Boccaccio '70 (1962)

Four directors tell tales of Eros fit for a 1970s Decameron. Working-class lovers, Renzo and Luciana, marry but must hide it from her employer; plus, they need a room of their own. A ... See full summary »

Directors:

Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini,

Writers:

Giovanni Arpino (segment), Italo Calvino (segment),

Stars:

Marisa Solinas, Anita Ekberg, Romy Schneider

1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Marisa Solinas	...	Luciana (segment "Renzo e Luciana")
Germano Gilioli	...	Renzo (segment "Renzo e Luciana")
Anita Ekberg	...	Anita (segment "Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio")
Peppino De Filippo	...	Dr. Antonio Mazzuolo (segment "Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio")
Romy Schneider	...	Pupe (segment "Il lavoro")
Tomas Milian	...	Conte Ottavio (segment "Il lavoro") (as Thomas Milian)
Romolo Valli	...	Lawyer Zacchi (segment "Il lavoro")
Sophia Loren	...	Zoe (segment "La riffa")
Luigi Giuliani	...	Gaetano (segment "La riffa")
Alfio Vita	...	Cuspet (segment "La riffa")

Storyline

Four directors tell tales of Eros fit for a 1970s Decameron. Working-class lovers, Renzo and Luciana, marry but must hide it from her employer; plus, they need a room of their own. A billboard of Anita Ekberg provocatively selling milk gives a prudish crusader for public decency more than he can handle. The wife of a count whose escapades with call girls make the front page of the papers decides to work to prove her independence, but what is she qualified to do? A buxom carnival-booth manager who owes back taxes offers herself for one night in a lottery: a nerdy sacristan and a jealous cowboy make for a lovers' triangle. In each, women take charge, but not always happily.

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Plot Keywords:

billboard | episodic structure | decamerotic | directed by several directors | marriage | 

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Taglines:

The First 3-Act Motion Picture Ever Presented!

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian German

Release Date:

26 June 1962 (USA)

Also Known As:

Boccaccio 70

Filming Locations:

E.U.R., Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cineriz, Concordia Compagnia Cinematografica, Francinex

Technical Specs

Runtime:

205 min 125 min (3 episodes) (cut) 158 min (3 episodes) 150 min (3 episodes) (cut) 150 min (3 episodes) (cut) 208 min (4 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor/Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Federico Fellini's segment, "Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio", was his first work in color.

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Connections

Referenced in Mafioso (1962)

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Soundtracks

"Day Dream"
Written by La Touche - Stray Horne - Duke Ellington

User Reviews

Modern Eros

Boccacio was a 14th century Italian poet, storyteller and humanist who among other works wrote "Decameron", a collection of licentious stories which is very much appreciated even nowadays. In 1962 four great Italian film directors (Monicelli, Fellini, Visconti and de Sica) made this movie in four episodes (each one by one of them) inspired on the same theme of Bocaccio's work i.e. erotic love in our times under several of its forms: marital, repressed, adulterous and paid for. It combines Monicelli's humour with Fellini's symbolism, Visconti's psychological realism and de Sica's social and moral satire. In my opinion the best episode is de Sica's one, the story of a beautiful woman (Sophia Loren) who runs a shooting sideshow in a funfair. The less good is perhaps Visconti's one story of a rich couple whose wife revenges herself of her husband's infidelity in a curious and elegant way because of somewhat dull dialogues which is however compensated by the gorgeous interior sceneries of the palace where his episode takes place like he has already made us familiar with in some of his other movies. All the episodes combine humour, sensuality and light drama in balanced doses and will undoubtedly please the viewers.