Marriage Italian Style Movie Review:
Today I wanted to give my review of the movie, Marriage Italian Style. I was very intrigued with this movie, as I’ve always loved any classic Italian films. I had not heard of this movie previously, so I was excited to watch and see what the film was about. This movie was filmed in 1964 and is labelled as a “Comedy/ Drama.” \
Within the first few minutes of the movie, I knew I would be intrigued and hooked on it. The first few scenes of the movie introduce the two main characters, Domenico and Filomena. I had not looked up any reviews of the movie prior, or looked up what is about. Initially, I thought this was going to be a movie about the war in Naples, because the introduction of the main characters was them hiding from an invasion of bombs and gunshots. However, this was not the main premise of the movie at all. The movie gets right into giving an overview of who the Filomena and Domenico are, and what their relationship is.
Filomena falls in love with Domenico at the age of 17, when she meets him at the brothel. She was smitten over Domenico and was on and off with him for about two decades. However, Filomena’s feelings were always stronger, she wanted to marry Domenico and start a family with him. Throughout the movie, Filomena’s character develops by straining away from Domenico as she realizes he will never love her the way she loves him.
I definitely did not expect the ending of this movie. After Domenico decides he wants to marry a younger girl working as a cashier at his shop, Filomena’s character completely changes. She reveals she has 3 kids, and one of them is Domenico’s. This was definitely a shocking turning point in the movie, as Domenico had been portrayed as cold hearted and money hungry up until this point. He spends days trying to figure out which son is his, and I finally saw his emotional and loving side revealed.
I thought this movie was very well filmed. This movie showed the evolution of the relationship between Filomena and Domenico over two decades. I was definitely shocked at how the movie fully ended, and was not expecting them to get married.
I loved how Filomena was portrayed and her role in this movie. She was portrayed as a strong, independent woman who at the end of the movie, reveals she has three kids. She kept her children a secret because she did not want anyone to tell her to get an abortion, as no one supported her decision to keep them. The movie shows she always had her children’s best interest at heart, and wanted to make sure they grew up safe and worked for what they wanted. I also enjoyed seeing the change of heart with Domenico, he was very stubborn and cold through most of the movie.
My favorite scene of the movie is when Filomena pretended to be sick and dying. I actually thought she was sick and had very little time left. She pretended to be sick in order to get Domenico to marry her. It was a huge turning point in the movie because I really saw how much she loved Domenico and was desperate for him to love her too. Unfortunately he only married her because he was convinced she was actually sick. After this scene, there was a huge change in character in Filomena and she stood up for herself and her feelings for the first time.
Overall, I would definitely recommend others to watch this movie. If you enjoy watching drama and romance movies, this would definitely be a movie you would enjoy. The director did an excellent job of telling a story that took place over twenty years.
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