But, but, gentlemen ...
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | But, but, gentlemen ... |
| Original title | Signore & signori |
| Country of production | Italy |
| original language | Italian |
| Publishing year | 1966 |
| length | 115 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Pietro Germi |
| script |
Agenore Incrocci Furio Scarpelli Luciano Vincenzoni Pietro Germi |
| music | Carlo Rustichelli |
| camera | Aiace Parolin |
| cut | Sergio Montanari |
| occupation | |
| |
But, but, gentlemen ... (Original title: Signore & Signori ) is a 1965 Italian comedy film by Pietro Germi . It was awarded the Grand Prix for the best film in competition in Cannes in 1966 (together with the French entry A Man and a Woman ). At the Italian film critic Nastro d'Argento's award (Silver Ribbon), Olga Villi received the award for best female supporting role, while Gastone Moschin was recognized as best supporting actor. As with many other Commedia all'italiana films, the writing duo Age & Scarpelli helped write the script. While Germi's famous comedies Divorce in Italian and Seduction in Italian were set in southern Italy, this takes place in a Venetian city.
action
Several couples leave for an evening together. Among them is the doctor Giacinto, whose blond, young wife is utterly stupid and who takes his professional secrecy very lightly. His friend Casparini confided in him that he had become impotent, which became the topic of conversation for the evening. One is sometimes exuberant, sometimes annoyed, and tries to get into extramarital affairs. Two women poisoned each other violently throughout the evening.
The film then switches to the everyday life of Osvaldo and Gilda, who lead an unhappy, conflict-ridden marriage. She thinks he's a failure and he puts plugs in his ears so he doesn't have to hear her constant talk. He falls in love with the cashier Milena and breaks up with her on a pretext for a weekend. There is no coitus because they are disturbed by Osvaldo's military comrades who happen to show up. An anonymous letter informs Gilda of the affair. Her friend Ippolita speaks to her at Osvaldo's employer, a Catholic bank, so that his supervisor can have a word of warning with him. The latter, however, values solidarity among men more highly and gives Osvaldo the advice to move his money from the marital account to a new one over which his wife has no power of attorney. Osvaldo drives to Milena's apartment to spend the night with her. But Gilda and Ippolita send the police into their house, who transfer them red-handed. The landlady gives Milena the apartment. Because of the reprisals and the intolerance of society, the young woman can no longer stand it and leaves Osvaldo. He climbs onto a roof and, with the prospect of continuing life with Gilda, jumps. The fire brigade saved him with a jumping sheet.
A new occasion keeps the excitement in town going. A very attractive country girl shows up in town and gets a pair of shoes from the owner of the shoe store, Benedetti. He and five other men pass the willing girl around until her father stops the hustle and bustle. Since she is surprisingly only 16 years old, charges are brought and the men fear jail time. Now the ranks of the bourgeoisie are closing; especially the clergy, the wives and the fathers intervene. They put pressure on the local paper to avoid reporting on the case. To avert a scandal from her co-accused husband, Ippolita suggests that each of them contribute two million lire. The sum of twelve million is intended to induce the farmer to withdraw his complaint. She visits him on his farm. He is satisfied with only five million (the rest she goes to her charitable activities), but eagerly throws himself at Ippolita, who gives herself to the farmer in the hay. The court acquits the men, while the farmer and his daughter are accused of defamation. The lives of men and women resume their usual course, with winking and secret affairs. The family and social order is preserved. The little cashier and the peasant girl fall by the wayside as victims.
reception
In Italy the production grossed just over 600 million lire at the box office. This made it the seventh most successful among domestic films.
In 1966 the film-dienst noticed that behind the facade of honor, loyalty and integrity there was “lust and intrigue”. Germi fell back slightly behind his earlier works, which were artistically serious, with a small step towards the Schwank, away from committed, indignant laughter and towards malicious glee and malicious mockery.
The Protestant film observer distributed praise and criticism : “Brilliantly made, witty episode film that unfortunately tries to achieve its goals, entertainment and social criticism, in an ambiguous way. Therefore the recommendation must be refused. Unacceptable for young people. "
Web links
- Now, now, gentlemen ... in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- But, but, gentlemen ... on comingsoon.it (Italian)
Individual evidence
- ^ Rémi Fournier Lanzoni: Comedy Italian style . Continuum, New York 2008, ISBN 978-0-8264-1822-7 , p. 255.
- ↑ Carlo Celli, Marga Cottino-Jones: A New Guide to Italian Cinema . Palgrave, New York 2007, ISBN 1-403-97560-4 , p. 177.
- ↑ film service . No. 30/1966, drawn by "ejW".
- ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 377/1966.