The Most Beautiful Wife (1970)

A young poor girl receives a marriage proposal from a mafia novice. She's going to refuse, but he's going to insist - at all cost.

Director:

Damiano Damiani

Writers:

Damiano Damiani (screenplay), Damiano Damiani (story)

Stars:

Alessio Orano, Ornella Muti, Tano Cimarosa

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alessio Orano	...	Vito Juvara
Ornella Muti	...	Francesca
Tano Cimarosa	...	Gaetano Cimarosa (as Gaetano Cimarosa)
Joe Sentieri	...	Poidomani
Enzo Andronico	...	Avvocato
Amerigo Tot	...	Antonino Stella
Pierluigi Aprà	...	Tenente dei carabinieri (as Pier Luigi Apra)
Salvatore Baccaro	...	(as Salvatore Vaccaro)
Sandro Arlotta
Diego Morreale
Mariella Palmich
Giuseppe Lauricella
Jocelyne Munchenbach	...	(as Joceline Münchenbach)
Fortunato Arena
Prassede Nogara

Storyline

Based on the story of Franca Viola and Filippo Melodia. In Sicily, as a Mafia boss leaves for prison, he advises Vito, a young man who's his potential successor, to marry a virtuous and poor woman. Vito's eye settles on Francesca, only 15, but lovely and self-possessed. Among her virtues are high self worth and forthright speech, so although she falls in love with Vito, she won't bow down to him. Believing he's losing face, he has his boys kidnap her and he rapes her. Then, he tells her he'll still marry her. Instead, she files charges. Her parents, brother, and neighbors refuse to support her. Will she break? Will Vito continue his assaults?

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Plot Keywords:

poliziottesco | arrest | arrogance | arson | assassination | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Ornella Muti recalls that during a scene, bent over a corpse, she had to cry but couldn't. So Damiano Damiani gave her a slap in the face. "I was so traumatized that even today, when they ask me for tears on the set, I remain stuck"-she says.

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Connections

Edited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)

User Reviews

The Great Damiani

Starting from the surprisingly excellent "I am not scared" (strongly recommended), I started to become interested in Damiano Damani's movies and I was stunned to discover what a great and socially committed director he was! This movie surely ranks among his best. It deals with the condition of women in the regions of mafia, where mentality is so narrow and ignorant to become almost hilarious when not dramatic. The character played by the beautiful and very young Ornella Muti is a real marvel. In her village she is one of its kind: she is intelligent, sensible, has a strong temper, sense of justice and anti-conformist views. In other words she cannot easily merge in the social context she is growing in. The plot develops slowly and little by little one is sucked into the story thanks to a group of very good actors, a nice score by Morricone and mainly Damiani's masterful screenplay. The end is very touching, as the tears in the sensitive young girl represent the tragic but necessary result of a chain of events that it was impossible to stop. This movie, together with "L'istruttoria e' chiusa: dimentichi"; "Pizza Connection"; "Confessions of a Police Captain" and "Un uomo in ginocchio" should constantly pass through the Italian national TV schedules, as the lesson(s) is still far from being learnt.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

12 March 1970 (Italy)

Also Known As:

A Mulher mais Bela

Filming Locations:

Partinico, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Explorer Film '58, Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (P.A.C.), Rewind Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1