They Have Changed Their Face (1971) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

An advertising executive confronts a corporate system that seeks to organize desire, pleasure, and society through propaganda and control.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

The Summons to the Villa

Valle is summoned by the company and sent to meet its mysterious owner at a remote mountain villa. A strange hitchhiker directs him toward the estate, where Corinna receives him and introduces its controlled routines.

Key Events

• Valle Is Summoned — Valle is called from his ordinary schedule to the company's upper floors. Characters: Alberto Valle Location: Auto Avio Motors
• The Owner's Invitation — The CEO says the mysterious owner wants to meet Valle at a mountain villa. Characters: Alberto Valle Location: Auto Avio Motors
• A Strange Hitchhiker — Valle gives a lift to a strange hitchhiker who directs him toward the villa. Characters: Alberto Valle Location: Road to the mountain villa
• Arrival at the Estate — Corinna receives Valle at the isolated estate. Characters: Alberto Valle, Corinna Location: Mountain villa

A System Without Pleasure

The standardized dinner and internal slogan tests reveal an environment organized around efficiency and control. Nosferatu describes the breadth of his corporate influence and offers Valle a leadership position.

Key Events

• Broadcast Slogan Tests — Corinna explains that Nosferatu tests advertising slogans through an internal broadcast system. Characters: Alberto Valle, Corinna Location: Mountain villa
• Standardized Dinner — Valle is served artificially standardized food as part of a project to remove pleasure and impose efficiency. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Mountain villa
• Nosferatu's Vast Network — Nosferatu describes his reach across industry, media, finance, politics, and opposition groups. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Mountain villa
• The Leadership Offer — Nosferatu offers Valle a leadership role in his system, but Valle remains troubled. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Mountain villa

Warnings Beyond the Estate

Valle encounters disturbing images that Corinna minimizes, then visits a hostile and fearful nearby village with her. References to exorcism, a cemetery crypt, and Nosferatu's apparent lack of age deepen the mystery surrounding the estate.

Key Events

• Disturbing Images — Valle encounters disturbing images and what he describes as monstrous babies; Corinna dismisses his reaction. Characters: Alberto Valle, Corinna Location: Mountain villa
• Corinna's Explanation — Corinna says the children belong to employees taken in by Nosferatu. Characters: Alberto Valle, Corinna Location: Mountain villa
• The Village Visit — Valle visits the village with Corinna, where local hostility and unease surround the estate. Characters: Alberto Valle, Corinna Location: Nearby village
• Warning from a Local — A frightened local warns Valle and Corinna away from the villa's inhabitants. Characters: Alberto Valle, Corinna Location: Nearby village
• Signs of an Ancient Secret — Valle finds references to exorcism and a cemetery crypt while investigating Nosferatu's apparent lack of age. Characters: Alberto Valle Location: Estate and nearby village

Control Turns Coercive

Nosferatu scrutinizes photographs related to an employee's private life and declares the employee to have failed in their responsibilities. He orders Valle to leave on foot and demands an abortion and sterilization connected with the case.

Key Events

• Photographs of Private Life — Nosferatu examines photographs concerning an employee's sexual life. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Mountain villa
• Nosferatu's Demands — Nosferatu condemns the employee, orders Valle to leave on foot, and demands an abortion and sterilization connected with the case. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Mountain villa

The Ultimate Advertisement

The story reveals Nosferatu's influence in political and religious affairs, including drug legalization and LSD distribution. Advertising tests culminate in an exuberant LSD commercial, joining propaganda, consumption, and social control.

Key Events

• Political and Religious Influence — Nosferatu's influence reaches religious and political affairs, including drug legalization and LSD distribution. Characters: Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Corporate and political network
• Rejected Cultural Quotations — Advertising tests reject cultural quotations as boring. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Advertising test setting
• LSD Commercial — An exuberant commercial presents LSD as a new product available in Nosferatu supermarkets. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Advertising test setting
• Propaganda and Consumption — The final advertisement exposes the fusion of propaganda, consumption, and social control. Characters: Alberto Valle, Giovanni Nosferatu Location: Advertising test setting

Story Breakdown

• Summoned to the Estate — Valle is pulled from ordinary corporate life and directed to Nosferatu's isolated villa.
  • Unexpected Summons — The company calls Valle to its upper floors.
  • Mountain Journey — A strange hitchhiker directs Valle toward the villa.
• Controlled Hospitality — Corinna introduces Valle to the villa's routines and Nosferatu's methods of testing advertising.
  • Corinna Receives Valle — Corinna welcomes him at the isolated estate.
  • Broadcast Slogans — Valle learns that slogans are tested through an internal broadcast system.
• The Efficiency Project — The villa's standardized food and Nosferatu's disclosures present a system designed to regulate life and desire.
  • Standardized Dinner — Artificially standardized food represents the removal of pleasure.
  • Corporate Reach — Nosferatu describes his influence across business, media, finance, and politics.
• Valle's Recruitment — Nosferatu tries to bring Valle into his system, but Valle remains disturbed rather than persuaded.
  • Leadership Offer — Nosferatu offers Valle a position of authority.
  • Unconvinced Response — Valle remains troubled by what he has witnessed.
• Secrets and Warnings — Disturbing images and the village's fear lead Valle to investigate the estate's apparent ancient mystery.
  • Disturbing Images — Valle sees images and what he describes as monstrous babies; Corinna minimizes his reaction.
  • Village Warning — A frightened local warns Valle and Corinna away from the villa's inhabitants.
• Coercion at the Villa — Nosferatu turns surveillance of private life into direct demands and punishment.
  • Private Photographs — Nosferatu examines photographs concerning an employee's sexual life.
  • Forced Departure — Nosferatu orders Valle to leave on foot and demands an abortion and sterilization connected with the case.
• Propaganda's Final Form — The wider political influence and final advertising tests expose the merger of consumption and social control.
  • LSD Distribution — Nosferatu's network reaches drug legalization and LSD distribution.
  • The LSD Commercial — The final exuberant advertisement presents LSD as a supermarket product.

Directed by

Corrado Farina

Key Cast

• Giuliano Esperanti — Alberto Valle
• Adolfo Celi — Giovanni Nosferatu
• Geraldine Hooper — Corinna
• Francesca Modigliani — Laura
• Rosalba Bongiovanni — Actor in LSD commercial spot