A glossy rendition of Eduardo De Filippo’s Neapolitan play Filumena Marturano, Marriage Italian Style is a comedic drama about the highs and lows of a lifelong romance. Starring the perpetually stunning Sophia Loren, and the “man’s man” Marcello Mastroianni, the duo would eventually make a total of 14 films together. A few of the pair’s best films—Marriage Italian Style among them—were made by the famed Vittorio De Sica, who rose to prominence directing socially conscious neo-realist films in the post-war reconstruction era, and who turned increasingly to comedy as he got older and Italy got richer.
Loren stars as Filumena, a woman scorned for twenty years by a wealthy businessman, Domenico (Mastroianni), who rescues her from a life of prostitution only to turn her into a longsuffering household servant. The two meet in 1942 during the German occupation of Italy. Just 17 at the time, Filumena was working at a whorehouse Domenico frequented. The pair ends up having sex during a bombing raid. A suave businessman, Domenico runs into Filumena two years later. The two end up having sex in a bombed out house.
The movie, set in the present, tells its story through a series of flashbacks. After the war, Domenico starts a relationship with the now fiery young woman. He gives her a flat in an apartment building he owns, but their intimacy is one-sided. She loves him, but he’s in it for the sex. When Domenico finally takes her to meet his mother, Filumena expects they will soon marry. Instead, she’s put up in the maid’s quarters and expected to keep the house in order, with none of the social benefits of being a wife.
This leads us back to the present. Lying on her deathbed, Domenico, planning a wedding to the much younger bride, agrees to marry Filumena believing she will die any minute. present, where Domenico, thinking Filumena is about to die any second, agrees to marry her—mostly out of pity. But, of course, the trick’s on him! Now married, legally and in the eyes of the church, Filumena rises from her supposed deathbed—fit as a fiddle—and takes absolute control of the house. The situation is a humorous one, but it’s the mature kind, rooted in real emotions with black undertones. Loren and Mastroianni go head to head in some pointed verbal spats, often with her gaining the upper hand. She steadfastly refuses to back down, even when Domenico’s lawyer discovers that her phantom illness is grounds for an annulment. Filumena has one more card to play. She secretly has three children whom she’s been supporting all these years, and one of them just might be Domenico’s. The lifelong bachelor soon becomes obsessed with discovering which boy is his son. He wants to know which one shall receive his inheritance.
It seems clear that if Domenico received a definitive answer, he would be out the door very quickly. Though De Sica’s final shot seems to suggest that leaving the question unanswered is purely intentional. In the larger scheme of things, Marriage Italian Style is a film that explores tempestuous love, middle age, and parenthood. Three things that might not have any clear answers.
Marriage Italian Style comes to Blu-ray in 1080p at 2.35:1 aspect ratio. While the transfer is acceptable, it’s nothing particularly special. Color quality fluctuates throughout. Fleshtones are especially volatile, sometimes appearing lifelike, yellowish or devoid of any real naturalness. Black levels are also all over the map. Detail fares better, but it’s not reference quality. Grain handling also isn’t as finessed as it could be. Not a bad transfer, but it could be better.
The Dolby TrueHD 2.0 sound mix here is strictly average. Having a lossless track here is nice, but the mix doesn’t open up the way other comparable tracks of vintage films do. Does the job, but it won’t wow you.
English subtitles are included.
The special features here are limited:
- Theatrical Promo (1080p, 3:41): Essentially an extended trailer with a few man-on-the-street type interviews tacked on to the beginning, with then-contemporary audience members giving their thoughts on De Sica, Mastroianni, Loren, and the film in general.
- Trailers (1080p): Includes theatrical trailers for Marriage Italian Style (1:50), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (4:12), and Sunflower (3:59).
- Stills Gallery (1080p): A user-directed gallery with 28 behind-the-scenes stills and promo shots.
