Divorce Italian Style (1961)

This classic Italian film is a comedy that tells the story of Ferdinando Cefalu who is unhappily married for 15 years, but he falls in love with his wife's niece, and he starts a plan to end his marriage and not be criticized by the old and classy Italian society. In the meantime, in order to complete his plan many things happened including funny moments and some dramatic moments. The movie seems to have been very well directed and very well acted and gives us a little hint about the behavior of the Sicilian society. In order to do his plan, Ferdinando chooses a crazy idea, and takes a long time to plan and detail his plan perfectly having a lot of funny interruptions during the process of his plan. Its refreshing to find movies with good sense of humor, and no use of vulgarities or bad language to make the viewers laugh. I really enjoyed it, and i deeply recommend watching it.

Fmovies: It's really a masterpiece but Daniela Rocca is not at all ugly, like another guy wrote, watch her well in the movie. And, she's a great actress. I would have liked to start with Marcello or Stefania, who are more beautiful than ever and do some extraordinary roles. There are no words to express how wonderful they are. Margherita Girelli is really delicious in the role of Sisina. And Angela Cardile, gorgeous in the role of Agnese. Leopoldo Trieste, Lando Buzzanca and everyone else, are not at all inferior. Germi's direction is brilliant. The story is more than captivating. Carlo Rustichelli's music is tremendous. A film worth seeing at any time, is one of the absolute masterpieces of the 7th art. Me, I've seen it so many times that I do not know exactly how many...

DIVORCE Italian STYLE is one of the funniest films I've ever seen on the subject of how to dissolve a marriage--Italian style, of course. Seems those Italians have a way of forgiving murder if the spouse has cheated and is found in the act--which must give rise to some pretty unsavory stories in real life as well as here.

But however unpleasant the subject matter may seem, this is the merriest romp of a comedy I've come across in a long time. It's so artful in the way it gets inside the mind of the impoverished aristocrat (MARCELLO MASTROIANNI) living in palatial ruins in Sicily and desperately devising a way to get rid of his boring wife. He devises a plan that goes awry when "La Dolce Vita" comes to town and, with all the men in the village attending it, his wife takes that opportunity to run off with her lover.

It's a masterful job that Mastroianni does here, giving little signs of distress with a twitch of his mustache, a frown, a concentrated gaze--in other words, bewitched, bothered and bewildered as he contemplates how to go about getting rid of his freedom so he can pursue a young girl he's enamored of. All the events leading up to the final act are hilariously Italiano in style--those little devils knew how to take advantage of the judicial system.

Summing up: A sheer delight from beginning to end, thanks to a masterful job by Marcello Mastroianni in his Oscar-nominated role.

Divorce Italian Style fmovies. In my lifetime I have seen about ten to twenty films with Marcello Mastroianni in them, including two made before he made "Divorce Italian Style", but for me the film that imprinted himself to American film audiences was this one. His Baron Ferdinando Cefalo is one of the cleverest homicidal figures in movies, and yet one of the most bumbling. One can say he succeeds despite himself.

Set in Sicily, then as now the poorest area of Italy and one of the most backward, the film shows how the Baron is bored by his present wife Rosalia (Daniela Rocca), a good woman but somewhat overwhelming in her unwanted affection. Rosalia is not unattractive (in a lightly heavy manner), but she is certainly not currently able to get more than a mild interest in her husband in whatever she is doing. The Baron is quite interested in his young female cousin Angela (Stefania Andrelli), a vibrant and young woman who is about to go to convent school. Baron Ferdinando would love to marry Angela, but how to get rid of Rosalia? Divorce (as Americans know it) is not liked in Catholic countries, particularly in the most backward sections of them. But the laws of the day in Italy (say about 1955 or so) have a crazy version of the so-called "unwritten law" regarding shooting adulterers...except the Italian version allows for the shooting of the guilty spouse by his or her wronged spouse, and the granting of a relatively light sentence (believe it or not three years!).

The problem is that the killer must catch the adulterous pair in their act of guilty passion when they are doing it. And there must be sufficient emotional pressure on the perpetrator to justify a case of sudden homicidal impact. Baron Ferdinando has to orchestrate out of artificial methods the exact situation to enable him to legally kill Rosalia. He presses ahead, and his society is shown for all it's secrets and backwardness.

First, he studies up on the law and recent cases, even checking out the grand Italian lawyer with his flowery oratory style who he will use (later on we hear the lawyer's possible future speech describing some of the actions of the Baron as he pursues his dream). Then he has to find a good patsy - who is the other man? Here he finds this fellow is gay, that one is happily married, that one (in the choir) has...well a physical problem. Finally he selects an old friend of Rosalia, a painter from Messena named Carmelo Patane (Leopoldo Trieste). The Baron gives Carmelo a restoration job in his villa (I'm kind when I call his ramshackle home that), and then makes sure that Rosalia and Carmelo are left by themselves a lot.

In his way he tries to be modern in this 18th Century atmosphere. He tape records the private conversations of Rosalia and Carmelo to see if they have finally broken down to commit their adultery. This is far more tedious than he hoped, as Rosalia tries to maintain her loyalty to his husband, and Carmelo keeps a major secret from Rosalia. As they break down there is also the problems of the love-sick maid who Carmelo is also attracted to. And as each problem arises we watch the Baron try to figure out how to overcome them.

When the crisis arises finally we see the locals at their worst, with the men laughing at the Baron's being cuckolded, but everyone freezing out him and his family because his reaction is to take to his bed. But he is only waiting for the right moment to avenge his honor. When will it occur, or will it ever occur?

Italian cinema had been part of the interna

Baron Ferdinando Cefalu is very much in love with his cousin, Angela, and wishes to marry her. The only problem? He's already married. Since divorce is outlawed the Baron decides to get rid of his wife with a lesser crime: murder. "Divorce, Italian Style" is a pitch black satire of a chauvinist society and Italy's hypocritical judicial system.

Marcello Mastroianni, best known for his starring role in 8 1/2, is delightfully woeful and sarcastic as Baron Cefalu. His expressions and his nervous tics provide several good chuckles. Daniela Rocca is perfectly annoying as Baroness Cefalu, making it quite easy to take delight in her husband's murderous fantasies. Stefania Sandrelli is quite good as Angela. Her scenes with Mastroianni are especially passionate and, since this was one of Sandrelli's earliest films, they show a real talent in the making.

While I did laugh at "Divorce, Italian Style" (as well as that amazing Criterion cover art), don't expect a straight up comedy. It does make a serious point about the failings of Italy's judicial system. I will also admit that watching Baroness Cefalu drown in quicksand was an unpleasant sight, and not funny at all. Watching her get blasted into space = side-splitting laughter. Watching her drown in quicksand = uncomfortable.

However, don't be detered from this film. If you've never seen any of Mastroianni's films this is the one to start with.

Definitely a classic film, but not just an Italian classic! "Divorzio all'italiana" centers itself around Ferdinando Cefalù (Mastroianni), a 37 year old baron in a small town. Although he's a baron, his life is not completely perfect as his father has squandered much of their money, and his extremely clingy wife Rosalia stands between him and the only thing he loves, his 16 year old cousin Angela. To add salt to the wound, 1960's Italy does not allow couples to divorce, which leads Ferdinando to seek desperate measures. After a town scandal erupts, when a woman murders her cheating husband to protect her honor, Ferdinando is inspired to set up his wife with a lover in order to kill her and "protect his honor." The rest of the movie chronicles Ferdinando's attempts to find someone who would fit the bill.

"Divorzio all'italiana" is a satirical look at Italian society and its seemingly backward laws which force people to do stupid things and its fallibility at justice. In its social commentary of Italian laws/society, Concini, Germi, and Giannetti (the writers) create well fitted, stereotypical characters that are much needed in order for the message of the film to get across. Ferdinando plays the evil nobleman, Rosalia as the annoying wife, Angela as the desirable secret teen lover, etc. The beauty of the story not only lies in it's scathingly funny humor, with Ferdinando's clever plotting and hallucinations of killing his wife, but also in its ability to transcend time. Nowadays there are no laws that forbid divorce in most societies, but even though that crucial point does not relate to modern audiences, the film is still able to conjure emotions for the characters' plight. Another great thing about the film, is the idea of a protagonist character with typically antagonist characteristics. Ferdinando is definitely a bad man, but the story plays with the audience in making them want Ferdinando to succeed in his plot. To add to the underlying theme of the film, the failure of Italian laws, is the theme of "justice" whether it be from the law or from a simple reversal of fate. Definitely watch the film up to the very end, as it closes with an ironic yet justified twist of fate for the characters involved.