Independent Films, Film Profiles

Marriage Italian-Style
by Vittorio_De_Sica

Marriage Italian-Style (Italian: Matrimonio all'italiana) is a 1964 film which tells the story of a successful businessman who kept a woman as his mistress for several years and now plans to marry another woman until his mistress pretends to be on her deathbed to induce him to marry her before she dies. It stars Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and Vito Moricone.One of the movie's most memorable moments is when the Mastroianni character is speaking on the phone with his new flame, shortly after having married the "moribund" Filumena.Wild-eyed, she emerges from the shadows behind him and, as he is reassuring the other woman that Filumena "is agonizing" and will soon be dead, she, with her thick neapolitan accent, exclaims: "the moribund is here, to stay!".The movie was adapted by Leonardo Benvenuti, Renato Castellani, Piero De Bernardi and Tonino Guerra from the play Filumena Marturano by Eduardo De Filippo. It was directed by Vittorio De Sica.It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film in 1966, and for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 1965.Filomena Marturano had already been adapted as a film in 1950 in Argentina.