Tuesday, December 1, 2009

by way of illustration


review: Pietro Germi's maliciously funny examination (1964) of the marriage rites of Sicily, done up in a crowded, cartoonish style that suggests the work of Preston Sturges. The wit may be closer to Evelyn Waugh--the jokes are cruel and corrosive, and why not when the subject is sexual hypocrisy? Stefania Sandrelli, as the girl in desperate need of a husband, maintains a beatific calm in the midst of the manic goings-on.

"It's a man's right to ask, a woman's duty to refuse!" i ain't gonna comment on that one.

1 comment:

nipper said...

i would love to comment on that quote...
sounds like an obligatory puritanical foreplay, to tempt one to engage in one of the deadly sins. or pure and simple its a 'set up for failure' maybe evelyn waugh would chime in on! :)