pint-sized Itzhak Perlman. From the start of Unfaithfully Yours, it is clear that there are more than a few debilitating character flaws to Claude. He lives a life of luxury--courtesy of his fame and position--but has rested all of his happiness on his marriage with Daniella, putting her on a pedestal. Claude's descent into paranoid delusion over "circumstantial evidence" could be blamed on Norman and the private eye, Jess Keller (Richard B. Shull), who plant the seeds of suspicion that a woman like Daniella would invariably sow her wild oats with a playboy like Max; but what's alarming is how little effort is needed to get him there in the first place.
Unfaithfully Yours treats the audience to Claude's mania-ridden fantasy of how he will have his misguided revenge on Daniella and Max. His "epiphany at the symphony" begins as the camera zooms in on his eye in the middle of Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto", envisioning the perfect murder. It is an uproariously funny scene and pure black comedy. The execution of this "execution" plays out far differently in reality, leading to the final act where Claude is sweating and flailing around, trying to ensure his demented plot comes to fruition. Claude thankfully has no aptitude at murder, looking increasingly foolish as the universe throws hurdle after hurdle to stop him from making a terrible mistake. The audience is treated to a crucial piece of dramatic irony early on, clearing up that it was not Daniella whom Max has been unfaithful with, but Norman's wife, Carla (Cassie Yates). There are details that compound Claude's misinterpretation of events, like a gold pumpkin brooch that Claude buys for Daniella as a gift. This is coincidentally the same kind of pin that Carla has, which Claude discovers on the floor of Max's hotel room while Carla has been secreted away in the next room. Claude comes to believe that Max and Daniella are shamelessly blasé about their affair, yet he never once stops to clarify the situation (To be fair, both Max and Daniella assume that Claude knows that it was Carla who came to their apartment and has been sleeping with Max.) Claude suspects that they would deny everything if he were to confront them directly; but if they're so brazenly straightforward about their presumed affair, shouldn't Claude get hint that something is amiss? Claude is quite full of himself--intimated by the introductory narration--which explains why he never second-guesses his rash conclusion. He not only jealous, but petty and insecure; he coordinates events so that he is at the center of attention--even in unimportant moments like when everyone is vying for his attention while he gets his hair cut. Claude is so convinced that he is the center of everyone else's universe, that he actually believes that Max would gladly join him and Daniella for a drink--the first step in his scheme--given how poorly he treated him before. Unfaithfully Yours often dances the line of tragedy, given the ghoulish premise and selfish protagonist. And yet it maintains a gleeful--even giddy--level of enthusiasm and comedic timing throughout, making even attempted uxoricide (look it up) a laugh riot.
Recommended for: Fans of a film that combines the unlikely elements of romance, marital indiscretion, and murder into a light-hearted comedy. Unfaithfully Yours boasts several clever comedic set pieces, including even a fiery confrontation of dueling violins set to Vittorio Monti's "Csárdás".
Unfaithfully Yours treats the audience to Claude's mania-ridden fantasy of how he will have his misguided revenge on Daniella and Max. His "epiphany at the symphony" begins as the camera zooms in on his eye in the middle of Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto", envisioning the perfect murder. It is an uproariously funny scene and pure black comedy. The execution of this "execution" plays out far differently in reality, leading to the final act where Claude is sweating and flailing around, trying to ensure his demented plot comes to fruition. Claude thankfully has no aptitude at murder, looking increasingly foolish as the universe throws hurdle after hurdle to stop him from making a terrible mistake. The audience is treated to a crucial piece of dramatic irony early on, clearing up that it was not Daniella whom Max has been unfaithful with, but Norman's wife, Carla (Cassie Yates). There are details that compound Claude's misinterpretation of events, like a gold pumpkin brooch that Claude buys for Daniella as a gift. This is coincidentally the same kind of pin that Carla has, which Claude discovers on the floor of Max's hotel room while Carla has been secreted away in the next room. Claude comes to believe that Max and Daniella are shamelessly blasé about their affair, yet he never once stops to clarify the situation (To be fair, both Max and Daniella assume that Claude knows that it was Carla who came to their apartment and has been sleeping with Max.) Claude suspects that they would deny everything if he were to confront them directly; but if they're so brazenly straightforward about their presumed affair, shouldn't Claude get hint that something is amiss? Claude is quite full of himself--intimated by the introductory narration--which explains why he never second-guesses his rash conclusion. He not only jealous, but petty and insecure; he coordinates events so that he is at the center of attention--even in unimportant moments like when everyone is vying for his attention while he gets his hair cut. Claude is so convinced that he is the center of everyone else's universe, that he actually believes that Max would gladly join him and Daniella for a drink--the first step in his scheme--given how poorly he treated him before. Unfaithfully Yours often dances the line of tragedy, given the ghoulish premise and selfish protagonist. And yet it maintains a gleeful--even giddy--level of enthusiasm and comedic timing throughout, making even attempted uxoricide (look it up) a laugh riot.
Recommended for: Fans of a film that combines the unlikely elements of romance, marital indiscretion, and murder into a light-hearted comedy. Unfaithfully Yours boasts several clever comedic set pieces, including even a fiery confrontation of dueling violins set to Vittorio Monti's "Csárdás".