''Caprice Italian Style'' () is a 1968 Italian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by six different directors, including

Mario Monicelli Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, one of the masters of the ''commedia all'italiana'' ("Italian-style comedy"). He was nominated six times for an Academy Awards, Os ...

and

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

. The film starred both

Totò Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il principe della risat ...

and the comic duo

Franco and Ciccio Franco and Ciccio (, ) were a comic comedy duo formed by Italian actors Franco Franchi (1928–1992) and Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theatre field, and ende ...

Plot

The film is composed of five episodes. In the first a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

nanny behaves too rude and harsh with children, proposing to read comic social satire of Germany. The children are upset. In the second Toto is an old bourgeois who joins with a nice young girl. The girl follows the social models of the time, namely the "hippies" guys. Toto, however, is a man of the old school, and hates these young people who are considered by him dirty, ignorant and rude. But Toto soon comes in contact with them, and so plans a diabolical revenge against the youngsters. In the third a couple remains stuck in traffic in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. The woman, uncaring, intimates with violence her husband to look for a way out of traffic. She manages to exasperate the man who, after a crash with a car, holds the wrench and injures the driver. The woman then, hypocrite, accuses him of violence. In the fourth Totò and Ninetto are puppets specially created to give life to the show "

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

" by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. Ninetto plays the role of the protagonist, but he realizes that Othello is a very bad man, and still more bad is the parasite Iago, played by Totò; and so he begins to wonder why life is so bad. Toto replies that this is a mystery, because the two of them out of the scene are good, while in the history of Shakespeare's characters, they're bad. In the next episode, the Queen of the United Kingdom goes to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

as an ambassador, to bring a message of hope and brotherhood. However, the woman says a wrong speech, and so the African people, believing that she is doing a racist discourse, hunt alone she to the civilized world. In the last story a woman is haunted by her husband, because she thinks he is cheating on her. Eventually, after several quarrel, the man decides to betray really her, but in the end the emotional bond with his wife recovers.

The role of Totò

Totò in the film plays two episodes:'' The Monster of Sunday'', directed by Steno and'' What are clouds?'', directed by

. In the first Totò is a man of the world who hate the fashion of the sixties, especially that of young people today who have long hair down to his shoulders and they believe everything they see over and dated. One day, the young girlfriend of Toto brings home a group of long-haired musicians who are placed in the living room and destroy all the warm and peaceful atmosphere desired by Totò, who goes on a rampage. He plans to capture one by one the young hippies in his city and shave so that they become the children model and up to date. To do this, Totò changes position all the time and even disguise, placing first in the role of a priest, then a prostitute and finally a bagpipe player at the Spanish Steps in

, where it is recognized by all as "maniac kidnapper hippies". Reported to the police station, Totò manages to escape only proposing the judge to shave the hair also to his son who is hateful and staring just like all the other guys in the city who follow this fashion. In the second episode, the scene is set in a theater with no windows and exits where the puppets come to life to be infinitely the shows before the public.

Domenico Modugno Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song " Nel blu dipinto di blu", for which he received the fir ...

plays a scavenger singer who picks up the bodies of the puppets that occasionally break to throw them in the trash. This time the puppets interpret the tragedy ''Othello'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

: Ninetto Davoli plays the protagonist brown, while Totò is the cruel and treacherous Iago. To complete the picture, there are also

Franco Franchi Francesco Benenato (18 September 1928 – 9 December 1992), known as Franco Franchi, was an Italian actor, comedian and singer. He was born in Palermo, Sicily and began his career in the 1950s, although his career only really took off in the ...

and

Ciccio Ingrassia Francesco "Ciccio" Ingrassia (5 October 1922 – 28 April 2003) was an Italian actor, comedian and film director. He was born in Palermo, Sicily, and began his career in the 1950s, although his career only really took off in the 1960s. He star ...

in the role of captain and a guard. As the show continues, Ninetto begins to feel very sad because he is forced to play a thousand times the same roles and would like to find out what was outside the theater. In particular, he seeks the meaning of truth and Totò replied that the Truth is that which animates and makes interacting with other individuals. However, you should never say his name because otherwise it disappears. The scene continues with Othello discovers that the bride with handkerchief of another, bequeathed in his pocket cleverly by Iago, then the Moor of

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

strangles Desdemona acquiring the wrath of the public that breaks is the puppet that Ninetto Totò. The two bodies are dragged away by the garbage collector, under the gaze sad and moved by the puppets and thrown in the trash. The dump Totò and Ninetto have the chance to see the beauty that lies outside the theater: the clouds. Totò will say, "Oh, the heartbreaking, wonderful beauty of Creation!".

Cast

as Anziano signore/Iago *

Ugo D'Alessio Ugo D'Alessio (26 August 1909 – 16 February 1979) was an Italian film actor.Goble p.113 Selected filmography * '' Malaspina'' (1947) - Nicola * '' Madunnella'' (1948) - Il ragionere, padre di Maria * '' Assunta Spina'' (1948) - Epanimonda Pe ...

as Il commissario di PS * Regina Seiffert as La Ragazza *

Dante Maggio Dante Maggio (2 March 1909 – 3 March 1992) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in 115 films between 1940 and 1975. Born in Naples into a family of actors, Maggio had a turbulent adolescence that led his father to send him in an institute f ...

* Sandro Merli as Porter *

Renzo Marignano Renzo Marignano (26 March 1923 – 25 November 1987), sometimes credited as Renzo Marignani, was an Italian actor and film director. Born in Genoa, after World War II Marignano was one of the founders of ''Cimofilm'', a production company specia ...

as L'automobilista *

as Cassio *

as Roderigo * Ninetto Davoli as Othello *

Laura Betti Laura Betti ( Trombetti; May 1 1934 – 31 July 2004) was an Italian actress known particularly for her work with directors Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, and Bernardo Bertolucci. She had a long friendship with Pasolini and made a docume ...

as Desdemona *

Adriana Asti Adriana Asti (born 30 April 1931) is an Italian stage, film, and voice actress. Biography Adriana Asti appeared very young in Dino Risi's short film Buio in sala, shot in 1948. She made her theatrical debut in 1951 acting in Plautus' Miles Glo ...

as Bianca *

as Lo spazzino *

Carlo Pisacane Carlo Pisacane, Duke of San Giovanni (1818–1857) was an Italian patriot and one of the first Italian socialist thinkers. He was an early advocate of propaganda by deed, arguing that violence was necessary not only to draw attention to, or gen ...

as Brabanzio *

Francesco Leonetti Francesco Leonetti (27 January 1924 – 17 December 2017) was an Italian poet, novelist, art critic, teacher and political activist. Biography Leonetti was born in Cosenza in Calabria. In 1955 he moved to Bologna to study philosophy. There he me ...

as Il Burattinaio * Luigi Barbieri as Un burattino * Piero Morgia as Un burattino *

Silvana Mangano Silvana Mangano (; 21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 19 ...

as Bambinaia *

Princess Ira von Fürstenberg Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...

as Silvana *

Walter Chiari Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. Biography Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originall ...

as Paolo

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caprice Italian Style 1968 films 1968 comedy films Italian comedy films 1960s Italian-language films Films set in Rome Films set in Milan Films shot in Rome Films directed by Mario Monicelli Films directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini Films directed by Mauro Bolognini Films directed by Stefano Vanzina Films directed by Franco Rossi Films with screenplays by Cesare Zavattini Films with screenplays by Age & Scarpelli 1960s Italian films Italian-language comedy films