Film Screening: Divorce Italian Style (1961)

Speakers): Cécile Tresfels

In this winner of the 1962 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, Baron Ferdinando Cefalù (Marcello Mastroianni) longs to marry his young cousin Angela (Stefania Sandrelli), but one obstacle stands in his way: his fatuous and fawning wife, Rosalia (Daniela Rocca). His solution? Since divorce is illegal, he hatches a plan to lure his spouse into the arms of another and then murder her in a justifiable effort to save his honor. This brilliant dark comedy by Pietro Germi is a hilarious and cutting satire of Sicilian male-chauvinist culture.

This film are part of the DLCL Spring 2015 Film Series, "Bitter Laughter." Take a look at this series' complete list of films.