''Un caso di coscienza'' (Italian for ''A matter of conscience'') is a 1970

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

comedy-drama film written and directed by Giovanni Grimaldi. It is based on the

Leonardo Sciascia Leonardo Sciascia (; 8 January 1921 – 20 November 1989) was an Italian writer, novelist, essayist, playwright, and politician. Some of his works have been made into films, including '' Porte Aperte'' (1990; ''Open Doors''), ''Cadaveri Eccellent ...

's short story with the same name, which is part of the collection ''Il mare colore del vino''.

Plot

On the train home (fictitious town of Madda in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

) from one of his work trips in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Advocate Salvatore Vaccagnino (Lando Buzzanca) comes across the

women's magazine This is a list of women's magazines from around the world. These are magazines that have been published primarily for a readership of women. Currently published *'' 10 Magazine'' (UK - distributed worldwide) *''Al Jamila'' (Saudi Arabia) *'' All ...

''Lady Signora''. On the page ''Ask Father Lucchesini'' there is a letter about the moral dilemma of a married woman who has committed an act of

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and ri ...

in spite of loving her husband. Caught between the pain of guilt and the risks of confessing to her husband, she asks for Father Lucchesini's help. Due to the gravity of the situation, Father Lucchesini recommends her to stay silent till the next issue until he puts more thought into the matter. In order to put his peers in the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

club to shame, Vaccagnino reads them the letter concluding that all the married men in the council are potential cuckolds. A married man himself, Vaccagnino clears his name though by referring to a part in which the woman has given away that, from her house, she could often see her lover going to the bank, while the only thing that can be seen from Vaccagnino's is "the sea and nothing but the sea". Trying to mend their injured reputation, others tail the postman to discover the

subscribers The subscription business model is a business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners f ...

, but to their disappointment, the only ones are the public places of tailor shop and the

beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and medical spas. Beauty treatments Massage for the body is a ...

. After getting their hands on a copy of ''Lady Signora'' the men sit together to read the article, some take an oath that if the woman turns out to be their wives, they will do whatever it takes to regain their honor. However, the article begins with Father Lucchesini's apology for a

typo A typographical error (often shortened to typo), also called a misprint, is a mistake (such as a spelling mistake) made in the typing of printed (or electronic) material. Historically, this referred to mistakes in manual type-setting (typography) ...

that had happened in the previous issue because of which the word boat (''barca'') reads bank (''banca''), hence putting the burden on Vaccagnino's shoulders. Even though the other members of the club stand up for him by claiming that parts of the sea can be seen from their houses too, Vaccagnino's pride is broken. Salvatore gets home to confront his wife Rita (Antonella Lualdi), and ends up offering her his mercy if she would confess. But no matter how hard he begs, Rita insists on her innocence. It makes Salvatore to offer her his confession in exchange for hers. Though Rita does not agree with the idea, Salvatore goes ahead anyway and confesses that he has a mistress in Rome who is pregnant by him. But Rita tells him that it can not be his child as, contrary to what she had told her years ago when they visited a doctor, it is ''he'' who is infertile and not Rita. She confesses that she lied because she didn't want Salvatore's pride to be broken. She also tells him that she looks for nothing in return for her fidelity as it comes from nothing but the essence of her

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

. The next morning, when the club members are sitting with their wives in a café in the

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, Solfi (Raymond Pellegrin), one of the members of the council, whispers to his wife Sandra (Françoise Prévost) disapprovingly that writing to a magazine about her affair was not a good idea. Knowing about the affair the whole time and doing nothing enrages Sandra. The movie ends with her attacking Solfi and shouting in hysteria that she'd rather get perished by a man crazed by the

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 disgus ...

of love than live with a man who pretends to love her.

Cast

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 ...

as Salvatore Vaccagnino, a lawyer * Françoise Prévost as Sandra *

Raymond Pellegrin Raymond Pellegrin (1 January 1925 – 14 October 2007) was a French actor. Born in Nice, Pellegrin made his screen debut in the 1945 French feature '' Naïs''. He was also famous in France for dubbing Jean Marais for the voice of Fantômas ...

as Solfi *

Turi Ferro Salvatore "Turi" Ferro (10 January 1921 – 10 May 2001) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He is considered the most important actor in the Sicilian theatre post-World War II era. Life and career Born in Catania, Ferro laun ...

as a Judge *

Saro Urzì Rosario "Saro" Urzì (24 February 1913 – 1 November 1979) was an Italian actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' In the Name of the Law'' (1949), '' The Railroad Man'' (1956), '' Seduced and Abandoned'' (1964), which earned him ...

as a pharmacist *

Antonella Lualdi Antonella Lualdi ( gr, Αντονέλλα Λουάλντι, born Antonietta de Pascale; 6 July 1931) is an Italian actress and singer. She appeared in many Italian and French films in the 1950s and 1960s, notably in Claude Autant-Lara's film '' ...

as Rita Vaccagnino *

Nando Gazzolo Ferdinando "Nando" Gazzolo (16 October 1928 – 16 November 2015) was an Italian actor and voice actor. Biography Born in Savona, the son of the actor and voice actor Lauro Gazzolo and EIAR radio announcer Aida Ottaviani Piccolo, Gazzolo debuted ...

as Alfredo Serpieri *

Dagmar Lassander Dagmar Lassander (born as Dagmar Regine Hager on 16 June 1943) is a German actress. The character of Lassander Dagmar in the Italian-influenced 2015 horror film '' We Are Still Here'' is named after her. Early life and career She was born in ...

as Annalisa *

Helga Liné Helga Liné (; born Helga Lina Stern on 14 July 1932) is a German-born Portuguese-Spanish-American film actress and circus acrobat best known for her work in the horror genre of film. She made 132 appearances mostly in film between 1941 and ...

as Lola *

Paolo Carlini Paolo Carlini (6 January 1922 – 3 November 1979) was an Italian stage, television and film actor. He appeared in 45 films between 1940 and 1979. He is perhaps best-known to international audiences for his supporting role as the hairdresser ...

as Don Gualtiero * Michele Abruzzo as Baron Carmelo Favara *

Carletto Sposito Carlo Sposito (1 May 1924 – 9 September 1984) was an Italian character actor, sometimes credited as Carletto Sposito. Born in Palermo, he was among the most active actors in the post-war Italian genre cinema. He was also pretty active on st ...

as Benito Pozzi *

Aldo Puglisi Aldo Puglisi (born 12 April 1935) is an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Catania, the son of two Sicilian language theatrical actors, Puglisi made his stage debut at very young age with the company of his parents. He made his film debut ...

as Licasio, an accountant *

Franco Lantieri Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

as Gaetano *

Marcella Michelangeli Marcella Michelangeli (born 28 January 1943) is an Italian former actress and singer. Biography Born Marcella Gherardi in Uscio, Genoa, she won several beauty contests at a young age, including Miss Liguria. While a student at the School of Fi ...

as Gaetano's wife *

Aldo Bufi Landi Aldo Bufi Landi (7 April 1923 – 2 February 2016) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1947 and 2013. Selected filmography * '' Malaspina'' (1947) * '' Madunnella'' (1948) * '' Assunta Spina'' (1948) * ''L ...

as Dr. Giulio *

Gisèle Pascal Gisèle Pascal (17 September 1921 – 2 February 2007) was a French actress and a former lover of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. She was born Gisèle Marie Madeleine Tallone at Cannes, France. Her first movie role was in 1942's '' L'Arl� ...

as Giuseppina, Dr. Giulio's wife * Alfredo Rizzo as the Club president *

Elio Zamuto Elio Zamuto (born 1 May 1941 in Syracuse) is an Italian actor and voice actor. Life and career Born in Syracuse as Elio Mazzamuto, Zamuto started his career in the mid-1960s, and had a prolific career between television and cinema, especially ...

as Nunzio

References

External links

* 1970 films Italian comedy-drama films 1970 comedy-drama films Films set in Sicily Adultery in films Films based on works by Leonardo Sciascia Films directed by Giovanni Grimaldi Films scored by Riz Ortolani Films about lawyers 1970 comedy films 1970 drama films 1970s Italian films {{1970s-Italy-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links