Boccaccio '70 (1962)

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1. 

   Thorkell

   4 films by Italian masters on sex in the 60s, in 3 hours and 15. Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti & Mario Monicelli. De Sica and Fellini made a comedy while Visconti and Monicelli made a drama.
   
   Fellini and Visconti steal the show. Fellini made a film about a prude who thinks Anita Ekberg is too sexy. Funny and imaginative film. Visconti made a strong film about the role of women, as either the whore or the holy mother.
   
   Sophia Loren is incredibly sexy in the film De Sica made but the film is neither funny nor original. Loren is the only reason to watch it. At least Monicelli made a relative film about the 60s.
   
   Over all a good collection and well worth watching. 7/10 11 years 9 months ago
2. 

   Joculator

   Sophia Loren is great as always. 12 years 1 month ago
3. 

   Siskoid

   I don't know why Boccaccio '70 is called that, given that it was made in 1962 and doesn't have a frame tale like Boccaccio's Decameron or anything, but it's an anthology film about the uses of sex and the fear of sex, presenting four short films, mostly in the comedic vein, by two of Italy's best known auteurs, and well, two I've never heard of (the only film I've seen between the latter is a terrible Goldie Hawn vehicle). And when I saw short films, I don't really mean it. Clocking in at nearly 3½ hours, Boccaccio's four tales could each have been their own movies without breaking a sweat. The anthology is too long for casual viewing, and the chapters just a touch too short for feature length. It's an odd beast. But is it good? I think each of the four pieces are worthy, though the less known directors provide the weakest pieces. Monicelli's Renzo and Luciana, about newlyweds struggling to get their lives started peaceably is nice slice of life, but doesn't really have much of an ending. Meanwhile, there's a reckoning to be had between husband and wife after a sex scandal breaks in Visconti's The Job. While it benefits from a young Romy Schneider's performance, it takes a long time to take off, but it also has an excellent (and sad) ending. Fellini's The Temptation of Dr Antonio is a delightful farce about a prude who feels antagonized by what he sees as a debased world and is particularly tortured by a giant, sexy billboard selling milk. Really very cool special effects accompany this mad satire, and Fellini throws in a bunch of visual double entendres. A lot of fun. And I've never disliked a collaboration between De Sica and Sophia Lauren. In The Raffle, she's part of a travelling carnival which sells lottery tickets where she's the prize. It's a fairly thin story, but she has such an amazing presence, it hardly matters. Perhaps one to watch in pieces? 1 year 2 months ago

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