("Handsome Antonio") is a 1960 Italian-French

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Mauro Bolognini Mauro Bolognini (28 June 1922 – 14 May 2001) was an Italian film and stage director. Early years Bolognini was born in Pistoia, in the Tuscany region of Italy. After earning a master's degree in architecture at the University of Florence, Bol ...

and starring

Marcello Mastroianni Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (26 September 1924Come da lui stesso dichiarato a 1'10" dquesta intervista/ref> – 19 December 1996) was an Italian actor. He is generally regarded as one of Italy's most iconic male performers of the 20t ...

and

Claudia Cardinale Claude Joséphine Rose Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938), known as Claudia Cardinale (), is an Italian actress. Born and raised in La Goulette, a neighbourhood of Tunis, Cardinale won the "Most Beautiful Italian Girl in Tunisia" competition ...

. It is based on the novel of the same name by Vitaliano Brancati and was adapted for the screen by

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

and Gino Visentini, moving the novel's setting during Italy's fascist era to the present. The film won the

Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to b ...

at the

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

. In 2008, the film was included in the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."

Plot

Student Antonio returns from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he had lived off his father's fortune, to his hometown

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, as the father has invested the family's assets into an orange grove and is unable to finance Antonio's lifestyle anymore. Owning a reputation of a successful womanizer, Antonio's parents decide that it is time for him to settle down and arrange for a marriage with notary Puglisi's daughter Barbara. Antonio, hesitating at first, falls in love with Barbara after seeing a photo of her and agrees to marry her. One year later, Puglisi confronts Antonio's unbelieving father with the fact that the marriage was never consummated, and obtains its annulation. Barbara soon marries the rich Duke of Bronte, leaving behind a grieving Antonio who still loves her. Antonio confesses to his cousin Edoardo that during his time in Rome, he was able to sleep with women whom he didn't care for, but was impotent when he met a woman for whom he had sincere feelings. Some time later, Antonio's father dies from a heart attack during a visit to a brothel, where he wanted to prove his intact manhood. While the family is still in mourning, the housemaid Santuzza collapses, revealing that she is pregnant from Antonio. Antonio's mother instantly gives the news to relatives and neighbours that Antonio is becoming a father, and announces his and Santuzza's marriage. When Edoardo rings up Antonio to congratulate him, Antonio declares that he still thinks of Barbara and starts crying.

Cast

as Antonio Magnano *

as Barbara Puglisi *

Pierre Brasseur Pierre Brasseur (; 22 December 1905 – 16 August 1972), born Pierre-Albert Espinasse, was a French actor. Biography The son of actors Georges Espinasse and Germaine Brasseur was an actor as well. The family tradition of using the name ''Br ...

as Alfio Magnano * Rina Morelli as Rosaria Magnano * Tomas Milian as Edoardo * Fulvia Mammi as Elena Ardizzone * Patrizia Bini as Santuzza * Anna Arena as Signora Puglisi *

Guido Celano Guido Celano (19 April 1904 – 7 March 1988) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He appeared in 120 films between 1931 and 1988. He also directed two spaghetti Westerns: '' Cold Killer'' and '' Gun Shy Piluk''. Selected f ...

as Calderana * Maria Luisa Crescenzi as Francesa * Jole Fierro as Mariuccia * Cesarina Gherardi as Zia Giuseppina * Nino Camarda as Father Rosario * Alice Sandro as Nanda * Ugo Torrente as Barbara's father * Ignazio Balsamo as lawyer Ardizzone (voice)

References

External links

*
''Il bell'Antonio''
at Cinematografo {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellantonio, Il 1960 films 1960s Italian-language films French black-and-white films Italian black-and-white films Films set in Sicily Films directed by Mauro Bolognini 1960 drama films Golden Leopard winners Films scored by Piero Piccioni 1960s Italian films Films based on Italian novels Films based on works by Vitaliano Brancati Italian-language drama films