Turfseer I couldn't remember if I had seen 'Marriage Italian Style' years ago so I decided to take a look at it, now far into my middle age. I was expecting a sophisticated comedy since after all, the director was the famed Vittorio De Sica. Unfortunately, I must confess that I was disappointed. Not that the acting was so bad—after all, superstars such as Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni usually never proffer up performances to sneeze at. Nonetheless, it was obvious from the start, that De Sica was working from a script that is now woefully dated.'Marriage Italian Style' begins in the present time when the movie was made (early 60s). Loren plays Filumena Marturano who is pretending to be grievously ill, in one last desperate attempt to trick Domenico Soriano (Mastrioianni) into marrying her. We then flashback to when the couple met, (which was during World War II) when Filumena was working as a prostitute in a brothel and Domenico, a successful businessmen, begins a relationship with her. The comedy is supposed to stem from Domenico's awkward attempts to hide his infidelity from Filumena but she's always one step ahead of him.Eventually Domenico 'ups' his commitment to her by offering to take her into his home as an unofficial mistress. At first, Filumena appears honored since his mother lives there and she plans on establishing a good rapport with the mother, in order to solidify her relationship with Domenico. The relationship with the mother immediately becomes a burden when it becomes clear that the mother is hopelessly senile!After Filumena's charade is exposed, she has one last card to play: she reveals that she has three children and one of them is fathered by Domenico. Now the comic plot shifts as Domenico keeps trying to figure out who is the son. After he basically kicks Filumena out of his home and plans never to see her again, he eventually has a change of heart, realizing the error of his ways in trying to favor one child over the two others.One wonders why Filumena is drawn back to the cad Domenico due to the way in which he has mistreated through the years. The answer of course is that Filumena is a) pretty much emotionally dependent on him despite the bad treatment, b) financially dependent and c) lacking in self- esteem to walk away.The sudden change of heart by Domenico, to go back to Filumena and accept the three children as his own, seems unlikely, given his years of philandering. Nonetheless, a la Hollywood, the happy ending appears pre-ordained.Even though you might expect a film such as this which features such big stars, to be an instant classic, even the best directors can do little, if they're saddled with a weak script!

gregorybmowery Forget Hepburn and Tracy. This is one of cinema's finest romantic duos ever. I've seen MARRIAGE Italian STYLE many, many times and I never get tired of its richness and complexity. I don't think of it as romantic at all. Domenico is quite the bastard. He cheats on Filumena, barely hiding his entitlement as a wealthy and spoiled Neopolitan man about town. He manipulates Filumena cruelly, turning her into his poorly paid bakery manager, housekeeper, and surrogate wife, abandoning her for the pleasures of out-of-town conquests, staying away for months at a time. He won't acknowledge her existence to his mother--god forbid. All the classic elements of the Italian male ego are in display and Mastroiani captures them all superbly. He also is a subtle and masterful comic and his exasperation with Filumena whenever he doesn't get his way is as funny as it is obvious. But it Sophia Loren at the peak of her physical and acting powers who is the center of his wonderful film. Filumena is tragically in love with Domenico and no matter how much he humiliates her, she cannot be free of him. Most women would have given up, not Filumena. And when Domenco is caught with the cashier of one of his cafés, Filumena devises a plan to trap him into marriage. The plan, executed with precision and the considerable personality of her household staff is a failure, but not before Filumena reveals that has three sons, which she has kept from him. Refusing to tell Domenico which of the young men is his son, Filumena eventually guarantees that he will remain with her for good. At the same time, he also realizes his days as a lady's man are numbered. He cannot completely give up the woman who has loved him unconditionally for twenty two years. Will their future be happily assured? I think Vittorio De Sica brilliantly leaves you wondering. MARRIAGE Italian STYLE is a classic--a brilliant observation of a relationship between strong and willful people. Filumena's selfless devotion to Domenico is fun to watch, but it's even more fun when she explodes, matching her conniving lover negotiation for negotiation. Unlike many beautiful leading ladies, Loren is not afraid to deglamorize her utter gorgeousness in search of character. It's more than an Oscar-worthy performance. De Sica perfectly captures the quirks of the household staff--you never are in doubt about who's side they are on, the sharply telling personality of Domenico's whiny, dying mama, and the three boys are all perfectly cast. Mastroiani is superb. But it is Loren's film and you can't take your eyes off of her. The famous walk as every man's eyes turn on her magnificence, is riveting. Very few women have so gracefully projected sexiness as she does here. I'm sure I'l watch it ten more times!

lasttimeisaw The film employs a tremendously perky rhythm and register to showcase the traits of the earthly Italy at its post-war development, even though essentially the overwrought kernel of a prostitute's tribulations could hardly appropriate as a comedy material. Vittorio De Sica's camera enigmatically haunts and pivots around two leads' present and past, the intangible love/hate chaos is disarmingly intriguing and subconsciously imbues the audience with a fervent compassion towards Sophia Loren's unswerving while passionate Filumena. The leading performance is worth of much accolade, especially for Sophia Loren, whose full-brown force of personality spanning over 20 years in the film and indisputably devotes a magnificent performance with all her zest and vigor. Marcello Mastroianni, is great as well, to hone up his versatility and render the womanizer an ambiguous moral criterion which is a more delicate task. I cannot help being fascinated by the exquisite script as well, credited by five names, no wonder all the twists and turns are so fruitful in a way that both surprising and amusing. Nominated for 2 Oscars (BEST FOREIGN FILM and a second BEST ACTRESS nomination for Loren) and is a milestone which not only represents Loren's heyday but also is a comforting fruition of Loren-Conti correlation. Maybe it is not director De Sica's best canon due to its slight superficiality of machismo, which I sense may not be the director's fault as it is a general bias lies in all over the globe. Anyway, the film itself surely is a fine piece captures a genuine Italian aura (the Naples' style) and definitely worth your pocket.

psbarlo-1 While it is hard to dispute her win for "Two Women", even if I would have voted for Natalie Wood, it seems odd that her superior performance in this movie was not the film that she won for. Throughout the movie she is funny, heartbreaking, meek, authoritative, and incredibly sexy. I would say that there was much more of a character arc here than her pathos and tear performance in "Two Women". Oddly enough she lost the award for "Marriage Italian Style" to Julie Andrews for of all things "Mary Poppins". It was a good performance, but Mary Poppins???The soundtrack is a tad over done at time and my DVD did not have subtitles which had watching this movie difficult.