Pane, amore e fantasia

Pane, Amore e Fantasia is a light, romantic comedy of manners that seems to have been resurrected from the fascist era, when, just like in Portuguese cinema during the Estado Novo, everyone was poor but honest, happy and God-fearing. The comedies exuded a social peace and collective well-being that only propaganda could create.

However, this is a post-war film, produced in the era of neo-realism. Vittorio de Sica himself, although behind the camera, had already made Sciusciá, Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D. What a contrast with the folkloric and innocent optimism of this Pane, Amore e Fantasia! Never has a title summed up a film so well.

And yet, the film also has virtues, despite its simplistic anachronism. Gina Lollobrigida plays a magnificent character, with a wild sensuality. The closed environment of the small provincial town, with its old men who know everything and control everything about other people's lives, has a delightful charm and irony, reminiscent of the best of Pagnol.

It is a light, nostalgic work, but certainly enjoyable to watch, which won the Silver Bear in Berlin and was even nominated for an Oscar for best original screenplay. A luminous island of peace and love, amidst the shadows of post-war Italian neo-realism.

I watched this film with a bit of sadness. There will never be another set of Italian films that boast of the passion, truth, and joy of the neorealism period of Italian cinema. Not just a few films, but several dozen of them one after another, year in and year out until the mid-1970s. The combination of DeSica and Lollobrigida guaranteed this film would be a smash hit; and it was. What a delightful little film about everyday life in a small village, where a secret lasts about as long as a fresh loaf of bread. Do yourself a favor; watch this one with somebody you care for.

This is the first film of a trilogy, all dealing with the amorous adventures of Maresciallo Carotenuto, played by Vittorio de Sica, his fruitless efforts and constant adversities, with always something to save him in the end. The first film in this series is the best, completely original and natural, and it made a tremendous box office success, why it was safe to continue the project with two more films. The main cause of its tremendous success was of course Gina Lollobrigida as "la Bersagliera", the prettiest and poorest girl in town. The town in question is located way up in the Abruzzo, the top of the Appennines between Rome and Pescara in the very heart and center of Italy, which is a very poor and rural area prone to earthquakes - Aquila is near by. The Maresciallo is new to the village and happens to be a womanizing bachelor - for some reason he has not been a family success, in spite of his good looks and charming ways - no woman could possibly resist him, and still it never turns out well. Destiny and the obligation of gentlemanly prudence forces him to give up any temptation to the overwhelming naturalness of Gina, as she is too young and has another sheepish cavalier, while his amorous directions instead are directed to the local midwife (Marisa Merlini), a no less charming but more mature and experienced woman in her best age, who appears to have an illegitimate son, though. But the Maresciallo is incurable in his optimism and is happy to settle for her, when the Bersagliera anyway remains hopelessly out of bounds.

It's the absolute naturalness which is the chief charm of this film which makes it perfectly irresistible all the way, the highlight being Gina's furious confinement in the local prison.

Just take the lead actor Vittorio. Now having seen a couple of his movies on Netflix, I can only imagine how succesful and popular he must have been in Italy. And when you watch his movies you can't escape his charm. Yes the movies are mostly about love and family (the ones I've seen that is) and to some that may sound boring.

It will depend on what you like to see in movies - but that is true for any movie. So if you can dig the drama, you will have a lot of humor to enjoy too. Very down to earth and easy to watch overall. And again, the charme of the cast here is quite contagious ... if you let it.

With a grandeur typical of much of the rest of this light-hearted romance, the new police chief "Antonio" (Vittorio De Sica) arrives at his new, rural, command on the bus. He has hardly hung up his hat before he takes a bit of a shine to "Bersagliera" (Gina Lollobrigida) who's nickname "Frisky" clearly demonstrates how totally unsuitable any relationship between the two might be. Anyway, she has her eyes on his dashing young sergeant (Roberto Risso). His life is further complicated when the local midwife "Annarella" (Marisa Merlini) begins to fall in love with him, unaware that she has a few secrets of her own that might compromise everything. It's quite difficult to précis the plot without making it look like a predictable soap-style love triangle, but the characterisations here and the quick-fired dialogue pack quite a lot into ninety minutes with Lollobrigida at her most natural in front of the camera. Except, that is, when they are on the bikes in front of what is clearly a moving background of somewhere completely different! There's plenty of chemistry here, some fun and the practically minded "Frisky" seems ultimately more bothered about her mule than either of her men. It's a film that slightly exaggerates normal village life, and at times is just a wee bit contrived, but it's still entertaining to watch.