286 Divorce Italian Style

[Gordon]

I'm so glad that this film has finally been treated with respect on home video, as it is a masterclass is film comedy. Marcello is a God. No more needs to be said: Bring on the DVD, Mr Postman!

[Cinephrenic]

Stephania Sandrelli was a beauty. Did she play any other notable roles?

She has some exciting scenes in Bertolucci's 1900.

[oldsheperd]

She's still pretty good looking. Check out the Cigar in His Mouth program.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

I really enjoyed Mastroianni's bored aristocrat and how he looked the part with his slicked back hair, the almost pencil-thin moustache and ubiquitous cigarette holder. I also thought it was interesting that at the beginning of the film he is all macho swagger but as the film progresses it is revealed to be all show and pretty soon we see how his wife has literally tired him out and Mastroianni suggests this with his perpetually droopy eye lids and defeated posture. For all of the satire, I thought that some of his gestures were quite subtle, like how he used his eyes and facial expressions in a whimsical fashion, including that repeating gesture involving the corner of his mouth rising in a half smirk (or is that a grimace?).

I was also struck by the moments of poignancy. There is an excellent shot early on as Fefe looks out his bathroom window at the moon in the night sky and spots Angela asleep in her room. The look of absolute yearning on his face says so much.

And, of course, the famous scene where the whole town goes to see Fellini’s then controversial movie, La Dolce Vita. I always wondered if this was Germi critique of Fellini’s depiction of the shallow, decadent lives of the elite in Rome. And he does this by showing all of the unromanticized faces of the modest to poor people of the village who are watching the movie.

[Narshty]

Just a word of appreciation: this movie is fantastic. It's one of the best introductions to world cinema I can imagine. The movie's humour isn't based, as I had feared, around intimate knowledge of Sicilian culture, but tried-and-true themes of chauvinist lust and hypocrisy that are easily recognisable the world over. The script is full of thumping great gags and seat-edge plot twists, Pietro Germi directs with a expert grasp of film language and pacing and the cast are a hoot (Daniella Rocca and Leopoldo Trieste are easily a match for Marcello). Altogether it's a far richer, more accessible and engaging movie than I was expecting and a crowd-pleaser in the very best sense of the word: giving the audience what they want in a way they don't expect.

It's a pity the second disc of this Criterion set is pretty much junk, but the transfer is very lovely.

[Steven H]

It's a pity the second disc of this Criterion set is pretty much junk, but the transfer is very lovely.

Until I read this I'd *forgotten* it was a two-disc release, even. Hilarious, film. I agree it's a good introduction and I loan this one out constantly. I wonder what other comic roles Mastroianni has under his belt (not counting Fellini).

edit: realized I used the word "great" three times in three sentences and a fragment. removed them all.

[Gordon]

Of the top of my head, there is, of course, La Grande bouffe (1973, Marco Ferreri) which is OOP on DVD. And there is Permette? Rocco Papaleo (1971, Ettore Scola) which isn't exactly a comedy, but can be comical, depending on your view of America.

[Magic Hate Ball]

I love this movie. I had to pause it after he imagines sending her up in the space-ship, because I was laughing too hard to read the subtitles.

[Matango]

I wonder what other comic roles Mastroianni has under his belt (not counting Fellini)

Big Deal on Madonna Street is very comical.

[Magic Hate Ball]

For those in Seattle, the Northwest Film Forum is showing this and Seduced and Abandoned, both on new 35mm prints, April 25-May 1st, Thursday and Friday, Divorce at 7, and Seduced at 9, on both days.

Link.

[HerrSchreck]

Good lord, I netflixed this thing over the past weekend and was rolling around the floor holding my guts laughing trying not to soil my dry goods. Mastroianni was absolutely pantspissingly, hilariously brilliant in this thing. What a complete character he built here for this film, complete with the teeth-clicks from the side of his mouth, his physicalities of his slumped, shuffling walk, his high proud eyebrows riding over lazy, sagging eyelids of a decadent bourgoise. Aside from occasional gasses like Sordi in Un Americano a Roma, I'm not the hugest devotee of Italian comedy from this rough period. But this film was fantastic.

Wonderful film.. fucking Netflix though, I hate that in a case like this where it's a 2-disc SE you have to rent the extras seperately.

[skuhn8]

Good lord, I netflixed this thing over the past weekend and was rolling around the floor holding my guts laughing trying not to soil my dry goods. Mastroianni was absolutely pantspissingly, hilariously brilliant in this thing. What a complete character he built here for this film, complete with the teeth-clicks from the side of his mouth, his physicalities of his slumped, shuffling walk, his high proud eyebrows riding over lazy, sagging eyelids of a decadent bourgoise. Aside from occasional gasses like Sordi in Un Americano a Roma, I'm not the hugest devotee of Italian comedy from this rough period. But this film was fantastic.

Wonderful film.. fucking Netflix though, I hate that in a case like this where it's a 2-disc SE you have to rent the extras seperately.

If you enjoyed Divorce... please by all means make haste to rent Seduced and Abandoned. Granted it lacks the star power of Divorced (albeit with a nice appearance by Leopold Trieste nearly halfway through) , but in my opinion is superior for the bounteous spread of characters. Beautiful rendering of a dysfunctional family hopped up on Sicilianness. The 'spazz outs' we come to see are of a particularly well-toned pitch and Stef Sandrelli never looked better.

[Michael]

Schreck, I'm so glad you liked Divorce Italian Style. A very nasty bitter skewering comedy, I love it. This new mention has made me want to revisit Germi. I saw Seduced and Abandoned once, I remember being put off by so much slapping around of that poor girl, making me a nervous wreck!

Even though it's not Germi, but I really recommend Mafioso if you haven't seen it yet. It's just as hilarious but contains none of Germi's delicious nastiness. Charming and sensitive but still just as worth watching as Divorce, Italian Style. Sordi, my favorite Italian actor next to Magnani, is astounding of course, he always makes me happy, I adore him.

[HerrSchreck]

please by all means make haste to rent Seduced and Abandoned..

Will do, postehaste!

I really recommend Mafioso if you haven't seen it yet.

Ditto.

Thanks for the rec's guys.

Still cracking up picturing Mastroianni's proud, lazy face.

[cdnchris]

This is my favourite performance by Mastroianni. Every little thing, his little ticks, his mannerisms, the look on his face, the hair, the friggin' moustache, everything about it.

Glad you liked it, though. It was a blind buy and has turned into one of my favourites in my DVD collection. Seduced and Abandoned is another good one. I still haven't gotten around to anything else by Germi I'm sad to say.

[knives]

Wonderful film.. fucking Netflix though, I hate that in a case like this where it's a 2-disc SE you have to rent the extras seperately.

Had to send Santantango back for the same reason. Damm two disc plan.

[Napier]

I still haven't gotten around to anything else by Germi I'm sad to say.

The Railroad Man is a great one Chris. Germi actually stars. I think No Shame put that one out if I'm not mistaken.

[Michael]

Revisited Seduced and Abandoned tonight. A bit overlong, I grew weary of all the twists and turns but the humor was so macabre and crude that it kept me up. Fantastic skewering of Sicilian mores and machismo. It was rough and painful watching the beautiful Sandrelli being tossed around like a dead kitty - all for what? The stupid honor the family had to maintain for generations. It was more of the vanity than anything else. Seduced and Abandoned is definitely more epic than Divorce, Italian Style - very dark, funny, sad and exhausting all at once.

[HistoryProf]

Stephania Sandrelli was a beauty. Did she play any other notable roles?

She has some exciting scenes in Bertolucci's 1900.

Having just finished this, I looked her up on imdb and google and was quite surprised to see a plethora of rather candid shots from something called The Key from the early 80s...which looks a lot like an Emmanuelle/Story of O kind of soft core flick. Wasn't expecting that, but it's available at Netflix!

As for the film itself, absolutely hilarious...loved ever second of it. Marcello is fucking brilliant in it, and the skewering of Italian chauvinism and machismo is precious...and the wife! Those eyebrows! the giggles! I was ready to shoot her myself! Once you get beyond the creepy factor of Angela being his first cousin, it's uproariously funny.

My only qualm is that i'm still rather befuddled as to why this is a two discer. it's not a long film, and the extras certainly aren't comprehensive, long, or the kind of thing that require a lot of space...nor are they anything terribly essential - I enjoyed the short essays more. It's like they had 9 gigs of material for an 8.5 gig disc and just decided to split it up rather than fussing around with it. Given the use of those damned double-wides, this is one that I wish had gone lighter as they did with Seduced and Abandoned...but so it goes. Still a fantastic film and one I was able to find cheap used, and I'm so glad I did!

[Saimo]

...and the wife! Those eyebrows! the giggles! I was ready to shoot her myself!

Ok, but I think Germi also shows a sort of human compassion with the shot of her tombstone (ironic, yes, but still moving).

[tenia]

Having just finished this, I looked her up on imdb and google and was quite surprised to see a plethora of rather candid shots from something called The Key from the early 80s...which looks a lot like an Emmanuelle/Story of O kind of soft core flick.

The Key, the erotic masterpiece of Tinto Brass. Music by no one else than Ennio Morricone !

[tojoed]

The Key, the erotic masterpiece of Tinto Brass. Music by no one else than Ennio Morricone!

.. Based on the same novel as Kon Ichikawa's "Kagi", which really is a comic and erotic masterpiece.

[aox]

this was a surprisingly great film.

[HistoryProf]

...and the wife! Those eyebrows! the giggles! I was ready to shoot her myself!

Ok, but I think Germi also shows a sort of human compassion with the shot of her tombstone (ironic, yes, but still moving).

I read that completely differently. She got a nice tombstone, but look how quickly it became over grown - the flowers are all dead! I saw it as another cynical brick in the wall - she was forgotten almost immediately as he moved on the next thing, which was already falling apart as she went for the hunky boatman!

[Saimo]

...and the wife! Those eyebrows! the giggles! I was ready to shoot her myself!

Ok, but I think Germi also shows a sort of human compassion with the shot of her tombstone (ironic, yes, but still moving).

I read that completely differently. She got a nice tombstone, but look how quickly it became over grown - the flowers are all dead! I saw it as another cynical brick in the wall - she was forgotten almost immediately as he moved on the next thing, which was already falling apart as she went for the hunky boatman!

You are right, she is quickly forgotten, but don't you also read this as a sad, ironic requiem? I am not talking about Mastroianni's attitude, but about Germi's one. Listen carefully to the voice off and consider the raindrops who fall quietly on the tombstone: that's a painful parody of Rosalia's romantic dreams... Germi laughs at her but also grieves for her.