The Libertine (1968 film)

'The Matriarch') is a 1968 Italian sex comedy film directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile and starring Catherine Spaak and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Mimi, a young widow, discovers that her recently deceased husband kept a secret apartment for his kinky desires.

She uses her late husband's apartment to seduce various men, each time learning more about the depths of human depravation, as well as the extent of the sexual double standard for women (late in the film, she states, "I notice men only call me a whore when I say no.

Finally, she meets the man who shares himself fully with her, appreciates her sexual daring and accepts her for whoever she is.

Howard Thompson of The New York Times said the film was "not nearly as clever, sophisticated and amusing as it archly pretends.