Divorzio all'italiana (1961)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Pietro Germi

Writers:

Ennio De Concini (story) &
Pietro Germi (story) ...

Release Date:

17 September 1962 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

The cutest comedy import in a long time!!!

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Sicilian | Cousin | Divorce | 1960s | Italy

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Marcello Mastroianni	...	Ferdinando Cefalù
Daniela Rocca	...	Rosalia Cefalù
Stefania Sandrelli	...	Angela
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Carmelo Patanè
Odoardo Spadaro	...	Don Gaetano Cefalù
Margherita Girelli	...	Sisina
Angela Cardile	...	Agnese
Lando Buzzanca	...	Rosario Mulè
Pietro Tordi	...	Attorney De Marzi
Ugo Torrente	...	Don Calogero
Antonio Acqua	...	Priest
Bianca Castagnetta	...	Donna Matilde Cefalù
Giovanni Fassiolo
Ignazio Roberto Daidone
Francesco Nicastro

Also Known As:

Divorce - Italian Style (USA)

Runtime:

105 min | UK:104 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved (certificate number not listed)

Filming Locations:

Catania, Sicily, Italy

Company:

Galatea Film

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "La macchina cinema: Una vita per il cinema (#1.5)" (1979)

Marcello Mastroianni is superb in comedy about dishonored husband...

DIVORCE Italian STYLE is one of the funniest films I've ever seen on the subject of how to dissolve a marriage--Italian style, of course. Seems those Italians have a way of forgiving murder if the spouse has cheated and is found in the act--which must give rise to some pretty unsavory stories in real life as well as here.

But however unpleasant the subject matter may seem, this is the merriest romp of a comedy I've come across in a long time. It's so artful in the way it gets inside the mind of the impoverished aristocrat (MARCELLO MASTROIANNI) living in palatial ruins in Sicily and desperately devising a way to get rid of his boring wife. He devises a plan that goes awry when "La Dolce Vita" comes to town and, with all the men in the village attending it, his wife takes that opportunity to run off with her lover.

It's a masterful job that Mastroianni does here, giving little signs of distress with a twitch of his mustache, a frown, a concentrated gaze--in other words, bewitched, bothered and bewildered as he contemplates how to go about getting rid of his freedom so he can pursue a young girl he's enamored of. All the events leading up to the final act are hilariously Italiano in style--those little devils knew how to take advantage of the judicial system.

Summing up: A sheer delight from beginning to end, thanks to a masterful job by Marcello Mastroianni in his Oscar-nominated role.