SEDUCED AND ABANDONED - DVD review

When Kevin Smith's "Clerks 2" hit theaters this summer, film critics couldn't resist the urge to describe the film as "scabrous," no doubt referring to the secondary definition of the word: "indecent or scandalous; risqué; obscene." No doubt Smith's ode to fart jokes and donkey sex qualifies under such a definition, but "Clerks 2" is strictly scabrous manqué when compared to Pietro Germi's truly scabrous "Seduced and Abandoned" (1964).

Germi returns to the familiar territory that won him international fame in "Divorce Italian Style" (1961), taking a withering look at the hypocritical traditions of "honor and family" in Sicilian society. Peppino Califano (Aldo Puglisi) is engaged to the festively plump Rosaura Ascalone (Roberta Narbonne), but has his eye on her more shapely younger sister, fifteen year-old Agnese (Stefania Sandrelli.) By the end of the first scene, Peppino has more than his eye on Agnese: this is the seduction (i.e. rape); the rest of the film is about Peppino's attempt at abandonment.

When Agnese's father, Don Vincenzo (Saro Urzi) learns of what happened, he does what any responsible parent would do: he calls Agnese a whore, beats the hell out of her, and locks her in a room to hide the family shame. Agnese's cruel treatment is made even more horrifying by Germi's gallows-humor approach, best expressed in the screwball scene in which Don Vincenzo sends to the country in the middle of the night for a midwife to confirm the status of his daughter's virginity; Agnese's cooperation in the procedure is not considered relevant. There is no doubt left. Peppino has violated his underaged daughter, and there can only be one solution: Peppino must marry her.

In "Divorce Italian Style," Germi mocked the Sicilian custom of legally sanctioned honor killing. Here, he tackles an even more offensive Sicilian law (of the time), which states that a rapist may be set free if he agrees to marry his victim. As a policeman notes at one point, marriage is better than a pardon; it is literally a get out of jail free card. Peppino, of course, does not want to marry Agnese because she isn't a virgin. Why should he marry a slut just because he's the one that got to sleep with her? It's a man's duty to try, and a woman's duty to refuse.

Germi doesn't pull any punches in his savage attack on Sicilian customs, nor does he waste time with subtlety. The characters are all absurd caricatures, esp. Don Vincenzo, played by Saro Urzi with all the kinetic lunacy of Daffy Duck crossed with Tom Cruise. Vincenzo doesn't care a whit about his slutty daughter, but only about "honor and family" which must be maintained at all costs. Nobody else in the family has much sympathy for Agnese either, not even her mother or her infinite number of sisters, cousins, and aunts. She can only suffer in silence, a main character who, appropriately enough, has no impact whatsoever on the story's outcome. This is a man's world.

The Ascalones aren't the only ones at fault. Germi indicts the entire societal structure, from the clergy to the police to the courts. His criticism is so vicious at times, that it's hard not to feel like Germi (who was from Northern Italy) is engaging in a form of race-baiting, or at least culture-baiting. With its over-the-top acting, and lunatic editing, "Seduced and Abandoned" is not content merely to poke fun, but rather to bludgeon into a bloody pulp. Considering the scope of the hypocrisy at end, however, this approach may be well warranted.

The broad brush tactics certainly produce their share of painfully funny moments. The older men in town gather together to discuss how many loads a man can shoot off in his lifetime; the conversation breaks up when the men ogle three rather robust prostitutes who parade into town. Leopoldo Trieste also generates his share of funny scenes as a penniless and mostly toothless baron who Don Vincenzo recruits to marry Rosaura, yet another attempt to maintain "family and honor."

For a brief moment, Agnese seems like she will escape this pathetic patriarchy, but there is no happy ending for her or anyone else in this bleak comedy. The hyper-cartoonish style is off-putting at times, and Germi might have benefited from turning down the decibel level from time to time, but "Seduced and Abandoned" is both funny and scathing, and, in my opinion, a more successful film than "Divorce Italian Style" even without the presence of the great Marcello Mastroianni.

Subtle it ain't; scabrous, it sure as hell is.

Video

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The digitally restored transfer preserves the crispness of the black-and-white photography, and there is virtually no sign of damage or debris from the source print.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the Italian audio.

Extras

The only substantive extra is "Commedia All'Italiana: Germi Style" (26 min.), a series of interviews with screenwriters Luciano Vincenzoni and Furio Scarpelli (of Age-Scarpelli fame), and film scholar Mario Sesti. They discuss the tragi-comic tradition of commedia all'Italiana, and Germi's influence in the sub genre. Recorded in Rome in 2006 for the Criterion Collection.

The DVD also includes and interview with actor Lando Buzzanca (7 min.) and an interview (6 min.) and screen test (2 min.) with Stefania Sandrelli. The interviews were recorded in 2002. An original theatrical trailer rounds the collection.

The liner notes feature an essay by film critic Irene Bignardi, as well as some nifty cartoon art (also featured on the menus.)

Closing Thoughts

Pietro Germi began his career with "serious" neo-realist films, but is best known today for his screwball comedies. He followed up "Divorce Italian Style" and "Seduced and Abandoned" with "The Birds, the Bees, and the Italians" (1965) to form his unofficial trilogy of Italian sex comedies, or rather comedies about Italian sexual mores. It was not as successful as the previous two films, and his career petered out soon afterwards.