The Howl (1970) — AI Story Visualization

Plot Analysis Summary

A conventional marriage gives way to surreal encounters that expose a world experienced as absurd, coercive, and confining.

Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases

Release and Reunion

Anita is detained after a demonstration, and Berto appeals to the police for her release. Once reunited, Anita recounts degrading treatment in custody.

Key Events

• Anita Is Detained — Anita is detained after taking part in a demonstration. Characters: Anita Annigoni Location: Police custody
• Berto Seeks Her Release — Berto asks the police to release his detained fiancée. Characters: Berto Bertuccioli Location: Police station
• A Guarantee of Good Behavior — Berto offers to guarantee Anita's behavior. Characters: Berto Bertuccioli Location: Police station
• The Couple Reunites — The police chief orders Anita brought in, and she and Berto reunite. Characters: Berto Bertuccioli, Anita Annigoni Location: Police station
• Anita Describes Her Custody — Anita tells Berto she was subjected to degrading treatment in custody. Characters: Anita Annigoni, Berto Bertuccioli Location: Police station

The Wedding Trap

Berto proposes marriage and Anita accepts, but arranging the date is awkward. At the ceremony, Anita calls the wedding a trap, and the proceedings dissolve into confusion.

Key Events

• A Marriage Proposal — Berto proposes marriage, and Anita agrees. Characters: Berto Bertuccioli, Anita Annigoni Location: Unspecified
• An Awkward Wedding Date — Arranging a wedding date becomes awkward as the couple negotiates Berto's schedule. Characters: Berto Bertuccioli, Anita Annigoni Location: Unspecified
• The Wedding Unravels — Anita cries that the wedding is a trap, and the ceremony collapses into insults and confusion. Characters: Berto Bertuccioli, Anita Annigoni Location: Wedding ceremony

Conversations of the Absurd

The story moves through encounters with eccentric figures whose exchanges combine provocation, criticism, and absurdity. Claims that everything is normal contrast with behavior that appears anything but normal.

Key Events

• Conventions Lose Their Shape — Berto's effort to establish an orderly life gives way to unstable, strange episodes. Characters: Anita Annigoni, Berto Bertuccioli Location: Unspecified
• Eccentric Conversations — Encounters with eccentric figures mix sexual provocation, social criticism, and absurd observations. Location: Unspecified
• Claims of Normality — A group insists everything is normal despite behavior that suggests otherwise. Location: Unspecified

Hunger and Bleak Landscapes

A conversation about hunger and the preparation of human flesh turns survival into grotesque argument. Disjointed wanderings and Coso's exchange deepen the sense of a world experienced as confinement.

Key Events

• Hunger and Cannibalism — A starving man hears a gruesome account of preparing human flesh, turning survival into a grotesque argument. Location: Unspecified
• A World Like a Prison — Coso is drawn into an exchange about disorientation, confinement, and a filthy river of forgetfulness. Characters: Carlo detto 'Coso' Location: Bleak landscape

The Institution in Revolt

At the psychiatric institution, the director boasts of control and demands submission. An announcement of liberation provokes his increasingly frantic denunciations, culminating in a chant against a world of confinement and death.

Key Events

• The Director Demands Submission — The director boasts of ruling the inmates and demands their submission. Location: Psychiatric institution
• Authority Turns Frantic — After liberation is announced, the director rails against guards, nurses, and the world. Location: Psychiatric institution
• A Chant Against Confinement — The ending denounces prisons, cemeteries, hells, and a world of death, madness, and confinement. Location: Psychiatric institution

Story Breakdown

• Detention and Release — Anita's detention brings Berto to the police station to seek her release.
  • Demonstration Detention — Anita is detained after a demonstration.
  • Berto's Appeal — Berto offers to guarantee Anita's behavior in seeking her release.
• Reunion and Disclosure — The couple reunites, and Anita describes her treatment while in custody.
  • Police Reunion — The police chief orders Anita brought in, allowing her to reunite with Berto.
  • Custody Account — Anita tells Berto she endured degrading treatment.
• Marriage Plans — Berto proposes an orderly marital future, but even arranging the ceremony proves awkward.
  • Proposal Accepted — Berto proposes marriage, and Anita agrees.
  • Schedule Negotiation — The couple struggles to set a date around Berto's schedule.
• Wedding Breakdown — Anita's fear and the couple's confusion undo the planned ceremony.
  • Trap Repeated — Anita repeatedly cries that the wedding is a trap.
  • Ceremony Collapses — The wedding descends into insults and confusion.
• Absurd Social Encounters — Disjointed encounters replace ordinary narrative stability with provocative conversation and contradiction.
  • Provocative Exchanges — Conversations mix sexual provocation, social criticism, and absurd observations.
  • False Normality — A group insists everything is normal despite its behavior.
• Hunger and Survival — A gruesome exchange turns cannibalism into both a threat and an argument about survival.
  • Starving Man — A conversation centers on a starving man's hunger.
  • Human Flesh — Another figure describes how human flesh could be prepared.
• Bleak Wandering — Disorientation and bleak humor frame the world as a place of confinement.
  • Prison World — Figures wander through bleak landscapes and argue about where they are.
  • Coso's Exchange — Coso joins an exchange that dismisses a supposed river of forgetfulness as filth.
• Institutional Revolt — The director's asserted authority becomes frantic when liberation is announced.
  • Demand for Submission — The director boasts of ruling the inmates and demands their submission.
  • Denunciation of Confinement — The ending chants against prisons, cemeteries, hells, and a world of death and madness.

Directed by

Tinto Brass

Key Cast

• Tina Aumont — Anita Annigoni
• Gigi Proietti — Carlo detto 'Coso'
• Nino Segurini — Berto Bertuccioli
• Germano Longo — Direttore Manicomio
• Edoardo Florio — Diogene