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propensity towards a calculated, visual self-consciousness in the framing and mise-en-scene
of sexual situations in his films, a tendency recurring in work such as The Sheltering Sky and
The Dreamers. Central to the first sequence is an intense kiss between Laura and Primo,
followed by a tender moment during which Laura confesses that she rarely has sexual
intimacy with Giovanni because they attach little importance to it; besides, they are always
busy and together with fellow terrorists. In the second sequence, Laura's restlessness and
sexual disquiet at spending long periods of time with Primo eventually culminates in her
removing her jumper to expose her breasts and release her tension, Laura confessing that with
Giovanni she never expresses her femininity. Her words reflect the concept that an ascetic
lifestyle is necessary in order to dedicate oneself to a 'superior' mission.
This theme emerges in Alberto Moravia's 1971 novel lo e lui/Him and me, which,
although full of sarcastic wit, warns against the terrorists' abstract intellectualization,
implying that at its end there can be only death (Moravia, 1990: 387). The novel recounts the
experiences of Riccardo, a screenwriter who frequents a terrorist couple, Maurizio and
Flavia, planning to make a film about their group, and it features similarities with Tlie
Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man. First, there is a strong attitudinal contrast between the
characters; like Primo, Riccardo is attracted to life's pleasures such as food and sex, whereas
Maurizio and Flavia mirror Giovanni and Laura in being always in control because they are
detached from worldly indulgences. Another similarity consists in the use of almost identical
phrasing to describe the terrorists' sex life or lack of it. Maurizio declares that the couple
attach little importance to sex, but Flavia responds to Riccardo's sexual approaches with an
attitude that reveals her curiosity and repressed excitement (Moravia, 1990: 306-307). The
two sequences, in the film and in Moravia's novel, question the supposed higher morality and
asceticism of the terrorists by presenting their behaviour as a form of rational denial
(Giovanni/Maurizio) and a repression (Laura/Flavia) of human impulses which leads to a
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