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Follie di notte
Follie di notte
Directed by	Joe D'Amato
Written by	Aristide Massaccesi
Cinematography	Aristide Massaccesi
Edited by	Vincenzo Vanni
Music by	Piero Umiliani
Production; company	Mago Film
Distributed by	Variety Distribution
Release date	20 April 1978;
Running time	95 minutes
Country	Italy
Languages	Italian, English

Follie di notte is an Italian erotic-documentary film directed by Joe D'Amato and released in 1978.

Overview

The film introduces popular night clubs and sex venues from all around the world, including Las Vegas, Tokyo, Paris and Africa. It stars Amanda Lear, at the time at the peak of her international career as a disco singer, who acts as a guide, introducing cities and describing what they have to offer in terms of night life.^[1] Each introduction is followed by a sex scene. The film includes such sexual activities as sadomasochism, necrophilia and group sex, in addition to erotic dancing and magic tricks with the use of nudity. Two scenes depicting homosexual sex are also included.

Production

The filming took place in March 1978 in London and in Rome, in a night club called Piper.

In her 1984 autobiography, Amanda Lear revealed that her footage was originally intended for another movie, a musical comedy. She claimed that she was not aware of her parts having been used for an erotic film, referring specifically to the German language-dubbed version of the film. That involved her in a long legal action.^[2]

Release

Original Italian title of the film was Follie di notte, which translates to Madness of the Night. It was also distributed under an alternative title Notti pazze della Amanda Lear, translating to Crazy Nights of Amanda Lear, and internationally as Crazy Nights.

Three official VHS releases of different running times exist, with the 2003 release being the full-length 95-minute version.

In France and Germany, the film was known as Follow Me, after Lear's biggest hit at that time, before being renamed Mondo Erotico in Germany. For the German release, all Amanda Lear parts were dubbed in German by another actress.^[3] The Mondo Erotico version has been released on VHS three times, always with the same running time.

Follie di notte has never been aired on television.

Music

The instrumental score was composed by Piero Umiliani. In addition, Amanda Lear performed two of her songs in the film: "Follow Me" in one of the opening scenes, and "Enigma (Give a Bit of Mmh to Me)" in the finale. "Enigma" is preceded by an excerpt from an instrumental version of "Gold" and a recording of "Follow Me" is used as a background for one of the sex scenes. All three songs come from Lear's second album, Sweet Revenge, released in 1978. In the German version, Mondo Erotico, Amanda Lear songs were replaced with a different music and the performance of "Enigma" heavily edited.

Production credits

Assistant director: Donatella Donati
Production manager: Mario Paladini
Unit production manager: Giulio Dini
Camera operator: Enrico Biribicchi
Head electrician: Mario Massaccesi
Head light technician: Franco Micheli
Sound mixer: Roberto Alberghini
Scenographer: Vincenzo Medusa
Costume designer: Sartoria Bonfanti
Make-up artist: Pietro Tenoglio

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin reviewed the film, stating that it was "occupying the middle ground between strip-show and freak-show" and that their attempts of titillating the audience with each new element runs "the risk of wearying their clientele"^[4]