"Divorce - Italian Style," released as the 286th addition to the Criterion Collection, is a film that is heavy on theme but doesn't preach to you. It's a film that is stylized but never calls attention to itself. Most importantly, it's a film that screams "classic" without so much as a subliminal whisper.
Marcello Mastroianni's Baron Fernando Cefalu is a man known by all and watched by all, like any celebrity, with judgmental eyes. This is probably why he's stayed with his overbearing wife (Daniela Rocca) for fifteen years. But, as his age shows through his suave looks, he begins to question how much longer he can take it. In comes Angela (Stefania Sanderelli), his much younger cousin whose ever-so-slight passes at him force him to decide to either take a risk and pursue her or accept his current situation as a dedicated husband with a reputation to uphold. While he makes up his mind. . . he fantasizes about various ways to kill his wife, eventually finding one that's practically achievable and sets forth to make it a reality.
Don't worry if this infidelity plot sounds familiar to you because the film is perfectly aware of that, even being nearly 60-years old. Also don't be concerned if such low-stakes social dramas don't interest you. In fact, that would actually make you the perfect candidate for this particular film for it's a satire, a damned great one at that.
The usual complaint for the films, or harlequin romances, "Divorce" satirizes is that if the characters aren't developed that well, it's difficult to care whether the situation works out or not, especially if it involves a murderer for which it's hard enough to have sympathy for as it is. Director Pietro Germi and screenwriter Ennio De Concini set up the film in a deceptively simple way that avoids this conflict, effectively making you root for the Baron based on the situation alone-- it's even said that American audiences who saw this in its original release were laughing throughout without the assistance of subtitles because of this technique. The viewer merely needs to be introduced to the Baron as a man who can't get a wink of sleep in his own bed without telling his wife how much he loves her until she's satisfied, which is never. With that, the viewer is already thinking about their own escape plan, not realizing that the most painless strategy is murder. In a sense, the film makes you forget this too as its coying sense of humor distracts you from the horrible end task.
An example of this is, after the Baron finds out that he must set up the murder to look like a crime of passion (in order to get the shortest jail sentence), he attempts to find an unknowing participant to pin an affair with his wife to. This results in him looking to anyone and everyone, from subtly alluded-to homosexuals to a man who's already having his own affair with the Baron's housekeeper, each time resulting in hilarity.
It also helps that the actors are so perfectly cast here. Marcello Mastroianna is akin to the Italian Pepe le Pew, balancing his cartoonish good looks (of which he's in denial of in the film) with just enough sympathy to make his bastard character seem almost noble. To avoid commenting on what less-than-attractive physical traits Daniela Rocca brought to her character as the wife *cough* facial hair*cough*, let's just say this reviewer was convinced by her very funny performance that the Baron deserved to aim higher. Also, the supporting cast, with a special shout-out to the man who played Angela's father, absolutely nailed it as the archetypal Italian characters you would picture while listening to Adam Ferrara's stand-up comedy.
The DVD, while lacking a commentary track that would be perfect for a film of this short-but-sweet length, features a good set of special features and a pristine transfer one would expect from the folks at Criterion. There were a few distracting scratches on the corners of some of the frames, but it's doubtable this was avoidable considering the film's age, though it still looks quite beautiful today. Martin Scorcese and others contribute essays to a booklet that rivals the short interviews on the supplementary disc as well, complimented by cover art by comic artist Jaime Hernandez of Love & Rockets fame.
Overall, this film is a masterpiece of comedy in the tone of later successes like Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble With Harry" and should not be missed regardless of whether you enjoy simple black humor or are looking for answers to why many of today's similar comedies ("The Bounty Hunter") fail.
Marcello Mastroianni's Baron Fernando Cefalu is a man known by all and watched by all, like any celebrity, with judgmental eyes. This is probably why he's stayed with his overbearing wife (Daniela Rocca) for fifteen years. But, as his age shows through his suave looks, he begins to question how much longer he can take it. In comes Angela (Stefania Sanderelli), his much younger cousin whose ever-so-slight passes at him force him to decide to either take a risk and pursue her or accept his current situation as a dedicated husband with a reputation to uphold. While he makes up his mind. . . he fantasizes about various ways to kill his wife, eventually finding one that's practically achievable and sets forth to make it a reality.
Don't worry if this infidelity plot sounds familiar to you because the film is perfectly aware of that, even being nearly 60-years old. Also don't be concerned if such low-stakes social dramas don't interest you. In fact, that would actually make you the perfect candidate for this particular film for it's a satire, a damned great one at that.
The usual complaint for the films, or harlequin romances, "Divorce" satirizes is that if the characters aren't developed that well, it's difficult to care whether the situation works out or not, especially if it involves a murderer for which it's hard enough to have sympathy for as it is. Director Pietro Germi and screenwriter Ennio De Concini set up the film in a deceptively simple way that avoids this conflict, effectively making you root for the Baron based on the situation alone-- it's even said that American audiences who saw this in its original release were laughing throughout without the assistance of subtitles because of this technique. The viewer merely needs to be introduced to the Baron as a man who can't get a wink of sleep in his own bed without telling his wife how much he loves her until she's satisfied, which is never. With that, the viewer is already thinking about their own escape plan, not realizing that the most painless strategy is murder. In a sense, the film makes you forget this too as its coying sense of humor distracts you from the horrible end task.
An example of this is, after the Baron finds out that he must set up the murder to look like a crime of passion (in order to get the shortest jail sentence), he attempts to find an unknowing participant to pin an affair with his wife to. This results in him looking to anyone and everyone, from subtly alluded-to homosexuals to a man who's already having his own affair with the Baron's housekeeper, each time resulting in hilarity.
It also helps that the actors are so perfectly cast here. Marcello Mastroianna is akin to the Italian Pepe le Pew, balancing his cartoonish good looks (of which he's in denial of in the film) with just enough sympathy to make his bastard character seem almost noble. To avoid commenting on what less-than-attractive physical traits Daniela Rocca brought to her character as the wife *cough* facial hair*cough*, let's just say this reviewer was convinced by her very funny performance that the Baron deserved to aim higher. Also, the supporting cast, with a special shout-out to the man who played Angela's father, absolutely nailed it as the archetypal Italian characters you would picture while listening to Adam Ferrara's stand-up comedy.
The DVD, while lacking a commentary track that would be perfect for a film of this short-but-sweet length, features a good set of special features and a pristine transfer one would expect from the folks at Criterion. There were a few distracting scratches on the corners of some of the frames, but it's doubtable this was avoidable considering the film's age, though it still looks quite beautiful today. Martin Scorcese and others contribute essays to a booklet that rivals the short interviews on the supplementary disc as well, complimented by cover art by comic artist Jaime Hernandez of Love & Rockets fame.
Overall, this film is a masterpiece of comedy in the tone of later successes like Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble With Harry" and should not be missed regardless of whether you enjoy simple black humor or are looking for answers to why many of today's similar comedies ("The Bounty Hunter") fail.