''Il Bisbetico Domato'' (literally "The Ill-Tempered Man Tamed"; English: ''The Taming of the Scoundrel'') is a 1980 Italian film directed by Franco Castellano and Giuseppe Moccia, credited as Castellano & Pipolo. The plot is loosely inspired by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
The Taming of the Shrew
''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...
''.
Synopsis
Adriano Celentano plays the part of Elia, a well-to-do and witty farmer who is, however, a somewhat grumpy loner who specifically resists his housekeeper Mamie's efforts to marry him off to a nice girl. One stormy night, however, a beautiful young lady named Lisa is forced to stop at his farmstead because her car has broken down while she was on her way to her fiancé. Intrigued by Elia's personality, she decides to stay and make the grumpy farmer come out of his rough shell, an intention which in time develops into genuine affection.
Elia is not unresponsive to Lisa's advances (the heat stirred by which he tries to alleviate by splitting logs of wood), but he maintains his rough exterior and tries his best to get rid of her, to the point that he once even
tractor
A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...
-drags her bed, with Lisa inside, out of the guestroom into the midst of the nearby village after she attempts to extend her stay by claiming that her ankle is sprained. Eventually, Lisa leaves in disgust, but so does Mamie, who has developed a genuine liking to Lisa. Also, as soon as she is gone, Elia realizes too late that he has also fallen in love with Lisa.
Eventually, in order to win her back, Elia attends a
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
match between a team from his own village and the team sponsored by Lisa's fiancé. With his native team on the verge of losing the game, Elia enters the field and employs his skills to tip the scores to their benefit. Following the successful conclusion of the match, he asks for Lisa's hand, but she refuses to do so unless he has publicly declared his love for her. Using the playing hall's loudspeaker system, Elia does so at full volume; the two get married, and Elia unloads his years of penned-back sexuality in a manner which leaves the house (quite literally) aquake.
Pippo Santonastaso
Pippo Santonastaso (born 25 May 1936) is an Italian actor and comedian.
Life and career
Born in Castel San Giovanni, Piacenza, Santonastaso created an original comic duo with his younger brother Mario (1937 – 8 January 2021Milly Carlucci as Renata
* Marco Columbro as the chauffeur
* Sandro Ghiani as the gas station attendant
Reception
Box office
''Il Bisbetico Domato'' was the top grossing film on the Italian market for the season 1980/1981, earning about 17 billion lire. The film was released in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
The closing theme song "Innamorata, Incavolata A Vita" performed by Adriano Celentano was a minor hit, ranking 18 and staying on the Italian singles chart for 16 weeks.