Antonio Pietrangeli (whose accidental death in 1968 cut short an important career) took a rare interest in the position of women in his films; certainly his almost melancholy compassion for his female protagonists in both La Visita and Io la Conoscevo Bene (I Knew Her Well) is unmatched in any of the comedies. The Darling of the Italian cinema, yet more bitterly ironic, Io La Conoscevo Bene is a portrait of cupidity in an aspiring star, Adriana, who dies trying to penetrate the mystery of popularity and success. A wonderful performance by Stefania Sandrelli is central to the film's haunting quality, for she and director Pietrangeli succeed in creating a sympathetic and affecting character study of an essentially vapid person. In delineating Adriana's world and her pathetic grab for conflicting goals-affection and adoration-in a mosaic-like narrative structure, the film is also a devastating exposure of machismo and hollow prosperity in the swinging sixties. (There is even a touch of Monroe in her relationships with a kind but beaten-down pugilist and a writer who confuses analysis with love.) Ugo Tognazzi and Nino Manfredi are both quite fine as a one-time actor and publicity man, respectively.