Marco Ferreri’s visual exploration of gender and society, Bye Bye Monkey (1978), struggled to find an American distributor upon its original release, but it manages to remain engaging thanks to strong acting and striking imagery. Gerard Depardieu, who seemed willing to take significant risks as an actor in the late 1970s, is unrestrained as a man who discovers a baby monkey near the World Trade Center and chooses to raise it; Marcello Mastroianni provides several poignant scenes portraying a sexually dissatisfied individual who has lost faith in America; and James Coco delivers a fittingly commanding performance as a wax museum owner fascinated by a particular kind of masculinity. The film is rich with symbolism, contains multiple layers of meaning, and includes enough nudity and sexual content to warrant an X-rating from 1978, making it suitable for those who appreciate unusual art films and long for the era of more challenging cinema.

Source on TMDB