This is a great film. With deeper content then is first evident. The Neapolitan atmosphere adds charm and humor to the treatment. The beautiful Neapolitan songs are delightful to listen to. Unless you're Italian from the post war era or grew up in a first generation Italian American home, as I did, you may not understand the reference to the post WW2 classic Neapoitan song "Munasterio Santa Chiara" a sad and beautiful tune that deals with the changes that afflicted Neapolitan society after the War. However, the theme of the movie, the exploitation of the poor especially poor women by the wealthier, specifically in prostitution and the keeping of a mistresses could and does occur in every society. Loren plays Filomena a poor girl who chooses to use her beauty to escape crushing poverty. The Neapolitan background adds a specific texture to the film. Her Catholic background leads her to hide from her lover the fact that she was pregnant with his child. The reason being that he would then pressure her into an abortion which would violate her whole being. Her desire for respectability leads her to not to disclose to any of her three sons that she is their mother. But Naples is more than just a background for the film. It serves to humanize the characters Mastroiani is not simply a cad. He really loves Loren though he is reluctant to admit it. The tacit acceptance of unconventional circumstance with an underlying tolerance and humor is a hallmark of the Neapolitan character. and gives added credibility to the ending. In the hands of say Ingmar Bergman the film could be a stark tragedy. DeSica, Loren, and Mastroianni turn it into a comic masterpiece.
Review of Marriage Italian Style
