The Pizza Triangle (1970)

A three-way love affair in the Rome of the early seventies. Construction worker Oreste and young fiancee Adelaide meet Nello, cook in a pizzeria. This love triangle often go to communist ... See full summary »

Director:

Ettore Scola

Writers:

Agenore Incrocci (screenplay) (as Age), Furio Scarpelli (screenplay) (as Scarpelli)

Stars:

Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti, Giancarlo Giannini

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Oreste
Monica Vitti	...	Adelaide
Giancarlo Giannini	...	Nello
Manuel Zarzo	...	Ugo (as Manolo Zarzo)
Marisa Merlini	...	Silvana
Hércules Cortés	...	Ambleto di Meo
Fernando Sánchez Polack	...	District Head of Communist Party (as Fernando Sanchez Polak)
Gioia Desideri	...	Adelaide's Friend
Juan Diego	...	Antonia's Son
Bruno Scipioni	...	Pizza maker
Josefina Serratosa	...	Antonia
Giuseppe Maffioli	...	Lawyer
Corrado Gaipa	...	President of tribunal
Paola Natale	...	Flower Seller
Brizio Montinaro	...	Restaurant Night Guard

Storyline

A three-way love affair in the Rome of the early seventies. Construction worker Oreste and young fiancee Adelaide meet Nello, cook in a pizzeria. This love triangle often go to communist rallies, and enjoy the filthy beach of Ostia. Will the hostile environment leave a way to jealousy?

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Plot Keywords:

italy | stabbing | beach | construction worker | love triangle | 

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Taglines:

The story of a woman who was completely faithful...to two men

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

30 April 1970 (Italy)

Also Known As:

The Pizza Triangle

Filming Locations:

Piazza San Giovanni, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dean Film,Jupiter Generale Cinematografica,Midega Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Ridendo e scherzando - Ritratto di un regista all'italiana (2015)

User Reviews

Lost in Translation?

The fact that Paul Frees seems to do all the men's voices except for Marcello Mastroianni's and Giancarlo Giannini's seems to add a certain sameness to all the other men in the dubbed version of this film. Mastroianni is a communist bricklayer in love with Monica Vitti and she with him. He's best friends with Giannini, a Communist pizza maker, who's in love with Monica Vitti and she with him. It's like a dirty joke about them commies, they share everything. Except being human, they can't. It drives everyone crazy and the movie is very funny.

There seems to be enormous amounts of real subtextual commentary lost in translation. Mastroianni has his middle left finger in a sling throughout the movie, and is occasionally found on trash heaps. Given that his character's name is "Oreste" I think there's a reference to the classical legend, but it's not the Homeric, Pindaric, Sophoclean versions, but the bogus Robert Graves Year-King, fighting over Monica Vitti. Mastroianni does have flies buzzing around him a lot, indicating he's the Old King.

Given three screenwriters, including Age and Scarpelli, and Ettore Scola directing (he had given Vitti her first screen role almost two decades earlier), there is obviously a lot in this movie that is both precisely of its time and of its place, ill suited to the sort of random translation that an Italian sex comedy got in the 1970s. Unless someone is willing to go back and do a more careful translation, there's little more than a funny and bizarre comedy here. However it certainly is that.