Death, Desire and Dania: Satire, Sexuality and Erotic Mobility in 1970s and 1980s Italy

The article considered the 1970s and 1980s output of Dania Film. Founded by producer Luciano Martino, it was responsible for over 170 Italian films in a wide variety of genres, including the range of sexploitation titles which are the key focus of the analysis. The article explores the success of these genres, not only in relation to industrial factors, but also in response to social tensions and transformations affecting Italy at the time. The sex comedies of the 1970s negotiated the changing gender roles in the wake of feminism, parodying (and often anticipating) the effects of increasing feminine presence within traditionally male spheres of employment. But the trauma of political violence in the 1970s also had an impact, with the shock produced by the discovery of the role played by female participants in these events provoking a more vengeful and threatening female role in Dania?s erotic dramas in the 1980s.