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The Sunday Woman (1975) movie poster

Characters & Themes

The Sunday Woman (1975) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
1975 · 109 mins · Italian
Directed by
Luigi Comencini
Starring
Marcello Mastroianni, Jacqueline Bisset, Aldo Reggiani, Claudio Gora, Lina Volonghi, Tina Lattanzi

The police have the victim, the weapon and the suspect, but lack the mysterious ‘Sunday Woman.’ Commissioner Santamaria investigates the architect Mr. Garrone’s murder, which draws him into Turin’s high society. He suspects Anna Carla and falls for her. Meanwhile, Lello, lover of her gay friend Massimo, pursues another lead, confusing the case, and the second murder follows.

On this page (8)
  1. 1 Characters explained (6)
  2. 2 Where & when it takes place
  3. 3 Themes & meaning (3)
  4. 4 Character & meaning questions
  5. 5 Movie threads
  6. 6 Movies like The Sunday Woman
  7. 7 Categories
  8. 8 Every angle

6 main characters · contains spoilers

The Sunday Woman Characters Explained: Who Is Who

The main characters of The Sunday Woman (1975), heroes and villains: what drives them, how they change over the course of the story and what each of them reveals about the film's bigger ideas.

  • Inspector Salvatore Santamaria (Marcello Mastroianni)

    As Chief of Homicide, Santamaria methodically untangles a web of motives among Turin's aristocracy and professionals. He navigates cautious interrogations, balancing professional duty with the risk of clashing with powerful interests. His persistence drives the investigation toward the unexpected link between property, love, and murder.

    • 🕵️‍♂️ Detective
    • 🧠 Analytical
    • 🗺️ Turin
  • Anna Carla Dosio (Jacqueline Bisset)

    The bored wife of a frequently away businessman, she becomes an active participant in the investigation and a potential ally for Santamaria. She publicly aids the inspector while privately pursuing a secret rendezvous, blurring lines between motive and alibi. Her involvement reveals how social roles mask personal agendas.

    • 💃 Socialite
    • 🔐 Secrets
    • 💼 Wealth
  • Lello Riviera (Aldo Reggiani)

    A young clerk in the city's planning department, he is entangled with Massimo Campi and becomes a focal point for pursuit. He is followed by Santamaria, exposing the connection between bureaucratic power and romantic entanglements. His position makes him a potential lever in the killers' schemes.

    • 🧑‍💼 Clerk
    • 💘 Lover
    • 🗺️ City planning
  • Ines Tabusso (Lina Volonghi)

    Widow living with her sister in a crumbling villa, she emerges as the killer motivated by a claim to property and forbidden development. She kills Garrone after discovering an art-covered obstruction to selling the property, aiming to overturn the restriction. Her calculated actions expose the high-stakes politics of real estate and art supervision.

    • 🏛️ Widow
    • 🧭 Secrets
    • 🗝️ Property
  • Garrone (Claudio Gora)

    An architect who acts for the Tabusso widow and becomes a victim in the pursuit of property fortune. His involvement in the villa's dealings places him at the center of competing interests. The murder exposes the corrupt interplay between construction, law, and social class.

    • 🏗️ Architect
    • 💼 Motive
  • Massimo Campi (Jean-Louis Trintignant)

    Wealthy individual with a secret lover, he withholds cooperation to protect his own interests. His romance with Lello Riviera adds a layer of personal risk to the investigation. The dynamic between Campi's privilege and Santamaria's scrutiny reveals the moral complexity of the case.

    • 💼 Wealth
    • 💘 Secrets
    • 🕵️‍♂️ Hidden relationships

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:38

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Setting

Where and When Does The Sunday Woman Take Place?

The setting of The Sunday Woman (1975): the year and time period, the places and locations, and how they shape the characters, the mood and the tension of the story.

Time period

Location

Turin, Italy, The Hill district, Balon flea market

Turin serves as the urban stage, with the villa of Ines Tabusso perched in the prestigious Hill area and the city’s Balon flea market hosting key encounters. The Hill is Turin’s renowned high-ground that anchors the story of wealth and property contention. The city’s layout—planning offices, villas, and markets—frames the social dynamics underpinning the murder mystery.

  • 🏙️ Turin
  • 🗺️ City
  • 🏛️ Architecture

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:38

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3 major themes

The Sunday Woman Meaning: Themes & Message Explained

What is The Sunday Woman (1975) really about? The emotional, social and philosophical themes the film keeps returning to, its symbolism and the message beneath the surface.

  • Power and Influence

    Turin's elite circles drive the narrative as property rights, planning authority, and inheritance shape the crime. Santamaria must navigate alliances with influential suspects while remaining faithful to investigative method. The tension between wealth, status, and justice is central to the film's moral landscape.

  • Secrets and Deception

    A discarded letter, a secret lover, and hidden motives push characters toward confrontation. Each relationship reveals another layer of deception masking true intent. The investigation unfolds as clues surface and alibis crumble.

  • Moral Ambiguity

    The inspector balances loyalty to law with pressure from powerful patrons. The truth is messy, with multiple suspects possessing plausible motives. The pursuit of justice reveals flaws in the social order and the cost of exposing secrets.

Last updated: October 04, 2025 at 15:38

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Character & theme questions

The Sunday Woman Characters & Meaning: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask about The Sunday Woman (1975): who the characters really are, their relationships, what the symbols mean, where it takes place and what the movie is really about. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Where is The Sunday Woman set?

The film takes place in Turin, Italy, primarily in the city's prestigious Hill district where the wealthy reside, and at the Balon flea market which serves as a key meeting location. The story unfolds across various settings including planning offices, villas, and the crumbling residence of Ines Tabusso, all of which reflect the social hierarchies underpinning the mystery.

  • turin italy
  • setting
  • hill district
  • balon market
Q2

What role does Turin's elite play in the story?

Turin's aristocratic and professional circles drive the narrative, with property rights, planning authority, and inheritance serving as the core motives for the murder. Inspector Santamaria must navigate alliances with influential suspects while pursuing the truth, revealing how wealth and status create barriers to justice.

  • turin elite
  • power
  • social class
  • property dispute
Q3

What are the main themes in The Sunday Woman?

The film explores three interconnected themes: Power and Influence, as Turin's elite vie for property and control; Secrets and Deception, with hidden motives and relationships masking true intent; and Moral Ambiguity, where Inspector Santamaria must balance investigative duty against pressure from powerful patrons while pursuing an imperfect truth.

  • themes
  • power
  • secrets
  • deception
  • moral ambiguity
Q4

Who is Inspector Santamaria and what is his role?

Inspector Salvatore Santamaria is the Chief of Homicide who leads the investigation into architect Garrone's murder. He methodically untangles a web of motives among Turin's aristocracy, navigating cautious interrogations while balancing professional duty with the risk of clashing with powerful interests.

  • inspector santamaria
  • investigator
  • chief homicide
Q5

What is Anna Carla Dosio's role in the film?

Anna Carla Dosio is a wealthy, bored wife whose husband is frequently away. She becomes an active participant in the investigation and a potential ally for Inspector Santamaria, publicly aiding him while privately pursuing a secret rendezvous. Her character illustrates how social roles mask personal agendas within Turin's elite.

  • anna carla dosio
  • social roles
  • investigation
Q6

Who is Ines Tabusso and why is she significant?

Ines Tabusso is a widow living in a crumbling villa in Turin's Hill district. She emerges as the killer, motivated by a property dispute over development rights. After discovering an art-covered obstruction that prevented selling the property, she killed architect Garrone to overturn the restriction and access her fortune, exposing the high-stakes politics of real estate.

  • ines tabusso
  • property dispute
  • killer
  • villa
Q7

What is Massimo Campi's role in the story?

Massimo Campi is a wealthy individual who maintains a secret romantic relationship with Lello Riviera, a clerk in the city's planning department. He withholds cooperation from the investigation to protect his own interests, adding a layer of personal risk and revealing the moral complexity of privilege confronting scrutiny.

  • massimo campi
  • secret lover
  • lello riviera
  • homosexuality
Q8

What is Lello Riviera's role in the film?

Lello Riviera is a young clerk working in Turin's city planning department who is romantically involved with Massimo Campi. His position makes him a potential lever in the killer's schemes, and he becomes a focal point for Santamaria's pursuit, exposing the connection between bureaucratic power and romantic entanglements.

  • lello riviera
  • planning department
  • bureaucratic power
Q9

How does the film address moral ambiguity?

The film presents a cynical view where Inspector Santamaria balances loyalty to law with pressure from powerful patrons. Multiple suspects possess plausible motives, and the pursuit of justice reveals flaws in the social order. The truth is messy, and exposing secrets carries a significant personal cost.

  • justice
  • truth
  • social order
  • moral complexity
Q10

What drives the murder in The Sunday Woman?

The murder is driven by property and development rights in Turin real estate. Architect Garrone was acting for the Tabusso widow when he became a victim in the pursuit of property fortune. His death exposes the corrupt interplay between construction, law, and social class, with the killer seeking to overturn an art-covered restriction blocking the villa's sale.

  • property dispute
  • murder motive
  • real estate
  • development rights

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Sunday Woman, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Sunday Woman tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Sophisticated Society Murder Mysteries like The Sunday Woman

Murders among the upper crust reveal their bored lives and dangerous secrets. If you enjoyed The Sunday Woman, this list features movies like it: elegant crime stories set in high society. Discover similar murder mysteries where investigations into the upper crust uncover adultery, hidden desires, and cynical truths. These films often have a steady, investigative pace and a sophisticated, bittersweet tone.

  • sophisticated
  • cynical
  • investigative
  • seductive
  • mysterious
  • bored
  • Tone: cynical, sophisticated, neutral
  • Pacing: steady, investigative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative follows a formal investigation—often by an outsider detective—into a murder that disrupts a seemingly perfect, wealthy community. The plot unravels through a web of social interactions, exposing hidden sexual secrets, infidelity, and moral decay among the elite, leading to a conclusion that solves the crime but leaves a cynical aftertaste.

Why they belong together: Movies in this thread are grouped by their shared setting of privilege, their focus on secrets as the true motive for crime, and their detached, observational tone. They offer a similar experience of intellectual puzzle-solving paired with a voyeuristic look into the corrupt lives of the beautiful and bored.

Bittersweet Investigative Movies with Endings like The Sunday Woman

The case gets solved, but personal connections are left unresolved and bittersweet. For viewers who liked the ending of The Sunday Woman, this collection features similar investigative movies with bittersweet conclusions. Explore police procedurals and mysteries where solving the case comes with a personal cost, leaving relationships unresolved and a cynical aftertaste. These stories focus on the emotional weight of the investigation itself.

  • investigative
  • bittersweet
  • cynical
  • melancholic
  • methodical
  • complex
  • Tone: neutral, bittersweet, cynical
  • Pacing: steady, methodical
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative is driven by a methodical investigation, but the detective's personal life becomes entangled with the case, typically through a romantic liaison with a suspect or witness. While the crime is logically solved, the human connections formed during the investigation are transient or broken, resulting in an ending that is professionally successful but personally unfulfilling.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped by their shared focus on the emotional cost of investigation. They balance a neutral, procedural tone with medium emotional weight, culminating in a bittersweet resolution that prioritizes thematic richness over neat, happy endings. The similarity lies in the specific emotional mix of intellectual closure and romantic melancholy.

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Movies Like The Sunday Woman

Similar movies to The Sunday Woman: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

Browse all movie summaries

Categories

Movie Lists Featuring The Sunday Woman

The Sunday Woman appears in these hand-built movie categories. Each one groups movies by a specific mood, theme or story type, with their plot summaries and endings explained.

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Every angle

The Sunday Woman (1975) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about The Sunday Woman in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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