Marriage Italian Style (1964) DVD

Wealthy playboy Domenico Soriano's (Marcello Mastroianni) life revolves around a careful management of his business and private affairs. His complacency is challenged by Filumena Marturano (Sophia Loren). A former prostitute, she becomes Domenico s mistress and manages his pastry shop, grateful for her lover s generosity. The equation of the relationship changes when she catches Domenico flaunting his younger mistress before her. Enraged she tricks Domenico into marrying her and tethers her reluctant husband by revealing that he's the father of at least one of her three children.

Adapted from a play by Eduardo de Filippo, Marriage Italian Style is a satirical examination of the institution of marriage in Italian society. A singular coming together of talents, it features two of Italy's greatest stars - Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren directed by fellow national treasure Vittorio de Sica. Marriage Italian Style falls in the middle-period of his career where the tough realism of The Bicycle Thief achieves a refined elegance in this uncompromising film.