Il bell'Antonio

Il bell'Antonio
Film poster
Directed byMauro Bolognini
Written by
Based on
Produced byAlfredo Bini
Starring
CinematographyArmando Nannuzzi
Edited byNino Baragli
Music byPiero Piccioni
Production
companies
Distributed byCino Del Duca
Release date
  • 1960 (1960)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries
  • Italy
  • France
LanguageItalian

Il bell'Antonio ("Handsome Antonio") is a 1960 Italian-French drama film directed by Mauro Bolognini and starring Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale.[1] It is based on the novel of the same name by Vitaliano Brancati and was adapted for the screen by Pier Paolo Pasolini and Gino Visentini, moving the novel's setting during Italy's fascist era to the present.[2]

The film won the Golden Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival.[3] In 2008, the film was included in the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."[4]

Plot

Student Antonio returns from Rome, where he has lived off his father's fortune, to his hometown Catania, as his father has invested the family's assets into an orange grove and can no longer finance Antonio's lifestyle. Given his reputation as a Don Juan type, Antonio's parents decide to arrange a marriage for him with the notary Puglisi's daughter Barbara. Antonio, initially hesitant, falls helplessly in love with Barbara after seeing her photograph.

A year later, Puglisi confronts Antonio's incredulous father with the fact that the marriage was never consummated, and obtains an annulment. Barbara soon marries the rich Duke of Bronte, leaving Antonio grief-stricken and lovesick. He confesses to his cousin Edoardo that previously he could sleep with women and feel nothing for them, but finds he is impotent with a woman for whom he truly loves.

Some time later, Antonio's father dies from a heart attack during a visit to a brothel in an attempt to prove his own virility. While the family is still in mourning, the housemaid Santuzza collapses, revealing that she is pregnant by Antonio. Antonio's mother announces to relatives and neighbours that Antonio will be a father, and arranges another marriage. When Edoardo rings up Antonio to congratulate him, Antonio declares that he still thinks of Barbara and weeps.

Cast

References

  1. ↑ "NY Times: Il bell'Antonio". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on 2012-10-20. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  2. ↑ "Il bell'Antonio". Il Cinema Ritrovato. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
  3. ↑ "Winners of the Golden Leopard". Locarno. Archived from the original on 2009-07-19. Retrieved 2012-08-12.
  4. ↑ "Ecco i cento film italiani da salvare Corriere della Sera". www.corriere.it. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
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