DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE - DVD review

Marcello Mastroianni spent half of his career building up his image as the world's ultimate Latin Lover, and the other half of it tearing that image down. Equally adept as a sophisticate and a goofball, Mastroianni took great pleasure in poking fun at the ultra-macho stereotype that made him one of the world's most famous and successful actors.

In "Divorce Italian Style" (1962), directed by Pietro Germi, Mastroianni plays Baron Ferdinando Cefalu (known to family as Fefe), a Sicilian aristocrat who has it all: a nice home, a family fortune, respect in the community, and a loving wife. Oh, is Rosalia (Daniela Rocca) ever a loving wife! She follows her darling Fefe's every move like a hawk tracks a rabbit, always ready to swoop into attack mode with a fresh cup of coffee, a flurry of kisses, or a high-pitched, jackhammer laugh for her beloved.

Fefe can't quite figure out what to do with himself, feeling trapped not only by his wife but also by his cloying family. Salvation presents itself in the form of his sixteen year-old cousin Angela, played by sixties' siren Stefania Sandrelli. Angela lives up to her name, a pure and wholesome vision of feminine purity. Fefe simply must have her.

Of course, there's nothing simple about having her, not even for a Baron. In Sicily, it might be good to be the king, baby, but unfortunately there's no law that allows for divorce. Sicilian law does, however, allow for a husband to kill his unfaithful wife in a moment of passion; a man can't help himself when his honor is threatened, you see. So all he has to do is find a way to get Rosalia to fall for someone else and then, pfft, RIP cara mia.

Director Pietro Germi, like Michelangelo Antonioni and Federico Fellini, attended the influential Centro Sperimentale in Rome. Though he didn't attain the same fame as some of his peers, he had more than his share of success in Italy where he mastered several popular genres. Germi was primarily known for dramatic films, and "Divorce Italian Style" represented a major departure for him. It was also, by far, his greatest international success, and remains today the only one of his films most American audiences have seen. "Divorce" received multiple Oscar nominations and won for Best Original Screenplay (a travesty, considering that Alain Robbe-Grillet's all-time brilliant "Last Year at Marienbad" was also nominated that year.)

Critics were surprised by Germi's deft touch with comedy, and audiences fell for Mastroianni's charming lead performance. While his greatest role will always be as Guido in Fellini's 1963 masterpiece "8 1/2," Mastroianni demonstrated a perfect comedic touch in other films such as Mario Monicelli's "Big Deal on Madonna Street" (1958), a must-see for pure laughs, as well as in "Divorce." In both films, he begins as the classic "tall, dark, and handsome" lothario, and then gradually reveals himself to be a bumbling oaf. In "Madonna Street," he plays a thief who somehow manages to get beat up while trying to steal a camera from a tourist.

As much as I love Mastroianni's performance, however, I found "Divorce" to be very predictable. A murder-comedy like this needs a few surprises along the way, but events in "Divorce" unfold in a very methodical, paint-by-numbers manner. Fefe sets up Rosalia's affair, it happens, she runs off, he plays the cuckold, he confronts the cheating wife, and so on right up until the final scene. I usually rant against films which rely on the "big twist" for shock value, but "Divorce" doesn't offer a single development the viewer can't anticipate well ahead of time.

It is certainly fun watching Mastroianni dance and twitch his way through the various circumstances as the slick and self-assured Baron gradually devolves into a pathetic, oily self-caricature. By the end he's such a pitiful figure, even his moustache looks like it wants nothing to do with him anymore, and only continues to stick to his face because of the overwhelming Sicilian humidity. But for a comedy, "Divorce" simply doesn't have very many laughs. Many scenes do little more than mark time before the next predictable punch line.

Still, there is one wonderful and hilarious sequence in the film. The locals all pile into the theater to watch the controversial new film that everyone is talking about, a little film called "La Dolce Vita." The posters plastered all over town feature Anita Ekberg, but no doubt the men merely want to go for a good story ("I only buy it to read the articles, honey.") Mastroianni, of course, also starred in "La Dolce Vita," so it's quite amusing to watch him in the audience, looking at the screen (a scene featuring the pneumatic Ms. Ekberg, of course) with total indifference as he plans Rosalia's impending murder. The other men really love the film, though… for the story, of course.

I don't find "Divorce" particularly funny, but its critique of Italian machismo is clever. At first, the film appears to start on the side of the patriarchy, cruelly mocking poor faithful Rosalia and the other women in the story. However, Mastroianni's bumbling, selfish, smarmy Fefe undercuts any sense of male superiority, and I am hard-pressed to think of a single male character that comes across as anything but a blowhard or a sexist pig. Of course, life is little better for the women whose only apparent form of resistance is through infidelity which didn't exactly turn out so well for Rosalia.

Video

The DVD is presented in its original widescreen 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Leonida Barboni's black and white photography is beautiful, and the film creates a very authentic-feeling Sicilian location (though I have no idea how many scenes were actually shot in Sicily.) As usual, Criterion offers a new high-definition digital transfer from the 35-mm original negative, and it looks wonderful with crisp image quality and sharp contrasts. By Criterion's high standards, I would call this an average effort (it's not drop-dead gorgeous like some of their best efforts) but that's on a pretty strict scale. You won't have any complaints.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Sorry, no stereo here – what did you expect, it's from 1962. The remastered soundtrack is clean as a whistle, and the dialogue is all clearly recorded and mixed, as is Carlo Rustichelli's musical track. The film is in Italian with optional English subtitles to support the audio.

Extras

Though "Divorce Italian Style" is a two-disc set, it doesn't include as many extra features as most multi-disc Criterion sets. The lack of a commentary track is particularly disappointing.

All the extras are on Disc Two. First up is "The Man With a Cigar in His Mouth," a 39-minute documentary directed by critic Mario Sesti in 1997. The short documentary is a series of talking heads, all friends and co-workers of Germi's, who recount their experiences with the director. It's all standard fare, just one interview after another, but worthwhile for its informational content.

Much more interesting is the first of two interviews, "Delighting in Contrasts." This 30-minute short (recorded for Criterion in 2003 and 2004) interweaves interviews with critic Mario Sesti, and actors Lando Buzzanca and Stefania Sandrelli. All three have a lot of interest to say about Germi in general, and "Divorce" in particular. The film actually began its life as a drama, and only slowly evolved into a farce. Sandrelli, now in her late fifties, is still absolutely gorgeous.

Rounding out the features are a short interview (7 min.) with Oscar-winning screenwriter Ennio de Concini, and screen tests for both Sandrelli and Daniela Rocca (8 min. total.)

An attractive 28-page booklet includes essays by Martin Scorsese and critics Stuart Klawans and Andrew Sarris.

Closing Thoughts

I suspect many viewers will like "Divorce Italian Style" more than I did, though I'm still moderately fond of it. The film certainly has a legion of ardent supporters. I am often told I have a prejudice against comedies. Maybe I do. But let's face it. There are really only two types of comedians: the Three Stooges and everybody else. Why waste your time with the rest when you can just watch the best? Nyuk nyuk.