I had enjoyed Mario Monicelli's BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (1958) and THE GREAT WAR (1959) immensely. ROMANZO POPOLARE (or come and meet my wife) is not in the same league as those two classics.
An ageing factory worker (ugo tognazzi) seduces his teenage goddaughter (the gorgeous and sizzling ornela mutti) and marries her. the film begins medias res with the two of them already married. They live in a working class tenement. Ugo is an active communist and when one of his comrades injures a young handsome policeman during a demonstration, Ugo does the decent thing and invites him over for cards. The policeman moves in on the feisty Mutti when Ugo is away to attend a funeral.
The film is a comedy that never really takes off. It depends too much on the two main actors - both Ugo and Mutti are fantastic. Mutti was such a hot young woman. She plays working class italian women really well. She is as intense and convincing as she was in Damiano Damiani's THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WIFE. But there isn't much in the script. There are'nt too many memorable scenes, I watched the whole thing only because of the two charming leads. And despite it being a sex comedy, I was given only a few glimpses of Mutti's nude body.
I enjoyed some of the gimmicks like the freeze frames where the characters pause to reflect on their life situation. The film does capture a changing society that allows more freedom, choice and social mobility for women. Mutti's character rejects both her husband and her boyfriend in the end to work and support her kid on her own. It celebrates female sexuality in a way that might offend feminists of today - the handsome policeman kisses, gropes and jumps on Mutti many times before she makes love to him (after protesting first). There is even a song that goes "I'm a woman, not a saint."
The rambunctious pippo starnazza who plays ugo's neighbor and comrade was quite amusing. The poppy background score was quite catchy.
(6/10
An ageing factory worker (ugo tognazzi) seduces his teenage goddaughter (the gorgeous and sizzling ornela mutti) and marries her. the film begins medias res with the two of them already married. They live in a working class tenement. Ugo is an active communist and when one of his comrades injures a young handsome policeman during a demonstration, Ugo does the decent thing and invites him over for cards. The policeman moves in on the feisty Mutti when Ugo is away to attend a funeral.
The film is a comedy that never really takes off. It depends too much on the two main actors - both Ugo and Mutti are fantastic. Mutti was such a hot young woman. She plays working class italian women really well. She is as intense and convincing as she was in Damiano Damiani's THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WIFE. But there isn't much in the script. There are'nt too many memorable scenes, I watched the whole thing only because of the two charming leads. And despite it being a sex comedy, I was given only a few glimpses of Mutti's nude body.
I enjoyed some of the gimmicks like the freeze frames where the characters pause to reflect on their life situation. The film does capture a changing society that allows more freedom, choice and social mobility for women. Mutti's character rejects both her husband and her boyfriend in the end to work and support her kid on her own. It celebrates female sexuality in a way that might offend feminists of today - the handsome policeman kisses, gropes and jumps on Mutti many times before she makes love to him (after protesting first). There is even a song that goes "I'm a woman, not a saint."
The rambunctious pippo starnazza who plays ugo's neighbor and comrade was quite amusing. The poppy background score was quite catchy.
(6/10