''Boccaccio '70'' is a 1962

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

anthology film directed by

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Sciuscià'' and ''Bicycle Thieves'' (honorary) ...

, Federico Fellini, Mario Monicelli and

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, stage director, and screenwriter. A major figure of Italian art and culture in the mid-20th century, Visconti was one of the ...

from an idea by

Cesare Zavattini Cesare Zavattini (20 September 1902 – 13 October 1989) was an Italian screenwriter and one of the first theorists and proponents of the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema. Biography Born in Luzzara near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, ...

. It consists of four episodes, each by one of the directors, all about a different aspect of morality and love in modern times in the style of Giovanni Boccaccio.

Plot

''Renzo e Luciana''

Directed by Mario Monicelli. Written by Giovanni Arpino,

Italo Calvino Italo Calvino (, also , ;. RAI (circa 1970), retrieved 25 October 2012. 15 October 1923 – 19 September 1985) was an Italian writer and journalist. His best known works include the '' Our Ancestors'' trilogy (1952–1959), the ''Cosmicomi ...

Suso Cecchi d'Amico Suso Cecchi D'Amico (21 July 1914 – 31 July 2010) was an Italian screenwriter and actress. She won the 1980 David di Donatello Award for lifetime career. She worked with virtually all of the most celebrated post-war Italian film directors, and ...

and Mario Monicelli. Music by

Piero Umiliani Piero Umiliani (17 July 1926 – 14 February 2001) was an Italian composer of film scores. Biography Umiliani was born in Florence, Tuscany. Like many of his Italian colleagues at that time, he composed the scores for many exploitation f ...

. With Marisa Solinas and Germano Giglioli. In ''Renzo e Luciana'' (''Renzo and Luciana''), a young couple tries to hide their marriage and the wife’s supposed pregnancy from the draconian rules at their place of employment, which has banned female employees from getting married and having children. Their efforts – both at their shared home (having temporarily moved into her family's crowded apartment), and at work (where they go so far as to pretend not to know each other) – causes pressure to mount on the couple. Their hope is to make it through until they have managed to save some money to move out, and are dependent on Renzo going to night school to become an accountant. Finally their life together has some privacy, but they are increasingly separated by their respective shifts: he returns home from work just when she has to leave to go there. This first episode was only included in the Italian distribution of the film. Out of solidarity toward Monicelli, the other three directors did not go to the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

for the presentation of the film.

''Le Tentazioni del Dottor Antonio''

Directed by Federico Fellini. Written by Fellini,

Ennio Flaiano Ennio Flaiano (5 March 1910 – 20 November 1972) was an Italian screenwriter, playwright, novelist, journalist, and drama critic. Best known for his work with Federico Fellini, Flaiano co-wrote ten screenplays with the Italian director, including ...

and

Tullio Pinelli Tullio Pinelli (24 June 1908 – 7 March 2009) was an Italian screenwriter known for his work on the Federico Fellini films ''I Vitelloni'', ''La Strada'', '' La Dolce Vita'' and '' 8½''. Biography Born in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, Pinelli beg ...

. Music by

Nino Rota Giovanni Rota Rinaldi (; 3 December 1911 – 10 April 1979), better known as Nino Rota (), was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor and academic who is best known for his film scores, notably for the films of Federico Fellini and Luchino Visco ...

. With Peppino De Filippo and

Anita Ekberg Kerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg (; 29 September 193111 January 2015) was a Swedish actress active in American and European films, known for her beauty and stunning figure. She became prominent in her iconic role as Sylvia in the Federico Fellini ...

. In ''Le Tentazioni del Dottor Antonio'' (''The Temptation of Dr Antonio''), Dr Antonio Mazzuolo, a middle-aged man, has taken it upon himself to be the protector of Rome's morality and law and order from what he sees as vice, crime and immorality throughout the city. The doctor (in his tiny Fiat equipped with a police spotlight) wages his one-man crusade – shining the spotlight at lovers in parked cars, or bounding on stage of a cabaret, ordering the stage crew (which includes a smiling police officer) to shut the lights, as he closes the curtain behind a line of bewildered chorus girls. He admonishes the audience to 'go home, and spend (their) money' in a 'better way instead of seeing this filth.' His anger knows no bounds when a provocative billboard of Anita Ekberg with the tag line "drink more milk" is put up in a park near his residence. Little does he know how the billboard will impact his life. Throughout the film, children are heard singing the jingle "Bevete più latte, bevete più latte!" ("Drink more milk!"). The image begins to haunt him with hallucinations in which Ekberg appears as a temptress. After his delirium culminates in throwing a spear at Ekberg's image, he is found collapsed on top of the billboard and transported away in an ambulance to the children's song.

''Il Lavoro''

Directed by

. Written by Suso Cecchi d'Amico and Visconti. Music by Nino Rota. With

Romy Schneider Romy Schneider (; born Rosemarie Magdalena Albach; 23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982) was a German-French actress. She began her career in the German genre in the early 1950s when she was 15. From 1955 to 1957, she played the central chara ...

Tomas Milian Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and ...

, and

Romolo Valli Romolo Valli (7 February 1925 – 1 February 1980) was an Italian actor. Valli was born in Reggio Emilia. He was one of the best known Italian actors from the 1950s to his death. He worked for both the stage and the silver screen. Among the ...

. ''Il Lavoro'' (''The Job''), is about an aristocratic couple. The husband is caught by the press visiting prostitutes. After saying she intends from then on to work for her income, the wife demands payment from her husband for her sexual services, to which he agrees.

''La Riffa''

Directed by

. Written by

. Music by

Armando Trovajoli Armando Trovajoli (also Trovaioli, 2 September 1917 – 28 February 2013) was an Italian film composer and pianist with over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor, many of them jazz scores for exploitation films of the Commedia all'italiana ...

. With Sophia Loren. In ''La Riffa'' (''The Raffle''), a timid lottery winner is entitled to one night with the attractive Zoe (Sophia Loren). Zoe, however, has other plans.

Cast

* Marisa Solinas as Luciana * Germano Giglioli as Renzo * Peppino De Filippo as Dr. Antonio Mazzuolo *

as herself *

as Pupe *

as Ottavio *

as Zacchi * Sophia Loren as Zoe

Artistic legacy

An orchestrated version of the song "Bevete più latte", from ''Le Tentazioni del Dottor Antonio'', was one of 13 tracks, recorded by Italian band Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel and arranged by Fabrizio France, for their 2009 album "Nino Rota, L'Amico Magico," released to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1979 death of composer

. "Bevete più latte" was also used in the song "Milk Sheik" by singer

Lizzy Mercier Descloux Martine-Elisabeth "Lizzy" Mercier Descloux (16 December 1956 – 20 April 2004) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, composer, actress, writer and painter. Early life Mercier Descloux grew up in Lyon, France, but returned to her native Pari ...

on her album '' Mambo Nassau'' from 1981.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1962 films 1962 comedy films 1960s Italian-language films Commedia all'italiana Films directed by Federico Fellini Films directed by Luchino Visconti Films directed by Mario Monicelli Films directed by Vittorio De Sica Films produced by Carlo Ponti Films scored by Armando Trovajoli Films scored by Nino Rota Films scored by Piero Umiliani Films set in Milan Films set in Rome Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini Films with screenplays by Federico Fellini French anthology films Giovanni Boccaccio Italian anthology films 1960s Italian films