''Divorce Italian Style'' ( it, Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Italian

dark comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

film directed by

Pietro Germi Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the neorealist and commedia all'Italiana genres. His 1961 film '' Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a ...

. The screenplay is by Germi, Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti, and

Agenore Incrocci Agenore Incrocci (4 July 1919 – 15 November 2005), best known as Age, was an Italian screenwriter, considered one of the fathers of the ''commedia all'italiana'' as one of the two members of the duo Age & Scarpelli, together with Furio Scarpel ...

, based on Giovanni Arpino's novel '' Un delitto d'onore'' (''Honour Killing''). It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli,

Lando Buzzanca Gerlando "Lando" Buzzanca (24 August 1935 – 18 December 2022) was an Italian stage, film, and television actor whose career spanned 65 years. Life and career Early years Born in Palermo the son of a cinema projectionist, at 16 years old Buz ...

, and

Leopoldo Trieste Leopoldo Trieste (3 May 1917 – 25 January 2003) was an Italian actor, film director and script writer. Trieste was born in Reggio Calabria. He worked with directors such as Pietro Germi, Francis Ford Coppola, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Bava, T ...

. The movie won the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen; Mastroianni was nominated for

Best Actor in a Leading Role Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation ...

and Germi for Best Director.

Plot

Ferdinando Cefalù ( Marcello Mastroianni), a 37-year-old impoverished Sicilian nobleman, is married to Rosalia ( Daniela Rocca), a devoted wife he no longer loves. He is in love with his cousin Angela ( Stefania Sandrelli), a 16-year-old girl he sees only during the summer because her family sends her away to Catholic school in the city. Besides his wife, he shares his life with his elderly parents, his sister, and her fiancé, a funeral director; the family share their once stately palace with his uncles, who are slowly but surely eating away the remainders of their once rich estate. Aware that divorce is illegal, Ferdinando fantasizes about doing away with his

wife A wife ( : wives) is a female in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until the marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgement. On the death of her partner, a wife is referred to as ...

, such as by throwing her into a boiling

cauldron A cauldron (or caldron) is a large pot ( kettle) for cooking or boiling over an open fire, with a lid and frequently with an arc-shaped hanger and/or integral handles or feet. There is a rich history of cauldron lore in religion, mythology, and ...

, sending her into

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually con ...

in a rocket, or drowning her in quicksand. After a chance encounter with Angela during a family trip, he discovers that she shares his feelings. Inspired by a local story of a woman who killed her husband in a rage of

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust ...

, he resolves to lead his wife into having an affair so that he can catch her ''

in flagrante delicto ''In flagrante delicto'' (Latin for "in blazing offence") or sometimes simply ''in flagrante'' ("in blazing") is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence (compare ). The colloquial "caught ...

'', murder her, and receive a light sentence for committing an honour killing. He first needs to find a suitable lover for his wife, whom he finds in the local priest's

godson In infant baptism and denominations of Christianity, a godparent (also known as a sponsor, or '' gossiprede'') is someone who bears witness to a child's christening and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelo ...

, Carmelo Patanè (

), a painter who has had feelings for Rosalia for years and was for a time presumed killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He also procures the State Prosecutor's friendship with a small favor. The final stage of his plan is to arrange for Carmelo's constant presence in his house, which he achieves by feigning interest in having his palace frescoes restored. But Carmelo is timid with Rosalia, and she is initially committed to conjugal fidelity. Ferdinando tapes their private conversations and has to ward off the maid Sisina's infatuation with Carmelo. After Carmelo makes a pass at Sisina, she tells the priest, Carmelo's godfather, at confession, who informs her that Carmelo is married with three children, information she relays to Ferdinando. Rosalia and Carmelo finally give in to their passion but the tape of their conversation runs out just as they are arranging their next meeting. All Ferdinando knows is that it will take place the next evening. Rosalia feigns a headache and remains home while the rest of the family goes to the cinema to see the local première of ''

La Dolce Vita ''La Dolce Vita'' (; Italian for "the sweet life" or "the good life"Kezich, 203) is a 1960 satirical comedy-drama film directed and co-written (with Ennio Flaiano, Tullio Pinelli and Brunello Rondi) by Federico Fellini. The film stars Mar ...

'', a film so scandalous that no one wants to miss it. Ferdinando sneaks out of the theatre and returns home, arriving just in time to see Rosalia leaving for the train station. He retrieves his gun to kill her, but arrives at the station just after their train departs. He revisits his plan and the Criminal Code. It defines a crime of passion as executed in the heat of the moment or in defense of one's honor, so he embraces the role of a

cuckold A cuckold is the husband of an adulterous wife; the wife of an adulterous husband is a cuckquean. In biology, a cuckold is a male who unwittingly invests parental effort in juveniles who are not genetically his offspring. A husband who is a ...

. All along, Angela has been writing Ferdinando to assure him of her undying love for him. Her last letter is misdelivered to her father, who dies of a heart attack upon reading it. At the funeral, Ferdinando is approached by Mrs. Patanè, who demands to know what he will do about their situation. After he responds noncommittally, she spits in his face in front of the entire town, which gives him what he needs: an open insult to the family's honor due to his wife's elopement. The local

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of ...

boss offers to find the lovers within 24 hours, which he does. As Ferdinando goes to the lovers' hideout, he hears Mrs. Patanè kill Carmelo. He follows suit and kills Rosalia. At his trial he is defended by the State Prosecutor, who blames the whole thing on Ferdinando's father and his lack of love when raising him as a boy. He spends no more than three years in prison and returns home to find Angela waiting for him. In the film's epilogue, Ferdinando and Angela are happily sailing at sea. As they kiss, the camera pans down, revealing Angela seductively rubbing her feet against those of the workman piloting the boat.

Cast

* Marcello Mastroianni as Ferdinando Cefalù * Daniela Rocca as Rosalia Cefalù * Stefania Sandrelli as Angela *

as Carmelo Patanè *

Odoardo Spadaro Odoardo Eugenio Giano Spadaro (16 January 1893 - 26 June 1965) was an Italian singer-songwriter and actor. Early life Spadaro was born in the quartiere of Santo Spirito in Florence, to Gustavo Spadaro and Mary Marchesini. Career He debuted o ...

as Don Gaetano Cefalù * Margherita Girelli as Sisina * Angela Cardile as Agnese *

as Rosario Mulè * Pietro Tordi as Attorney De Marzi * Ugo Torrente as Don Calogero *

Antonio Acqua Antonio Acqua (5 November 1893 - 18 October 1966) was an Italian actor of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Born in Rome, Acqua was mainly active on stage and in films as a character actor, specialized in roles of lawyers, military officers, politi ...

as Priest * Bianca Castagnetta as Donna Matilde Cefalù * Giovanni Fassiolo * Ignazio Roberto Daidone * Francesco Nicastro

Release

''Divorce Italian Style'' was released in Rome in December 1961.

Reception

When the film was released in the United States, it earned

theatrical rental A box office or ticket office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a wicket. By extension, the term is fre ...

s of $803,666 in 1962 and a further $1,449,347 in 1963 for a total of $2,252,013 in the United States and Canada and was still in release in 1964.

Awards and nominations

Adaptations

In 2008 Giorgio Battistelli adapted ''Divorce Italian Style'' into an opera, ''Divorce à l'Italienne'', which premiered by the Opéra national de Lorraine on September 30 of that year with tenor Wolfgang Ablinger Sperrhacke in Mastroianni's role. Battistelli chose to set every female role except Angela for low male voice; sang the role of Rosalia.

References

External links

* * *
''Divorce Italian Style: The Facts (and Fancies) of Murder''
an essay by

Stuart Klawans Stuart Klawans has been the film critic for ''The Nation'' since 1988. He also writes a column on the visual arts for ''The New York Daily News''. Education He obtained his degree from Yale University. Awards and honors He won the 2007 National M ...

at the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home video, home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scho ...

{{Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film 1961 films 1961 comedy films Italian comedy films 1960s Italian-language films Italian satirical films Italian black-and-white films Commedia all'italiana Films about divorce Films about honor killing Films set in Sicily Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films whose writer won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award Films directed by Pietro Germi Films scored by Carlo Rustichelli Films adapted into operas 1960s Italian films