1961 - Commedy - 1h 44m
Regia: Pietro Germi
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Leopoldo Trieste, Odoardo Spadaro, Margherita Girelli, Angela Cardile, Lando Buzzanca, Pietro Tordi, Ugo Torrente, Antonio Acqua, Bianca Castagnetta, Giovanni Fassiolo, Ignazio Roberto Daidone, Francesco Nicastro, Edy Nogara, Renato Pinciroli, Daniela Igliozzi, Laura Valerio Tomiselli
Baron Ferdinando "Fefè" Cefalù is married for years with Rosalia, but unhappy for years at his side is secretly in love with his cousin Angela, it will be so that the nobleman will do everything to get rid of his wife thanks to the rules of law, and take advantage of the famous crime of honor and finally marry his beloved cousin.
Film that was subject to a lot of censorship because of the famous divorce law that was not there yet in Italy, and that will come only in 1970, there were many articles in those years about this film that had to talk about a topic absent in the Italian World. And if the divorce had not yet been invented there was the so-called crime of honor that is that if the husband found his wife in the act with a lover, the "cuckold" could have killed her and had a discount on the penalty. Certainly a law that if it was still in force today would be to be taken and trashed, because if adultery is something that would not accept and forgive anyone, killing your partner would be something to punish with jail and in fact it was, that's why this film set the basis for the government to issue the divorce law that lasts until now.
Marcello Mastroianni e Daniela Rocca
Certainly a film that has remained in the history of Italy, on all fronts, confirming not only that Marcello Mastroianni was already a star in Italian cinema for years, but consecrating the director himself, because Peter Germs with this film win an Oscar for best original screenplay, and were also nominated as best director, in total, the film was was nominated for 3 Oscars. Now the director was considered as one of the best Italian directors, thanks to its way of telling the facts of daily life and so on, and although it was a character according to those who knew the rude, old-time, was a film director that many actors respected and wanted to work with him, as the same producers who contacted to shoot the film, and it was one of the producers of the success of the time as Franco Cristaldi, decided to entrust the direction of an episode so delicate Germs who directed him not without difficulty.
Mastroianni and Stefania Sandrelli during filming
Certainly when it was known that Germi would direct the film, another name of the film appeared: Capriccio all'italiana, but the same newspapers immediately published the name of Divorzio all'italiana sparking criticism and curiosity in many. The film, after months of being censored, including screenwriting failures and more, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for Best Comedy arousing irony in various viewers around the world. Despite the success, there are many parts that I found slow and boring, without a point of impact, the same Mastroianni it will receive for the film, his first Oscar nomination, a Golden Globe, a Bafta award, a Silver Ribbon and other rewards, sometimes vague in the film without a footprint. The part of the nobleman who tries to give a mistress to his wife to kill her and evade her from that married life that he no longer likes, suits him in half, sometimes he found him a distinct character and of great shape, other times static and repetitive as if he had not channeled himself into the character; what seems like a tic when he continues to make those movements with his mouth, his refinement and the way of representing each role to the maximum are unique, and reveal that an actor like him is a monster of cinema that will never be forgotten, let's say I found a part halfway between good and boring.
A different thing you can say to the wife, Rosalia, and the little cousin Angela, the first a beautiful woman, but not beautiful, her sopraccigia too long so it looks like a monocilio and moustache, make it unique, but not only that, she is a woman, clingy, and too much, but you can see that she loves her husband more than herself, I think that in the end will be too much for her destiny, certainly the part of the woman hostile to her husband more than herself and her character obnoxious, it did not convince me completely but the talents of Daniela Rocca are not discussed and the actress will receive a Bafta nomination among a thousand perplexities. The same can not be said For Stefania Sandrelli, very young (she was only 16 years old)and beautiful, you know her. A character unfortunately obscured by the figures of Mastrioanni and Fortress, but one that seeks to emerge, bringing a character costetto to study in a masterful conducted by the sisters, and that does not find its place in the world, but that would take so much of the love of Fefè with him, but that the quarrels between their families, and the direct relationship does nothing but hinder their love, even if according to me an age too different between the two can not take questions; I think Sandrelli would have deserved some recognition, her talents as an actress were already seen then and having a secondary part in the film was a mistake.
We say that a real antagonist is not there if the lover of Rosalia, if a lover is speaking, it's a little bizarre that believed died in the war and back in the city, for the painter to work with creativity in the church of the city, and will be the solace of the beautiful while flirting with the other; Germs gave the role to Leopoldo Trieste, with its bizarre caliber of character ridiculous, but also woody will be its success in the years to come. In the film, we can also note how difficult it is to unite families, between uncles and other relatives who do nothing but give him for who is more important, arguments on arguments that do nothing but divide them, the typical " families that still exist today.
The fictional city of Agromonte
A beautiful scenery, of which Sicily is the protagonist (now become the region of many films of the time), All shot in Ispica (for the occurrence named Agromonte) with its hills and the crystal clear sea, not to mention the magnificent villages that make you adore our beautiful country, a Southern Paradise. The music is based on the works of Carlo Rustichelli, Germi's historical collaborator, and has tinted the film of that mystery that is due to the film, but also of bizarre symphonies to orient the film towards a topic such as divorce that was curious at the time. In a nutshell, a film that despite having made news and success, is a work sometimes imperfect but that knows of great impact.
by Giacomo Fantini rating: 3,00
5 May 2021
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