Add the first question. But he's married--to Rosalia (Daniela Rocca), she of the unfortunate mustache--and the Italian Penal Code gives him no way out... except, of course, for catching his wife in adultery and availing himself of the patriarchal license to commit a "crime of honor." Was this review helpful to you? Divorce Italian Style was Germi’s first comedy, yet it shares many of the social and political concerns of his earlier dramatic work such as Il Ferroviere (The Railroad Man, 1956). Daniella Rocca . Read full article. Criterion is proud to present director Pietro Germi's hilarious and cutting satire of Italy's hypocritical judicial system and male-dominated culture, winner of the 1962 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, in a two-disc DVD edition that also features a documentary on the director, new interviews with the actors and screenwriter, screen-test footage, and more. 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). - Order by Phone 1-800-336-4627 Only the director's insight into theocracy and Italian mores keeps "Divorce Italian Style" from succumbing to the darkness that lurks inside the material. Stream Divorce, Italian Style on HBO Max. Since divorce is illegal, he will devise a scenario wherein he can catch his spouse in the arms of another and murder her to save his honor-a lesser offense. 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. Divorce Italian Style (The Criterion Collection). If you're a fan of Marcello, it's a "must have". Divorce - Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Italy ] Marcello Mastroianni (Actor, Host), Stefania Sandrelli (Actor, Host), Pietro Germi (Director, Host) Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. I love how Italian film makers play up the drama and satire heightening the senses. She has eyebrows that continue from one end to the other. A Sicilian nobleman plots to dump his wife for a younger woman--even if it means murder. Although Marcello Mastroianni and Stefania Sandrelli are the big names, in star-making performances, the picture is really held together by Daniela Rocca's tricky and subtle work as the dutiful wife who must be murdered to effect a happy ending. 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. All of them, being down and out aristocrats, they live, sharing a stinking depressing palazzo-in close quarters. The movie won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen; Mastroianni was nominated for Best Acto… It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Lando Buzzanca, and Leopoldo Trieste. The Italian Army fought against the Austrians during World War I. In the first shots of the movie we see an environment suffocated by the heat of the Sicilian climate. Various couple experience adultery at a party, a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress and all the men in the end are prosecuted for having intercourse with an underage girl. Originally conceived as a hard-hitting drama (Germi's specialty at the time), "Divorce" delves right into the issue at hand--women--with a devilish, socially biting sense of humor, such as the farcical fantasy sequences where Fefe imagines offing Rosalia in inventive ways. The cast does a marvelous job in portraying the different characters. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. A flower's life span is nothing compared to humans, yet flowers go through similar developmental stages. T rains frame the story and provide its turning point; cars advance the plot. We work hard to protect your security and privacy. 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. With Marcello Mastroianni, Stefania Sandrelli, Daniele Rocca. Divorce Italian Style (1961) September 26, 2018. Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Black Comedy by Italian filmmaker Pietro Germi. His solution? Full content visible, double tap to read brief content. Describing the comedy in Divorce, Italian Style as satire is accurate to a degree, but Germi puts a lot of the sharper edges in the background. In the Italy of WWII, a widow and her lonely daughter seek for distance between them and the horrors of war. 1961. Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video! Then the Italian economic boom of the '50s drove Italy into modernity and wellness. Occasionally, love uses the life span of a flower as a symbol for the affectionate spell under which two individuals bond. The title Divorce Italian Style must also make us think how this law shows the paradox of a nation that accepts murder but cannot accept divorce … it seems that divorce is a sin superior to murder . Divorce Italian Style Baron Ferdinando Cefalù (Marcello Mastroianni) longs to marry his nubile young cousin Angela (Stefania Sandrelli), but one obstacle stands in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife, Rosalia (Daniela Rocca). However, he is in love with his, a much younger and attractive, cousin. Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2005. Divorce Italian Style . Stories about three very different women and the men they attract. Italy being Italy, divorce is not allowed but killing is. Screenplay by Ennio De Concini, Germi, Alfredo Giannetti. Certain images remained in my head for at least 52-53 years, that even though I didn't fully understand, I got the jest of it. DIVORCE Italian STYLE is a comedy drama about love pains and problems with laws. Since... Read more . What is amazing is that all the village, all the people in the movie support murder for the honor of the family. Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Multiple Formats, Black & White, Closed-captioned, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen, Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Leopoldo Trieste, Odoardo Spadaro, Agenore Incrocci, Alfredo Giannetti, Ennio De Concini, Pietro Germi. Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2017. 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. The film parodies the divorce laws of Italy during the 1960s, when a man could kill his wife with little to no punishment if she had been unfaithful to him. Marcello Mastoianni is a rumpled unemployed minor, very minor nobility, in Italy. Besides the wickedly funny story line, you've got Carlo Rustichelli's exquisite music throughout the story. The movie also marked a breakthrough for foreign film in America, winning popular as well art-house success, Academy Award nominations for director Pietro Germi and star Marcello Mastroianni, and--the first of only a few foreign-language films to do so--the Oscar itself for Original Screenplay. Cast. Thomas Vinterberg (‘Another Round’) joins starry roster of Best Director Oscar nominees for non-English language films, From ‘Lawrence Of Arabia’ And ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ To The Debut Of James Bond, Was 1962 The Greatest Movie Year Ever? 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. Since... Read more . 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. Use the HTML below. Divorzio all’italiana (Divorce Italian Style). Jwelch5742. 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 … Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Divorce Italian Style is a comedy milestone--a brilliant, biting satire that was originally conceived as a drama; directed with nonstop inventiveness by a filmmaker who had never done comedy; and featuring an actor who, though not even among the first dozen players considered, cemented his international stardom with this performance. Stefania Sandrelli is beautiful as ever, Marcello's wife is ugly and a nuisance as her role imposes, and Leopoldo Trieste is another great actor of Italian cinema.3) WONDERFUL STORY: the script won the Oscar and it is truly very intelligent 4) SOCIALLY COMMITTED: it is an accusation of a wrong law that supports a wrong tradition (the law was changed shortly after).I give this masterpiece a 10 out of 10, and I strongly recommend it to everyone. Divorce, Italian Style One doesn't usually expect a film about infidelity, divorce and murder to be a comedy but that's one reason Divorce, Italian Style, directed by Pietro Germi, became an … In Italian; English subtitles. You won't be disappointed, and you'll find yourself humming the music for weeks and years afterwards. However, don't be scared by this introduction. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. A motley quintet of inept small-time thieves attempt the burglary of a local pawnshop in this Italian farce. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Rosalia Cefalù . Please try again. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Divorce Italian Style . So Fefè searches for a way to fling Rosalia into the arms of another man. When the flower withers, the relationship turns numb, which is the case with Ferdinando "Fefé" Cefalú (Marcello Mastroianni). Germi's wry, black-comedic satire on Italy's outmoded marital laws (divorce was illegal there in the '60s) and culture of machismo was a triumph for the writer-director and his leading man, both of whom picked up Oscar nods. 1 hr 44 mins. 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. Divorce Italian Style was Germi’s first comedy, yet it shares many of the social and political concerns of his earlier dramatic work such as Il Ferroviere (The Railroad Man, 1956). With Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, Leopoldo Trieste. Angela . The cast does a marvelous job in portraying the different characters. Divorce Italian style up 50% after quickie law. Baron Ferdinando Cefalù (Marcello Mastroianni) longs to marry his nubile cousin Angela, but one obstacle stands in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife, Rosalia. Women in this film are used by Pietro Germi to demonstrate the backwardness of the South. Divorce, Italian Style [DVD] [1963] [Region 1], Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 12, 2010. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Describing the comedy in Divorce, Italian Style as satire is accurate to a degree, but Germi puts a lot of the sharper edges in the background. If he can get her in flagrante delicto, then everyone will applaud him for defending his honor and the catholic code. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, $17.64 Shipping & Import Fees Deposit to Thailand. Through these vehicles, Pietro Germi offers locomotive relief in Divorce Italian Style, a comedy about the horrors of inertia. 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. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. 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. Showing all 3 items Jump to: Summaries (3) Summaries. Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2007. Baron Ferdinando Cefalu (Marcello Mastroianni) longs to marry his nubile young cousin Angela (Stefania Sandrelli), but one obstacle stands in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife, Rosalia (Daniela Rocca). Pietro Germi's companion piece to his earlier "Seduced and Abandoned," this comedy comes so close to tragedy it takes your breath away. Three stories, all set in Treviso. So he plans to murder the wife, pretending to do that for a 'legitimate' defence of honor. Previous page of related Sponsored Products. He persuades a painter to lure his wife into an affair, but Rosalia proves to be more faithful than he expected. More precisely, it is a film that wrings laughter from Fefè (Marcello Mastroianni), a man who has nothing to do and nowhere to go. Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. Divorce - Italian Style Alternative; Cast & Credits. Especially since Italy doesn't permit divorce, but if a man should happen to murder his wife while she was in her lover's arms well, how could a jury hold that against him? If "Divorce" was always this much fun, who'd be married? From Wings to Parasite, here's a look back at all of the Best Picture Oscar winners in the history of the ceremony. 1 hr 44 mins. Fefé merely stays with his wife Rosalia (Daniela Rocca), as societal restrictions are enforced by the Catholic Church, family, and public, which forces people to remain married until death do they part. Divorce Italian Style (Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Black Comedy by Italian filmmaker Pietro Germi. Germi's satirical epilogue will remind you of the one in "All About Eve," it's that good. However, the real importance of this movie can be demonstrated by saying that an entire genre, "la commedia all'italiana" (Comedy, Italian style) is named after this movie.A major issue of this genre is to make fun of our traditions and culture (I am Italian) despite the radical changes our Country was having during those years ('60s, '70s).The main issue of Neo-realism (Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti) was to describe the tragic reality of miserable lives after the catastrophic WWII. More precisely, it is a film that wrings laughter from Fefè (Marcello Mastroianni), a man who has nothing to do and nowhere to go. The movie is FUN and it turns into a fast-paced rhythm shortly.The protagonist loves his cousin and wants to marry her, but he is already married. The cast does a marvelous job in portraying the different characters. Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2012. DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE OR THE FICTION OF MARRIAGE THOMAS HARRISON, UCLA Voted one of the twelve best film comedies of all time in 1968, Pietro Germi’s Divorce, Italian Style (1961) was originally conceived as a drama.1 Even after its conversion into comedy, however, the political intent of the finished product remains a satiric indictment of a male-dominant society that arrogates itself the right to … He tries to trap her in compromising situations. This movie got an Oscar for the script (among the others, by Pietro Germi, the gifted director). He lives, besides his wife, … Probably this is not so true today, but at that time certainly was. Sid & Nancy (Collector's Edition) [Blu-ray]. Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2005. A police detective and his team attempt to solve two crimes committed within a day of each other in neighboring apartment rooms. Mastroianni's Fefè is an indelible masterpiece, visually and behaviorally: a portrait in painterly chiaroscuro, with brilliantined hair, eternally drooping eyelids, a cigarette holder angled in perpetual salute, and a manic, conspiratorial slouch, like Groucho Marx on painkillers. Commedia all'italiana wanted to remind us that despite this modernity we are always the same Italians we were before, with all our intelligence but also with all our defects. One of these items ships sooner than the other. Through these vehicles, Pietro Germi offers locomotive relief in Divorce Italian Style, a comedy about the horrors of inertia. 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. Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni and Italian director Pietro Germi smoking during a break fon the set of the film Divorce Italian Style. They even induce him to kill. 1961. Divorce Italian Style is Italian superstar Marcello Mastroianni's turn in the spotlight, and his performance is a hilarious triumph of slow-burns, nervous tics, and pitch-perfect comic timing. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. He is lusting after his niece, Stefania Sandrelli. Divorce Italian Style (1961) Plot. You can't stop laughing even if the script is tragic (this is a characteristic of masterpieces) 2) WELL ACTED: Marcello Mastroianni gives one of his best performances. 105 min. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. 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. Two neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938. I am a fan of Italian Film and Marcello Mastroianni and hadn't seen this film since I was a child. Baron Ferdinando Cefalu (Marcello Mastroianni) longs to marry his nubile young cousin Angela (Stefania Sandrelli), but one obstacle stands in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife, Rosalia (Daniela Rocca). In the light of this notion, the audience will truly experience a socially important comedy, which plays with the ideas of divorce through more hideous plots such as murder, deceit, and other troublemaking. Amazon's Choice highlights highly rated, well-priced products available to ship immediately. 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. 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. 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. His solution? Check out our editors' picks for the movies and shows we're excited about this month, like Mortal Kombat, "Them," and Stowaway. Italian Style! Please try again. The cast does a marvelous job in portraying the different characters. Directed by Pietro Germi. 46 of 49 people found this review helpful. 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. An impoverished Sicilian nobleman is married with an unattractive but devoted wife. It is a pleasure to have this film classic from the Criterion Collection in my personal film collection. 7 ways ‘Parasite’ made history with its Oscar wins, Foreign Language Films That Won Oscars Outside The Best Foreign Language Film, The Best 1960s International Feature Film, The IMDb Poll Board User's Beloved Little Comedy Movies. --Richard T. Jameson, Cinema Paradiso (2-Disc Special Edition) [DVD], Seduced & Abandoned (The Criterion Collection), Big Deal on Madonna Street (The Criterion Collection), Bicycle Thieves (The Criterion Collection). Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2009. 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. The rich man Domenico and Filumena, a penniless prostitute, share great part of their lives in the immediate post WWII Italy. Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. Mastroianni, delivering one of his finest comedic performances, carries the film from first frame to last, almost Keatonesque in his deadpan mannerisms. A classic Italian comedy from a master of cinema - you will not be disappointed! Italy had no provision for divorce until 1970 and the difficulties that caused were famously the subject of a celebrated 1961 film "Divorce, Italian Style" (AFP Photo/Jay Directo) November 14, 2016, 7:40 AM. 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 ». He spies on her and she in turn is accommodating to the lechery he conveys. WOMEN. 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. The Italian marriage has been under steady assault by Pietro Germi for five years now, since his "Divorce Italian Style" concluded ever so logically that murder was easier and more convenient than divorce. The most memorable part of a flower's growth is the blossoming progress where it goes from being a small bud until it dwindles to the ground in a rapid withering phase. Divorce Italian Style People spend part of the day in their apartments waiting for the cool evening. Divorce, Italian Style (Italian with English Subtitles) (2-DVD) - DVD (1962) for $34.50 from OLDIES.com Comedy He ordered marriage on the rocks with a twist... Italian Style! Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. Three partisans bound by a strong friendship return home after the war, but the clash with everyday reality puts a strain on their bond. Watch it. Unable to add item to List. 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). Directed by Pietro Germi. A New Book Says Yes, Glory to the holy WiFi! Given these laws, Ferdinando Cefalù (Marcello Mastroianni) attempts to assist his wife in becoming unfaithful to him so that he might kill her and then marry his gorgeous young cousin. But this is Italy before divorce, and he can only get rid of his obstinately faithful wife by killing her. Today, Divorce Italian Style is probably the best-known film by Italian neorealist Pietro Germi. "Divorce, Italian Style" is set in the most 'conservative' place of Italy of that time, where traditions like family honor were still predominant despite all modernity. Divorce Italian Style (Italian: Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Italian drama-comedy film directed by Pietro Germi. His solution? He is married to Daniela Rocca. This FAQ is empty. Italian Style! And what is sad, is that the law at that time was really soft for those types of murders.To summarize this movie has these characteristics: 1) VERY FUN. The cast does a marvelous job in portraying the different characters. Written by Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. He persuades a painter to lure his wife into an affair, but Rosalia proves to be more faithful than he expected. Summary: A Sicilian man, unhappy in his marriage, falls in love with his younger cousin and vows to wed her. Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. This motionless environment is highly metaphoric, as it shows that nothing really changes in this land, suffocated by the weight of old traditions. Germi's direction hustles the film along with bold, mobile camerawork, stream-of-consciousness lurches into fantasy and flashback, Fefè's feverish voiceover commentary, and a wonderfully propulsive music score by the late Carlo Rustichelli. Title: This was very daring stuff in the 1960s, and Criterion's jaunty DVD transfer does it full justice (don't miss the nifty interview supplement). 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. An impulsive braggart takes a shy law student for a two-day ride through the Roman and Tuscany countries. 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. View production, box office, & company info. 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). (1961). Baron Ferdinando Cefalù, 'Fefè' Marcello Mastroianni . On the sun-blasted island of Sicily, Baron Ferdinand "Fefè" Cefalù (Mastroianni) breaks out of his heat- and boredom-induced stupor long enough to be smitten with mad passion for his 16-year-old cousin Angela (Stefania Sandrelli). 1961. She also has a moustache. Italy. Italian Style! 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.