Italy’s greatest directors bring four stories of Italian mores in the sexy 1960s to life in the cinematic classic Boccaccio '70, released for the first time on DVD from the arthouse outfit, Mr Bongo.
Director Mario Monicelli’s recently rediscovered lost segment Renzo e Luciana is the first of the quartet, a sweet, funny play about two working class lovers who keep their impending marriage a secret in order to keep their jobs.
Federico Fellini follows with the wild fantasy Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio that shows why Fellini is Fellini. Starring Anita Ekberg, who beguiled audiences as the lady in the Trevi Fountain in La Dolce Vita, Fellini’s surreal play sees a prudish man driven insane when a giant billboard featuring the ravishing Anita Ekberg comes to life.
Luchino Visconti then provides some serious melodrama with Il lavoro, a play in which Romy Schneider shows her independence when her husband’s affairs make front page news.
Finally, Vittorio De Sica’s story La riffa sees screen siren Sophia Loren putting her sexual favours up for auction in a bid a to pay off her taxes.
With an exciting soundtrack from Nino Rota and Armando Trovaili and outstanding camerawork, featuring Italy’s most-loved directors, Boccaccio '70 is a slice of cinematic history past that deserves multiple viewings. In Italian with subtitles.
Released 2 June 2009
