Boccaccio '70 - (Mr Bongo Films) (1962) [DVD]

Boccaccio '70 is an Italian film that is made up of four parts, each being directed by a different person. Mario Monicelli, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Vittorio de Sica direct the four shorts. The only thing they have in common is they deal with love and life. Furthermore, they each have an unforgettable woman that is beautiful and enchanting. The four parts addd up to be a great sampling of Italian cinema and show why it is fun.

The first story shows us how ridiculous life can be. A woman working at an office is forbidden to be married or even have a boy friend, so she must secretly marry the man she loves. Keeping her secret from her boss isn't so easy and is quite funny.

Next, a man that goes out of his way to uphold morality and force women to cover up is faced with a provocative giant-size advertisement. He finds the woman on the billboard, which encourages people to drink milk, too stimulating. He becomes just as obsessed with the woman on the billboard as he does with his quest to cover it up.

The third part is probably the most somber. A wealthy count is exposed in the press using the services of expensive call girls. His beautiful wife is faced with this trying situation and professes to find work so that she can make her own money. But living a pampered life, her options are limited.

The final story stars Sophia Loren as a carnival worker who schemes a way to make some fast money to pay her bills. She ends up selling tickets to a lottery in which she is the prize for one night. The guy courting her isn't too happy when he finds out and the winner is so timid he hardly knows what to do.

Although all of the stories are entertaining, my favorite one is the fantasy about the giant woman. It is fortunate that these shorts were assembled into this package because as stand alone films they probably would not have been as marketable and remained unknown. Boccaccio '70 makes an enjoyable introduction to Italian cinema.

I bought this DVD because I am interested in the work of the director Luchino Visconti. But this movie of four-films-in-one, each separate film directed by a different Italian (the others are Mario Monicelli, Federico Fellini, and Vittorio de Sica) under overall producer Carlo Ponti, has proved to be an interesting and valued purchase for all four movies.

Produced in 1962 as a take on modern romance in the style of the Renaissance poet Boccaccio's `Decameron', I can understand why the original film may not have been hot box office material when it was first released. Despite featuring some of the hottest Italian and international stars of the day - Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, Romy Schneider, Peppino de Filippo, Alfio Vita - it would be asking much for a member of the audience to sit through four films in one go, whose aggregate running time is over three hours. But watched separately on consecutive evenings, the outlooks that each film gives about modern Italian relationships in the 1960s is entertaining and insightful. There are also many features of these films that comment on other aspects of modern life, even on the film-making process itself, but this is sadly not the place to review such matters. Instead, I give a brief synopsis of each film.

In the first movie (directed by Monicelli) a young couple in the brave new world of postwar northern Italy (high-rise flats and down-payments for a new cooker) cannot let their employer know that they have secretly married for fear of losing their jobs. Fellini's film is a clever take on the story of the temptation of Saint Anthony; in this case a self-appointed moral guardian in Rome is haunted by a lascivious billboard advertising milk. Visconti's contribution is set in high-class Milanese society (where else?), where a young but penniless count has married a young-but-rich industrialist's daughter. She wants to work for a living, but the job she finds is not what she expected. Finally, de Sica's is in his element at the fair in Lugo, where an illiterate female stallholder becomes the raffle-prize for the night, a prize won by the church sacristan.

Ponti said that despite Visconti's film being shot on only the one set, his was the most expensive of the four. All four films have their comic elements, whether it's the slapstick of Doctor Antonio during an al fresco lunch or the bumbling patter of Count Ottavio's lawyer. Music for two of the films is provided by Nino Rota. My DVD comes with an 18 certificate. I have no idea why this is so.

Whether you're a fan of Italian cinema, have a hankering for the 1960s, have an interest in late-twentieth century social studies, or just enjoy good films, this DVD provides you with four classics in one. Alas, there are no extras.

Though an ardent Fellini fan, it took me some time before getting round to buying this 'portmanteau' of four separate stories from Italy's leading directors of the time.

Which was actually 1962 and not the 1970 that the title suggests. Portraying love, sex and lust in the 'modern age' hence the futuristic date in the title each part is 50 minutes long and in my experience, is best watched in two sittings. You'll probably have read that as well as Fellini, Vittorio de Sica, Luchino Visconti and Mario Monicelli, all but the last being very well known to knowledgeable film buffs.

It takes nine writers, including input and ideas from the directors themselves to mould the very different stories here. The women definitely hold the upper hand in every one of them, loftily placed on pedestals - busty Anita Ekberg in Fellini's; Romy Schneider in Visconti's and Sophia Loren in de Sica's.

The first segment, from Monicelli, is actually a bonus on the DVD as it was apparently cut from theatrical releases shown outside Italy. But, actually, that part is a good setting point - ordinary young female factory workers who live with the worry of everyday life and love and the hanging threat of old traditions, the Church and ruthless employers who attempt to quell their youthful desire for sex. Some scenes, with busy trams and bustling street scenes at rush-hour, remind me of the earlier classic 'Bicycle Thieves'.

Visconti's part is a talky - and fairly boring - 'discussion', fixed to one nice, very posh apartment. The subject is now rather ordinary, probably unlike then, that I'm wanting more substance and variety. There again, I never was 'into' Visconti - high on style and period detail but low on flair and exuberance, at least compared to the others.

Fellini was in the late autumn of his career at this point and this manifests itself by him displaying some trademark vaguely tasteless wit, swipes at Catholicism and Authority but surprising us with some truly inspiring set-pieces. His first foray into colour, it's a very bumpy and uneven ride, bounding from barely watchable to reassuringly great and familiar.

A young and very shapely Sophia Loren, under De Sica, is used to portray many themes in neo-realist Italian cinema - Life itself. Outdoor fairs, sultry night-times when lovers and larger-than-life characters come out to play and village pettiness all affect this red-dressed temptress, who, like so many, yearn for greater and better things. It's at a touch funny and sad, but oddly, not as compelling as it should be. Though never the greatest actress, Loren doesn't let the side down, but her raw physical beauty always means that is what is seen first, before emotional depth.

Critical reviews vary - some quarters saying that it's a lot of wasted talent. My immediate response is that all the directors and key players have done far better work and those seeking them out for the first time should look elsewhere - I'd hate for anyone to be put off potentially brilliant Italian cinema by them watching this and being disappointed.

However, for Completists, like me, who have seen and loved these great director's best films, then the draw will become insufferably great and purchase will become inevitable. At least this quality transfer Mr Bongo release allows us to sample this odd collection at a good value price.