A married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and vows to wed her, but with divorce illegal he must concoct a crime of passion to do away with his wife. His wide-eyed, dead pan expressions combined with vulnerability and suave, leading-man good looks made him the heart-throb of women for decades. The cast does a marvelous job in portraying the different characters. 20 of 24 people found this review helpful. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen; Mastroianni was nominated for Best Acto… Divorce Italian Style ‘Divorce Italian Style’ leaves us guessing right up to the very end but the ending, when it comes, is as funny as it is horrific in its implications and with the slightest brush of a naked foot it seems as though trust and love might be nothing more than one big joke. when he found the wife together with another man. Her impersonation of a country baroness nonetheless was unforgettable. Scorsese's review is adoring and nostalgic since he is from Sicily and since the film had made such a lasting impression on him as a 19-year-old. Rosalia and Carmelo finally give in to their passion but the tape of their conversation runs out just as they are arranging their next meeting. Laemmle Theatres and Anniversary Classics Abroad present a 55 th anniversary screening of Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style, an acclaimed satiric comedy and Oscar winner (Best Original Screenplay). The final stage of his plan is to arrange for Carmelo's constant presence in his house, which he achieves by feigning interest in having his palace frescoes restored. A motley quintet of inept small-time thieves attempt the burglary of a local pawnshop in this Italian farce. 3 Min Read. Masterpiece in the list of "100 Italian films to save", Oscar for best screenplay in 1963, "Divorce Italian Style" is a one man show of Marcello Mastroianni, enhanced by a modern cinematographic language. As Ferdinando goes to the lovers' hideout, he hears Mrs. Patanè kill Carmelo. Stream Divorce, Italian Style on HBO Max. AKA: Divorce, Italian Style, Divorzio all'italiana, Divorce - Italian Style. It should be noted that today it IS possible to get a divorce in Italy, but at the time it was very difficult, perhaps easier to get an annulment, and so we have the premise of the plot.Stefania Sandrelli, who became one of the great ladies of the Italian cinema, plays the cousin. Opponents of divorce pointed out that there was no public clamor for divorce, and therefore no need to introduce it. Was this review helpful to you? A married Sicilian baron falls in love with his cousin and vows to wed her, but with divorce illegal he must … [2], Divorce Italian Style was released in Rome in December 1961. Divorce Italian Style Directed by Pietro Germi. The picture that Germi paints of life in a small Sicilian (or southern Italian, for that matter) village is picturesque, much imitated, and indelible. The railroad engineer Andrea Marcocci has been working with his partner and friend Gigi Liverani for thirty years and feels happy and proud with his work, drinking wine after hours with his... See full summary ». Anyway, to the matter at hand: Divorce, Italian Style, filmed in 1961, was directed and co-written by Pietro Germi. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Trailer. There is also a booklet with reviews of the film from Stuart Klawans, Andrew Sarris, and Martin Scorsese. Rosalia feigns a headache and remains home while the rest of the family goes to the cinema to see the local première of La Dolce Vita, a film so scandalous that no one wants to miss it. Ferdinando tapes their private conversations and has to ward off the maid Sisina's infatuation with Carmelo. Ferdinando sneaks out of the theatre and returns home, arriving just in time to see Rosalia leaving for the train station. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. He revisits his plan and the Criminal Code. Therefore, he starts finding a lover for Rosalia, using Carmelo Patané, a painter well-known by her. Divorce Italian Style offers a well-written and genuine comedy with deliberate intentions for the audience to ponder regarding the society and the social restrictions that govern the unhappy. Divorce Italian Style 1961 Full movie online MyFlixer MyFlixer is a Free Movies streaming site with zero ads. DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE (1962) Wednesday, May 17 at 7:00 PM at Three Laemmle locations: Royal (West L.A.), Town Center (Encino) and Playhouse 7 (Pasadena). Divorzio all'italiana. A New Book Says Yes, Glory to the holy WiFi! In the final scene, famous for its fitting irony, the last thing we see are her feet. In a series of flashbacks, Romano Patroni leaves his wife to visit a spa where he falls in love with a Russian woman. A desperate Sicilian man, whose 15-year-old daughter was seduced and impregnated by his older daughter's fiancé, tries to find a way to save the family's honor. He follows suit and kills Rosalia. His early work was apparently in the Italian neorealist style that yielded so many gems in the post-war years, though I’ve seen only one of them (apparently his last) — 1957’s L’Uomo di Paglia , a solid but unspectacular romantic drama set in working-class Sicily. The movie, which was an international hit, changes tones as it goes along, but fulfills expectations of all these movie formats. All along, Angela has been writing Ferdinando to assure him of her undying love for him. Inspired by a local story of a woman who killed her husband in a rage of jealousy, he resolves to lead his wife into having an affair so that he can catch her in flagrante delicto, murder her, and receive a light sentence for committing an honour killing. It is a key example of commedia all’italiana (comedy Italian style) – films that reflect the challenges faced by Italy during the postwar economic boom. But, since divorce is illegal in Italy, he must devise a way to convince his wife to have an affair so he can commit a crime of passion. 587 “Anyone who causes the death of the spouse, daughter or sister, in the act in which he discovers the illegitimate carnal relationship and in the state of anger determined by the offense brought to his or family’s honor, is punished with imprisonment from three at seven years. The film was also entered into the 1962 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the prize for Best Comedy. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. The latter half of the film is wonderful. The director, Pietro Germi, uses comedy to explain how ridiculous it is that divorce is illegal but it is acceptable for a man to kill his spouse. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen; Mastroianni was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Germi for Best Director. This FAQ is empty. To get around the law, he tries to trick his wife into having an affair so he can catch her and murder her, as he knows he would be given a light sentence for killing an adulterous woman. True, the film starts a bit slowly and drags (at least for modern audiences) a bit at times, but don't make the mistake of giving up on this. The screenplay is by Germi, Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti, and Agenore Incrocci, based on Giovanni Arpino's novel Un delitto d'onore (Honour Killing). He returns to Italy resolved to leave his wife and marry his love. [1], In 2008 Giorgio Battistelli adapted Divorce Italian Style into an opera, Divorce à l'Italienne, which premiered by the Opéra national de Lorraine on September 30 of that year with tenor Wolfgang Ablinger Sperrhacke in Mastroianni's role. Italian actress Stefania Sandrelli and italian actor Odoardo Spadaro in film Divorce Italian style, directed by Pietro Germi, comedy, Italy 1961. portrait of young woman with eyes closed - divorce italian style stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images. Divorce Italian Style takes a gleeful swipe at small town Sicily, male chauvinism, the mafia and the antiquated customs of a country bound by tradition, when divorce isn't possible by law the only course of action for our aristocratic protagonist is to frame his wife as an adulteress and murder her. Recommended by Martin Scorsese, Bertrand Blier. [4], Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen, "Festival de Cannes: Divorce, Italian Style", Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Divorce_Italian_Style&oldid=1006023834, Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe winning performance, Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Italian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Bianca Castagnetta as Donna Matilde Cefalù, This page was last edited on 10 February 2021, at 16:57. Written by Divorced Italian Style, a film introduced in 1961, thirty years after the Rocco Code had been in place, is a protest against The Rocco Code. An Italian tells his story of love to a Russian. Battistelli chose to set every female role except Angela for low male voice; Bruno Praticò [it] sang the role of Rosalia. Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Black Comedy by Italian filmmaker Pietro Germi. The crowded ornate clutter of the old estate, the sun-drenched streets and the monolithic stone and mason churches haunt our memory. He spends no more than three years in prison and returns home to find Angela waiting for him. Divorce Italian Style Main Themes LAW 587 Criminal Code, art. Pietro’s Germi’s humorous, boldly wild DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE is effective as a witty comedy, broad farce, and poignant satire. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Lando Buzzanca, and Leopoldo Trieste. More precisely, it is a film that wrings laughter from Fefè (Marcello Mastroianni), a man who has nothing to do and nowhere to go. Divorce Italian Style (1961) September 26, 2018. Male chauvinism pervades the baron’s world. Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. She was only 15 when the film was shot but could easily pass for, say, 18. To get around the law, he tries to trick his wife into having an affair so he can catch her and murder her, as he knows he would be given a light sentence for killing an adulterous woman. Through these vehicles, Pietro Germi offers locomotive relief in Divorce Italian Style, a comedy about the horrors of inertia. Three stories, all set in Treviso. I also liked 16-year-old Margherita Girelli as Sisini, the maid. )Divorzio all'italiana is a richly textured satire of Sicilian macho Catholic life styles starring one of Italy's greatest actors, Marcello Mastroianni. Besides his wife, he shares his life with his elderly parents, his sister, and her fiancé, a funeral director; the family share their once stately palace with his uncles, who are slowly but surely eating away the remainders of their once rich estate.