Skip to main content

Pietro Germi: An Old World Comedy Genius Still Relevant Today

One of the masters of commedia all’Italiana, he had a talent for deconstructing complex behaviors while maintaining his sharp sense of humor.

Born in 1914 in northern Italy but with an affinity for the South, director Pietro Germi emerged as a leading filmmaker toward the end of the neorealist period and was instrumental in creating the commedia all’Italiana genre. What made his films unique was his ability to grapple with the social issues that were dominating Italy at the time, posing questions that needed to be asked, but in a way that was entertaining, clever, funny and visually beautiful.

The 1954 film Mid-Century Loves is a 52-minute gem that contains five short tales of love directed by Pietro Germi, Mario Chiari, Roberto Rossellini, Antonio Pietrangelo and Glauco Pellegrini. Each vignette is a decadent piece of cinematic perfection with richly detailed sets, regional music and spectacular cinematography. Germi’s segment, War 1915-18 follows the struggles of a young wife and soon-to-be mother whose husband is sent off to war. The segment begins as a draft announcement is posted in the town center and the town’s frustrated schoolmaster (Lauro Gazzolo) must read it to his distracted, illiterate students. Antonio (Albino Coco) is relieved to hear that his birth year has not been listed yet, so he decides to marry his love, Carmella (Maria Pia Casilio). Before long, she is pregnant and he is sent off to basic training. Carmella decides to pay him a surprise visit just before he is sent to the front line. When the war ends, she is waiting with her baby as the soldiers arrive home.

Marcello Mastroianni in Divorce Italian Style
“The serenades of the South. The sweet, warm, exhausting Sicilian nights. The whole time I’d been away. The memory of those nights or one particular night had filled my days with longing and nostalgia.” Those words flow through the mind of Ferdinando Cefalù (Marcello Mastroianni) as he gazes out the train window at the Sicilian countryside in the opening sequence of Germi’s 1961 comedy Divorce Italian Style. The film was among the first revelations of Germi’s ongoing love affair with the Sicilian culture.

Ferdinando is married to Rosalia (Daniela Rocca), a nagging but well-meaning wife who won’t leave him alone. In search of some peace and quiet, he falls in love with the mild-mannered and charming Angela (Stefania Sandrelli), his first cousin through marriage. His feelings for the young girl become all consuming, and he daydreams about ways to kill Rosalia so that he can be with Angela. Finally, inspired by a local murder trial in which the wife, a victim of adultery, shot her husband to save her family’s honor, he concocts a plan to find a man to seduce his wife so that he can do the same. He buys her a sexy black lace dress and takes her out on the town to see how the locals react. Indeed, she catches their attention, so the plan is set into motion. The film garnered three Oscar nominations, including Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Director. It was awarded an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It was the first of many collaborations between Germi and Sandrelli.

A Scene from Seduced and Abandoned

Germi teamed up again with the actress for Seduced and Abandoned, his follow-up masterpiece in the commedia all’italiana genre. The film opens with Agnese played by a gorgeous Sandrelli wearing a fitted black dress walking through the narrow streets of her Sicilian village. As she heads to confession, a Sicilian troubadour accompanied by a mandolin tells her story of giving in to lustful feelings for her sister’s fiancé, Peppino. Upon entering the confessional, she breaks down in tears, only to have the priest further shame her. Peppino announces that he doesn’t want to marry a girl who succumbs to temptation, even if it was with him, and flees. A chase ensues as the singing/narrator describes Agnese’s father’s determination to save the family’s honor. Peppino won’t budge, and the family lawyer comes up with a plan to shoot Peppino in a way that would be easily defended in court. The film won a whole slew of awards, including a David Di Donatello for Best Director.

Stefania Sandrelli and Dustin Hoffman in Alfredo, Alfredo
Another notable work is Germi’s 1972 film Alfredo, Alfredo. Dustin Hoffman is Alfredo Sbisà, a down-to-earth, shy guy who falls in love with the beautiful Maria Rosa (Sandrelli). The film begins with the couple meeting with a lawyer to finalize their divorce. As Alfredo contemplates the spell that Rosa had cast upon him, he tells their story through a flashback beginning on the fateful night they met. When Alfredo saw Maria Rosa, it was love at first sight and he is thrilled to learn the feeling is mutual. Little by little, Maria Rosa reveals her controlling, jealous tendencies, which Alfredo believes marriage will solve. But after the two are wed, life gets more chaotic and ultimately becomes unbearable. During a rare night out with his best friend, Alfredo meets Carolina (Carla Gravina), the polar opposite of Maria Rosa. They fall in love and suddenly Alfredo finds himself the leader of a movement to make divorce legal in Italy. Although the film is a comedy, the story is complex and tackles real-life issues of personality disorders and emotional abuse. It’s not a particularly well-known movie but an example of the masterful storytelling by Germi’s generation of iconic filmmakers. The film won a David Di Donatello for Best Film and scored Hoffman honorary citizenship in the town of Ascoli Piceno, located in the central region of Marche, where it was shot.

Germi passed away two years later in 1974 at the age of 60. In 2009, a documentary was made featuring his peers and collaborators. A treasure trove of old interviews, the film includes Claudia Cardinale, Mario Monicelli, Stefania Sandrelli and Carlo Verdone. Titled, Pietro Germi: The Man with the Cigar in His Mouth, it is available to stream at www.criterionchannel.com.

All of the above films are available stateside. Mid-Century Loves is available to stream on Amazon. Divorce Italian Style and Seduced and Abandoned are available to stream on the Criterion Channel. The DVD for Alfredo, Alfredo is available on Amazon. A low-quality version can be found here on YouTube. (Click on the titles for the links to see the films.)

 Seduced and Abandoned is also available to stream on Amazon..



- Written by Jeannine Guilyard for Fra Noi Magazine, August 2019 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Anthology Film Archives Presents: The Italian Connection: Poliziotteschi and Other Italo-Crime Films of the 1960s and '70's

June 19 – June 29 Influenced both by 1960s political cinema and Italian crime novels, as well as by French noir and American cop movies like "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection," many Italian filmmakers in the late-60s and early-70s gradually moved away from the spaghetti western genre, trading lone cowboys for ‘bad’ cops and the rough frontier of the American west for the mean streets of modern Italy. Just as they had with their westerns, they reinvented the borrowed genre with their inimitable eye for style and filled their stories with the kidnappings, heists, vigilante justice, and brutal violence that suffused this turbulent moment in post-boom 1970s Italy. The undercurrent of fatalism and cynicism in these uncompromising movies is eerily reminiscent of the state of discontent in Italy today. ‘The Italian Connection’ showcases the diversity and innovation found in the genre, from the gangster noir of Fernando Di Leo’s "Caliber 9" ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Timeless Talent of Stefania Sandrelli

On screen since the tender age of 14, she has captivated audiences for more than 50 years with a compelling combination of strength and vulnerability. She achieved stardom at just 14 years old playing the angelic cousin of a love-struck Marcello Mastroianni in Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style.” More than half a century later, she is still going strong and remains one of Italy’s most esteemed actors. Stefania Sandrelli was born on June 5, 1946, in Viareggio in the province of Lucca in northern Italy. As a child, she studied music and dance. Then in 1960, she won a beauty pageant and was featured on the cover of Le Ore magazine. Her purity captivated the country and shortly thereafter, movie offers began pouring in. Just one year later, she made her cinema debut in three feature films: Mario Sequi’s Gioventù di notte , Luciano Salce’s The Fascist, and Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style . She instantly became a star and before long was a key figure in Italy’s legend...
Post a Comment
Read more

Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait  “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann.  Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Riccardo Scamarcio Joins Cast of "John Wick 2"

Update to our original January 18 post.. - According to the Hollywood Reporter, the follow-up to John Wick has been given an official title — John Wick, Chapter 2 — and a release date from Lionsgate: Feb. 10, 2017. It's just been reported that Keanu Reeves is in Rome shooting his new film, "John Wick 2" with Italian actors Riccardo Scamarcio and Claudia Gerini . The film is an action-thriller and sequel to "John Wick". Shooting began last October in New York City. John Wick, played by Reeves, is a hitman that comes out of retirement to seek vengeance for the theft of his vintage car and the killing of his puppy, a gift from his recently deceased wife. The scenes being shot in Italy for the sequel reportedly take his career to the international level.  Riccardo Scamarcio One of Italy's most recognizable faces, Riccardo Scamarcio has built a solid career based on the diversity in the roles he chooses and the intensity with which he plays the...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Sweetness and Genius of Giulietta Masina

Fellini and Masina on the set of "La Strada" As open-hearted and sunny as Federico Fellini was dark and complex, they were perfect counterpoints during a half-century of marriage and professional collaboration.  Nicknamed a  “female Chaplin” and described by Chaplin himself as  the actress who moved him most,  Giulietta Masina confronted the tragedy of her characters with an eternal innocence and enthusiasm that gave Italians hope in the most challenging of times.  Born in 1921 in San Giorgio di Piano, a commune north of Bologna, Masina was the oldest of four children born to a father who was a music professor and violinist and a mother who was a grade-school teacher. Her parents sent her as a child to live in Rome with her widowed aunt while she attended school there. As Masina took an early interest in gymnastics, her aunt saw in her a passion for performing and encouraged her to pursue acting. So after high school, Masina attended Rome’s La...
Post a Comment
Read more