"Marriage Italian Style" Review

 

by Daniel White

How can one NOT pay homage to cinema legend Sophia Loren, who turned 88 the other day, September 20? For me, to truly honor this remarkable woman doesn't just involve posting a photo and wishing the star a happy birthday. No, it means taking the time to watch one of her films and then taking additional time to write about it. She's worth that much - at the very least.

Marriage Italian Style (1964) garnered Loren her second Oscar nomination (she won for 1961's Two Women) and she's incredibly good. How can a woman so sexy, so gorgeous, be so fucking talented? (excuse the expletive).

Directed by, and co-starring, frequent collaborators Vittorio De Sica and Marcello Mastroianni, Loren plays Filumena, a teenaged Neapolitan prostitute who meets Domenico (Mastroianni) in WWll during a bombing raid. Two years later they encounter each other again and begin a decades long affair. Told partially in flashback, it starts off as a ribald, rollicking farce that eventually settles down into a bittersweet romance. The good-natured, earthy brothel worker gives her heart freely to the older man. However, "Dummi" is less forthcoming with his emotions, unwilling to tumble into love like the free-spirited Filumena. She leaves sex work behind and helps the successful businessman operate his bakery, and he eventually moves her into his home. But he never remains faithful, never fully acknowledges their relationship, and most important, never offers to marry her.

Tired of her second-class status as his inamorata, Filumena finally manages to trick Domenico into marriage. But he refuses to be corralled and defeats her legally. Two stubborn people who are determined to get what they want, even when one of them doesn't realize that what he wants he already has.

Sophia Loren is not only gorgeous, she is also very funny. Like Mabel Normand, Carole Lombard and Lucille Ball, she's a beautiful woman who is an expert laugh-getter. One of the more potent combinations ever found in film. The movie turns somber and less comical once it is revealed that Filumena is the mother of three boys. Sophia handles the sentimental scenes extremely well but I prefer her screwball. However, silly or serious, Sophia Loren is an international gem, a cinema treasure who deserves all our praise and appreciation. Brava, Sophia, brava.

Produced by the gentleman who discovered Sophia Loren and made it possible for the rest of the world to do so, Carlo Ponti (who, unlike our leading man in the movie, knew a good thing when he found one, and put a ring on Miss Loren's finger). Marriage Italian Style is available on YouTube with English subtitles.