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

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

Giovanni Grimaldi Giovanni Grimaldi (14 November 1917 – 25 February 2001) was an Italian screenwriter, journalist and film director. He was sometimes credited as Gianni Grimaldi. Biography Born in Catania, Sicily, Grimaldi entered the cinema industry in 19 ...

. It is based on the Leonardo Sciascia'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) from one of his work trips in Rome, Advocate Salvatore Vaccagnino (Lando Buzzanca) comes across the women's magazine ''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 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 club to shame, Vaccagnino reads them the letter concluding that all the married men in the council are potential

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 aw ...

s. 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, but to their disappointment, the only ones are the public places of tailor shop and the beauty salon. 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 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 Infertility is the inability of a person, animal or plant to reproduce by natural means. It is usually not the natural state of a healthy adult, except notably among certain eusocial species (mostly haplodiploid insects). It is the normal state ...

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. The next morning, when the club members are sitting with their wives in a café in the town square, 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 Hysteria is a term used colloquially to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that ...

that she'd rather get perished by a man crazed by the jealousy 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 Françoise Prévost (c. 1680 in Paris – 1741 in Paris) was a French ballerina who helped establish dramatic dance in the early world of classical ballet. She was expressive, light and dramatic in style. In 1699, Prevost debuted at the Paris O ...

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 i ...

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 launc ...

as a Judge * Saro Urzì as a pharmacist * Antonella Lualdi as Rita Vaccagnino * Nando Gazzolo 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 as Lola * Paolo Carlini as Don Gualtiero *

Michele Abruzzo Michele Abruzzo (29 December 1904 – 17 November 1996) was an Italian actor. Life and career Born in Sciacca, Abbruzzo made his debut on stage at 12 years old. Often regarded as the successor of Angelo Musco, he formed his first stage company ...

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 as Licasio, an accountant * Franco Lantieri as Gaetano * Marcella Michelangeli as Gaetano's wife * Aldo Bufi Landi 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 Alfredo Rizzo (2 January 1902 – 6 September 1991) was an Italian actor, screenwriter and director. Life and career Born in Nice, France into a family of actors, Rizzo started his career as an actor of avanspettacolo and revue, often alongs ...

as the Club president * Elio Zamuto 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