Divorce Italian Style
Pietro Germi (director)
Fefe, Rosalia, Angela
Same guy from La Dolce Vita
Played a revolutionary in Les Miserable
Sicily, not Rome
Mocks communism (“marching towards progress” while men dance with one another)
He interrupts his internal monologue about Angela when Rosalia looks at him, she looks
away, and he goes back to talking about how he loves her
3 women around the pot with a cut to Rosalia, a Shakespearean reference to her being a
witch
excellent camera work (dolly shot on the beach)
great introspective cuts to him killing his wife
Rosalia interrupts Angela’s monologue from the diary, then she leaves, and it restarts
Father wants to kill Angela because he thinks she’s had sex, therefore lost her
marketability
Lawyers put on a show, and everyone is just caught up in it. They stare blankly.
Tonino was castrated so he could continue singing
Carmelino is the ex boyfriend/painter
Shot was Carmelino walks pas the Christian Democrats, there’s something on the lens
As he imagines his case, his lawyer refers to the trial as a “rapid summary of the facts.”
Blends the Attorney’s speech with his own “Neapolitan built in the 18th century, perhaps
rebuilt in the 19th”
Chugs down his coffee so he can excuse himself from Rosalia and Carmelino and turn on
the recorder
Carmelo is married with 3 kids, but doesn’t wear the ring
Diegetic film moves with the speed of the recorder
Go to see La Dolce Vita
Director comments on La Dolce Vita’s Sylvia: “Good looking mammal, but without a
soul”
What is the guy yelling about
Church says La Dolce Vita promotes sex and money, obviously don’t understand
Letters from Angela get switched. Her Father reads it and dies from shock
Fefe wears very similar sunglasses to his character in Marcello in the scene where he
goes to shoot Carmelo and Rosalia
Foot at the end changes the entire meaning of the film
This week’s film was Divorce Italian Style, which is a favorite of mine from Mafia and
the Movies. But from watching it in Italian Cinema, I was looking for different things and
trying to pick up different meanings, basically seeing the film in a whole new light. I feel
there are two main points that Germi is trying to make.
The first is sort of an homage, or agreement with Fellini’s perspective from La Dolce
Vita. Germi shows how one man’s search for love and the eternal bliss associated with it
can be horribly skewed and lead him down the wrong roads, i.e. murder. Fefe has the
same problems that Marcello had, mostly communication. It’s true he didn’t love his
wife, but he never once tried to communicate his problems. He just stormed off to sleep
and drink in the study. Germi also shows religion as mostly spectacle. He hints at this
several times, but makes his point blatant twice. The first is when the pastor is standing
on the pulpit preaching his congregation on why and how they should vote for the
Christian Democrats. The second comes in the fiery performance given by the pastor
when he tells his congregation not to go see La Dolce Vita. Germi’s film also is
essentially based on the idea of form versus life. Rosalia is form, literally, by definition.
Angela is young and beautiful, and almost unobtainable, therefore, life. Yet, Germi
shows how most shallow people usually seek out life by getting in that last shot of Fefe
kissing Angela, while she plays footsy with the sailor.
The second point of this film is a wakeup call for the Italian government to make divorce
legal. Divorce Italian Style shows that the people of Italy have come to a point where
marriages simply do not last. This could harkens back to Fellini and the idea that
materialism has taken over and society is no longer captivated by the idea of ‘til death do
us part. So instead of the government admitting this, and passing a law protecting the
people. Citizens are put in awkward positions like Fefe, where he was too selfish to talk
to his wife, she was too selfish to stay with him, and now he must kill her to reclaim his
honor, which was not only taken by Rosalia, but the state as well. All in all, a great film
with a lot hidden under the comedic-surface.