Film Forum

Italy, 1972
Written and directed by Lina Wertmüller
Starring Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Agostina Belli
Approx. 113 min.

A satire about sex, lies, and politics. Frustrated Sicilian laborer Mimi (Giancarlo Giannini) refuses to vote for the mafia's candidate in the general election, which costs him his job, his wife, and his home. Things begin to improve when he meets the beautiful, radical Fiorella (Mariangela Melato), with whom he starts a new life as a reliable husband and father. But inevitably, the past comes back to haunt him and what follows is a layered, punchy, and searing indictment of government corruption, male obsession with honor, and the inescapably sexual politics of power. “Giannini’s a frustrated Buster Keaton, capable of audaciously physical derring-do, but set on holding back in prideful prudence until he can’t contain the primitive urge any longer.” – Slant Magazine

Restored in 2024 by the Cineteca of the National Museum of Cinema in Turin, in collaboration with Minerva Pictures, using the original image and audio negatives preserved at Cinecittà Studios, this is the most faithful and luminous version of the film ever seen.

A KINO LORBER RELEASE

Trailer

Reviews

“ROLLICKING FUN!”
– Judith Christ, New York Magazine

“A handsomely comic and political-minded farce that in Italy, where the characters live, has deadly-serious roots.”
 – Penelope Gilliatt, The New Yorker

“A brainy, rowdy comedy of bad manners and low politics.”
 – TIME Magazine