Mastroianni 100: Divorzio all'Italiana 4K di Pietro Germi (1961)

Presented by film critic Marco Di Stefano

The Cineteca di Bologna celebrates the 100 years of Marcello Mastroianni. On September 28, 1924, one of the greatest stars of world cinema was born: Marcello Mastroianni. The Cineteca di Bologna, with its project Il Cinema Ritrovato. Al cinema, celebrates the 100 years of Marcello Mastroianni by bringing 7 films to Italian theaters starting on October 7, tracing a career like few others. In 1961, Pietro Germi transfigures him grotesquely in his film Divorce Italian Style.

"No one has ever been the protagonist of so many masterpieces - says Gian Luca Farinelli, director of the Cineteca di Bologna - always making courageous choices, such as after La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, when everyone wanted him as the Latin lover and he instead chose to tackle an incredible series of films in which he is impotent, possibly homosexual, cuckolded, contributing to creating a different image of the Italian male; sensitive, elegant, losing, ironic, empathetic. Perhaps for this reason, it seems impossible that he is now turning 100, because among all the actors of his generation, he seems to be our contemporary."

DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE (Italy/1961) by Pietro Germi (105')
Screenplay: Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti, Pietro Germi
Cinematography: Leonida Barboni, Carlo Di Palma
Editing: Roberto Cinquini
Set design: Carlo Egidi
Music: Carlo Rustichelli
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni ('Fefè' Cefalù), Daniela Rocca (Rosalia), Stefania Sandrelli (Angela), Leopoldo Trieste (Carmelo Patanè), Odoardo Spadaro (don Gaetano Cefalù), Angela Cardile (Agnese Cefalù), Margherita Girelli (Sisina), Bianca Castagnetta (Matilde Cefalù), Lando Buzzanca (Rosario Mulè), Pietro Tordi (lawyer De Marzi)

Germi was very good at directing actors. He never spoke much, but when it came down to it, he explained very well what he wanted. He was a great, great director, and I don't say that to sing his praises. I would even add that if only we had more directors like him and still had them! Because his first, great quality was not wanting to be always the artist, the one who always says something new, and instead being a serious storyteller, understandable to most. Stories made by a professional who knew his craft very well. Today, a director like him would be a salvation for our cinema. Without flying, without making experimental films, Germi told stories that were not a joke, and pushed hard because, for example, Divorce Italian Style was a very precise film, when divorce was still not talked about here. And making a film where it was shown that in Italy one could only divorce by suppressing one's wife was not so easy. Although it is wrong to define it as an invention, I invented the tic of Baron Cefalù. It happened like this. Germi had problems with his gums, so he always twisted his mouth to tease them with his lips and tongue. Tics, like yawning, are contagious, and one day I caught myself doing the same gesture as him, to the point that he got upset and asked me if I was making fun of him. I apologized, said I had no intention of doing so, explained how these things happen, and also added that I thought that maybe this baron could have a cavity. So he wanted me to do it again, and he made me do it throughout the whole film.
Marcello Mastroianni
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