Marriage Italian Style (De Sica, 1964): BFI Southbank, NFT1, 8.50pm
This 4K screening (also being shown on August 22nd) is part of the Sophia Loren season at BFI Southbank. Full details here.
Time Out review:
So-FEE-uh and Mar-CHELL-oh! That was surely the major draw for
audiences who flocked to Vittorio De Sica's frivolous, Oscar-nominated
dramedy---which examines the tempestuous relationship between prostitute
Filumena Marturano (Sophia Loren, radiant even sans makeup) and playboy
Domenico Soriano (Marclello Mastroianni, delightful as a slick-haired rake)---and
it's the only reason to see it now. Not that there's anything wrong with
that: Star power can make up for a lot, and these two burn extra
bright. The opening's a grabber, as Filumena, seemingly at death's door,
is carried to her bed by a crowd of neighbors while the self-involved
Domenico, busy trying on hats, is called to her side. Cue a pair of
lengthy flashbacks---one from each character's perspective---that trace
the duo's decades-spanning love-hate affair. History rolls along
("Eisenhower elected U.S. President!," screams a newspaper
headline---must be 1952) while Filumena and Domenico deal with ebbing
and flowing attractions, illegitimate children and a fraudulent wedding.
Then the wet-eyed stuff comes: sacrifices, reconciliations and a
marriage (in da style of de Italianos) for real this time. De Sica is no
stranger to jerking one's tear ducts, but the central duo here doesn't
have anything approaching the emotional resonance of, say, a pair of
bicycle thieves or an old man and his dog living on the street. Yet we
still get Loren and Mastroianni. So why complain too churlishly?
Keith Uhlich
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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