Theodore Zuckerman
I think Divorzio all'italiana is an all-time masterpiece of movie-making art. It has amazing depth, and an amazing amount of detail. The cinematography, the script, the acting, the music – all wonderful. The thing is just uncanny. Even though my understanding of Italian is limited to maybe a dozen words, I felt drawn to listening to the dialog – listening in order to get whatever meaning I could pick up from the actors' InFlection and InTonation. The actors were just fantastic.The screenplay is a ruthless skewering of post world war 2 Italy, revealing how Italians were becoming fully aware of the changes that were happening in the rest of the world, revealing how they were being affected by them – appearing eager to adopt them, but at the same time suffering from some kind of insidious stagnation resulting from the Italy's interpretation of the mores imposed by the Roman Catholic church – and revealing the problems that resulted from the conflict between change and stagnation. Some of the changes that were referenced, to hilarious effect as they reached stagnant Italy, were rock and roll, men orbiting the earth, and perhaps the most hilarious, the Italian movie released just a short time earlier: La Dolce Vita.Divorzio all'italiana's main character, FeFe, to get the changes he wants in his life, he doesn't try to change the system; he works within the system. He carries out what seems like a rather unlikely strategy, however it is a strategy that works, sort of. In the process of carrying it out, the rot within the system gets exposed, and the humor gets created.In most movies, the music that is used – it is used to tell the audience how the movie makers want the audience to feel about the things that are being said, about the things that are going on, about how the characters must feel. The dialog tells viewers what the the characters Think; the music tells viewers what the movie makers want the characters, and the viewers, to feel about that. It is, in most movies, as if the dialog and the actors need some extra help emoting, so the director calls in the composer to help out. "Now you know how you are supposed to feel about this, audience." This is NOT how the music is used in Divorzio all'italiana. I am not sure I can explain what the music does in Divorzio all'italiana, what it does differently – but the music does something different, and wonderful. I don't think I have ever seen another movie where I enjoyed the music so much, or where it supported the movie and "belonged" to the movie so well. Just another one of the little details that contribute to Divorzio all'italiana being a masterpiece. By the way, for most of the dialog, I needed a translation, but not for the title. I find it hard to believe that there are any speakers of English who couldn't figure out the meaning of "Divorzio all'italiana" without a translation.
petra_ste
I love this movie. It's one of those masterpieces in which everything - direction, acting, script, music - is so flawless, the result is almost miraculous. This wickedly funny gem by Pietro Germi is one of the greatest Italian comedies, and also a biting satire.Sicilian baron Fernando Cefalù (Mastroianni, exceptional) falls in love with Angela (Stefania Sandrelli). To marry her, Fernando needs to get rid of his annoying wife Rosalia (Daniela Rocca), so he manipulates his spouse into betraying him with Carmelo (Leopoldo Trieste); according to the old Italian penal code, any husband who killed an adulterous wife would get a mere three years sentence.Mastroianni carries the movie with a note-perfect performance as the baron, a deadpan, amoral man with an utterly phoney sense of honor. Pirandello would have loved this two-faced character. Supporting actors are wonderful too, from Daniela Rocca as the archetypal obnoxious wife to Leopoldo Trieste as her awkward lover, from young Stefania Sandrelli to minor players in small roles (like the pompous lawyer or the mob boss).The Academy Award-winning script has an hilariously cynical streak. The soundtrack is genius and used in an unforgettable way - who can forget the sardonic march as Cefalù struts around the town while everybody whispers behind his back?10/10
Cristi_Ciopron
Divorzio all'Italiana (1961)is the story of a man's gradual decline,the Sicilian Baron Cefalú who,disgusted with his wife (Daniela Rocca) and her advances,aims at a very young woman's charms,and he finds her in his own household.To be with her,the fretted Baron has to get rid of his boring wife.So,the movie is in the "how to kill your ..." scheme.Good-looking,sly,randy,lithe, almost young,Marcello Mastroianni wants to escape from his marriage's mire;his smoldering passion for the graceful Stefania Sandrelli (here,a teenager) breaks out,after a series of fortuitous encounters with the child:he runs into her in the street, on the beach,in the church.The girl's secret diary confesses that the erotic feelings are mutual.The film records this crescendo,the multiple factors that compete to bring the two hearts together.But Stefania Sandrelli's grumpy father has no respect for privacy,and reads her diary ....Marcello Mastroianni's role as Cefalú is brilliant,staggering, astonishing, much above the sarcastic,shameless story.In his bright 30s and 40s,Marcello Mastroianni,here 37 years old,and one year after The Sweet Life,made several sex comedies (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow ; Matrimonio all'Italiana ,1964;Oggi, Domani, Dopodomani ,1965;L'Uomo Dei Cinque Palloni,1965;Casanova '70,1965;A Slightly Pregnant Man,etc.), giving constantly radiant and wonderfully inspired performances that are among cinema's gems.One can not speak about Marcello Mastroianni otherwise than with infinite respect.He belongs to the rank of the greatest film actors ever,on a par with Pierre Fresnay,Louis Jouvet,Michel Simon,Simone Signoret, Jeanne Moreau,Gérard Depardieu,Erich Von Stroheim ,James Cagney.Now,one word about my favorite actress,Stefania Sandrelli.I admire her since I was 18 years old.Her stunning role as Angela is one of the two definitive expressions of her sexuality (the other being Teresa Rolfe in La Chiave, 1983). Divorce, Italian Style is the sheer definition of the level of showmanship that even the popular Italian cinema reached in the '60s.It evokes the Meridional communal existence ,the family life of a Sicilian baron,and his retreats counterpoise his family life (wife,sister,genitors,etc.).The strength of this brutal and gruesome sex comedy is its low-brow self assurance.Yet,it has a finesse,a cynicism that do not recommend it to the adolescence's mind;it is simultaneously brutal and of a certain fineness,it demands,to be enjoyed,interest for life.The music is languorous and desirous in the first half,and funeral in the second.In Divorzio all'Italiana (1961),the nudity,that is Stefania Sandrelli's ,skimps to a naked spotless shoulder,and her body is more bright,tender and luminous than ever.The erotic run in this movie,the sex race,is symmetrical to the one to be found in another famous Italian sex comedy,Malèna (2000).The barrister is the same,his pleading ,his declamation arise from the same chasm of ridicule.The provincial society is,also,the very same."Divorzio ..." is a more cynical,derisive, biting satire,Pietro Germi is a more brutal and corrosive satirist than Giuseppe Tornatore, and less indignant.Having already done remarkable ,defining roles in The Night ,The Sweet Life ,White Nights ,Chronicle of Poor Lovers,Marcello Mastroianni's role in "Divorzio ..." is a fashioned,vigorous,resourceful and vivid expression of his charm and intelligence.He is drowsy,sagging,bored,he becomes tetchy and devilish,then bewildered,then blasé.At first,he seems an almost entitled,in his exasperation,gentleman,but then,he comes out as a dullard,a rather disgusting profligate,a wanton dolt. Gradually,the philanderer Cefalú looses our sympathy.On its level,this vulgar and lively,fast paced comedy is somehow flawless.But its real value comes from the quality of its two leads. The entire cast is deserving and skilled (Daniela Rocca,Margherita Girelli,Leopoldo Trieste ...),but Marcello Mastroianni and Stefania Sandrelli are,here,at their energies' peak;an early one,for Stefania Sandrelli.I remember Mastroianni dreaming of transforming his wife into soap,or of sending her in space as a laughing Gagarin.Quite fallow jokes,but Marcello Mastroianni gives them force.Daniela Rocca had a short career,only a few movies in the '50s and '60s.Pietro Germi made several interesting movies,the last one is from 1972; he died in 1974.
