Señoras y señores

I simply can't understand how a moviegoer like me missed this gem when it was first shown here - and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Festival. Especially being already convinced that Pietro Germi was one of the most talented directors of the Italian after war films. He made a screen adaptation of one of the greatest literary hits of the sixties, Carlo Emilio Gadda's QUER PASTICCIACCIO BRUTTO DI VIA MERULANA, a perfect combination of Italian language and Roman dialect. Concerning SIGNORE E SIGNORI, the cast is not all-stars, but extremely equal in its aspects, none is tops but none is dull either. Special rewards for the well known Franco Fabrizi, for exquisite Beba Loncar and the almost introducing Virna Lisi, who became famous for a long time. The atmosphere of this little Italian town was splendidly illustrated. I used to stay in Treviso when traveling to Venice, the City of the Doges being too expensive for me and Treviso, also nicely cut by its canaletti, was only at a half hour by train from the famous but hardly available Lagoon City. A huge Bravo! also for the remasterization, absolutely perfect. Warmly recommended to everybody who wants to have a big laugh and in the same time measure how mean some people were just half a century ago. Harry Carasso, Paris, France

The entire film had a farcical quality and was generally comical enough to hold my interest, but something deeper in the second vignette began to bubble up to the surface. There was a longing, not quite a sadness, but an extremely emotionally complex situation where you can sympathize with everyone and all points of view. I feel like I was pleasantly fooled. I expected a burger, which would have been fine, but they brought me a steak instead.

Pietro Germi only directed 19 movies, but he was obviously very talented. I've seen a few of his other films and those were satisfyingly complex as well.

The male love interest in the second vignette was played by Gastone Moschin. He didn't strike me at first as the best choice for the role, but he executed it brilliantly. Virna Lisi is always stunning, but I didn't realize what a good actress she was until I saw the extremely sympathetic character she played, and she nailed it perfectly. Nora Ricci was top notch as the wife. She was able to very skillfully balance between an over the top shrew, and as someone the audience can feel for.

There was one other thing in the movie that I thought was great. There was a short running gag regarding the jilted wife that led into a different short running gag regarding boys making prank calls. I don't recall ever seeing anything like that before.

The very last scene with everyone gathered in the town square was quite poignant.

I definitely recommend this movie.

First of all, thumbs up to the restoration of this movie, which happened in 1997/98. Secondly, though, shame on the media who didn't flag this operation as it usually does when a masterpiece movie is finally restored. And this is a masterpiece.

Then, there is no real "Rezega", the small town in which this movie is set. This movie was shot in Treviso, the place were I was born and lived for 20 years, and my father can recall the shooting taking place in his youth. This because, like in every other small town in the world, nothing ever happens in Rezega/Treviso, and whatever may happen can't be made public, but should be spread by word of mouth.

All sort of things happen: marriage, betrayal, births and deaths, the fabric of every town's life. But decency is more important, and so "si fa ma non si dice" (everybody does it, nobody tells about it) is the law. Great performances from Gastone Moschin, Virna Lisi and Alberto Lionello, very good scriptwriting and magnificent direction by a true master like Pietro Germi make this a pleasure to watch, whether you want to understand provincial Italy or not. Oh, and if you do want to, this movie contains all you need to know about the dynamics that regulate the life of 80% of Italy's population, all those who live in towns of that size: I went to a movie screening a few years ago, and my acquaintances in the cinema were all related by stories similar to those in the movie (mind you, they are just in their 20s!).

Go see it, ask for it, let the world know about this great little movie!

It might take an Italian background to appreciate this film. As a non-Italian viewer I found the humour (high farce) rather dull.

The film had almost no characterization, a rather muddy plot line and absolutely no emotional interest. I tuned out constantly, and was glad for distractions.

The third line of the anthology, about the sexual interest of a group of men in a young girl was particularly uncomfortable, with its pedophile themes, which Germi unpleasantly treated as though only humorous, not at all troubling.

The overall perspective was purely male — the women in the film were simply either objects of desire or impediments to desire's fulfillment.

I wouldn't bother watching this film again.

"The Birds, the Bees and the Italians" is a delightful and enjoyable comedy of manners "Italian Style" with a kitschy and catchy soundtrack that sounds like a combo of Anton Karas 'Third Man' and Nino Rota's '8½' themes, the music gets stuck in your mind like melted cheese on a plate after the pasta's gone, it's both irresistible and irritating but it does serve a purpose: to give a playful resonance to a rather serious subject, too serious to be treated with solemnity, the days of neo-realism were over, comedy became the key. So the music is comedic because there's something tragicomic in the psyche and hubris of Italian society's upper strata... and something cathartic in a film that makes men's flaws laughable, if not forgivable.

Si signor, under their facade of marital respectability, conventions, white coats or gray-flannelled suits, these Italian men want to have fun, they want to have sex and for the most tragic case, they want to find true love. What have all these elements in common? They involve friends and mistresses and activities that generally do without the 'Signora', another social burden to get accommodated with. Indeed, in their ideals of escapism and fun, religion and appearances are like a jail and the wife is the chain with the ball. That the topic is treated in a lighthearted way doesn't deprive the film from the criticism regarding its male-centered version of a hedonistic life as if women didn't want to have fun too.

Still, one shouldn't get the wrong idea about it, the original title "Signore & Signori" is there to show that the film gives an equal weight to both sexes. By an interesting irony, the film will win the Golden Palm that year along with the similarly titled and more celebrated Claude Lelouch's "A Man and a Woman". Once again, the Germi's movie gives more presence to men, maybe because the director has a more acute perception of the weaknesses of his peers, but the fact that men are the main protagonists is not saying much, they all have jobs, good situations, a social importance and the debonair confidence of self-accomplishment in their 40s/50s but they're closer to "Pagliacci" figures than Roman warriors. Their ordeals are all portrayed in a way that makes us laugh with them and at them too.

The film is divided in three acts: in the first one, a man's impotence is treated like a running gag and a deserved subject of mockery (there's a nice twist at the end). Then the second story focuses on a husband who's stopped wearing the pants and endures his wife's insults and condescending comments with stoicism... and ear plugs. Though it's not fair to overlook the other actors but mentioning their names wouldn't ring a bell, they're no Mastroiannis, Tognazzis or Gassmans but their relative anonymousness for the non-expert eye gives the film a subtle touch of authenticity. However, I've got to mention Gastone Moschin who plays the most endearing figure of the film, and the most memorable. This is a tall man built like a Commendatore (he was the intimidating Fanucci in "The Godfather Part II") but who becomes Pinocchio when he's confronted to his nagging wife. The way he falls in love with the little cashier girl is adorable and sweet, almost Comedia Dell'Arte, and resisting the temptation to make the story darker than needed, Germi makes the emotional impact as effective by sticking to comedy.

The wife can be regarded as a villain in the segment but she's only good at using the system as an instrument to avenge her hurt pride, it's fair game in an arena where it's all a matter of saving the appearances, of pride after all. Another wife will punish her husband's infidelity by showing her naked body in a balcony, much to a passing driver's excitement. These outbursts of hysterical (and histrionic) anger highlight a recurring if not defining motif in the film: hypocrisy. Indeed, the worst possible thing that can happen isn't the fault itself but the lack of discretion. It's one thing to fool around, even the Carabineer will understand, but to expose it in front of everyone, in a society still dominated by Catholic Church, is just provocation.

Germi's not just peeking in the keyhole to see what's behind the good society's curtain, he literally kicks the hornet nest and reveal how in fact everything doesn't revolve around morality and principles but sex and money, pride and honor acting as smokescreens between these two worlds. And the film's final act of was the best way to wrap up this social exploration; by showing that even women can be loose-moralled after all, and not just the mistresses, that little twist at the end was the extra spice the film needed, the small revenge from the female side, the perfect device to maintain the film's savor, like when you need to add a little Parmesan cheese in the rest of spaghetti, or a drop of wine to conclude the dinner.

And so the finale takes us back to where (and how) it begun, to music and smiling faces as to reassess the detachment of the director, no hurt feelings, with bravura and a fine comedic instinct, Germi strikes as a great painter of people's morality, but not a moralist! Speaking of Fermi, it seems like there's just enough space in movie lovers' memory to contain names such as Fellini, De Sica, Antonioni, Rossellini or Visconti and it takes that little special gourmet taste to appreciate the likes of Pietro Germi, more craftsmen than artists, but maybe because they never felt overwhelmed with some sense of overly lyrical self-grandeur that they could make such down-to-earth little gems.

And here, I conclude my 1500th IMDb review.