La mandragore (1990)

"La mandragore" is an adaptation of Niccolò Machiavelli's classic play "La Mandragola," set in Renaissance Florence. The story revolves around Callimaco (played by Norbert Kaart), a young man who has returned from France and becomes infatuated with Lucrezia (Marianne Assouline), the virtuous wife of an older, naive man named Messer Nicia (Luc-Antoine Salmont). To win Lucrezia, Callimaco concocts a scheme with the help of Lucrezia's mother, Sostrata (Nadine Spinoza), and a local friar, Brother Timothy. The plan involves using the legendary mandrake root, which supposedly can cure infertility but at the cost of the first man to sleep with the woman after she consumes it must die. Callimaco disguises himself to take advantage of this situation.