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Saturday, November 14, 2020

PADRI E FIGLI / A TAILOR’S MAID (1957)

While no BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET/’58 or THE ORGANIZER/’63, this ensemble piece from commedia all'italiana master Mario Monicelli is an utter delight from start to finish, a modest, yet considerable charmer.  With slight, slightly interconnected storylines, mostly about Fathers & Sons, as per its original title, but with a few daughters & mothers in the mix.  Part of the amazingly consistent work coming out of this period in Italian film when it seemed everyone and his brother knew how to make a movie.  As if classic film technique were something you were born with, or acquired with pasta.  Top acting honors to Vittorio De Sica as the ladies’ tailor whose high school daughter is seeing a slightly older boy, son of an irascible doctor.  A scene at a pool hall, with De Sica, not letting on who he is, casually giving out tips on dating to the boy is pretty irresistible character comedy stuff.  Topped here only by the warmth growing between a childless Marcello Mastroianni and a six year old kid he and his wife are caring for while he gets over a case of the measles.  (The kid has four brothers to keep away from.)  The two bond right away, sharing late night dinners & surrogate father/son bonding that help Mastroianni discover how much he wants/needs a kid of his own.  Plus Franco Interlenghi, the older boy from De Sica’s SHOESHINE, about to become a first-time dad; along with three or four more little stories, each beautifully paced, portrayed & played out turn the whole film into an E-Ticket ride.  And what a treat to have synch sound rather than the usual Italian dubbing that distances us from the situations while playing at a monotonous forte.  A very happy film, a lark made by a master.

DOUBLE-BILL: As mentioned above, THE ORGANIZER, a more serious, more powerful film than you expect from Monicelli.  With a towering perf from Mastroianni.

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