I promessi sposi

... and Dario Fo's too.

A number of actors either popular (Walter Chiari) at the time or part of the film establishment (Valentina Cortese, Piera degli Esposti, etc.) were cast in this retro production of a classic Italian novel that all Italian teenager have to endure reading in high school.

Regardless of the literary merits, the director's effort to infuse some complexities in the story and pictorial references, most notably Caravaggio-like shots of characters like the hit-men working for the villain, the film fails miserably al least by modern standards. Some research shows that even at the time, Sordi's and company's co-option notwithstanding, it was not a great success, alas.

Now we can only look at it like a late archeological specimen, redeemed neither by the acting nor by the direction, with only the quaint locations and settings waking us occasionally from the induced stupor of a a story, production and acting that fail to become classics but remain just old-fashioned.

Only for hard-core Italian enthusiasts with a sadistic bent.

I knew about this Italian TV series ages ago. In fact Gordon Mitchell sent me a letter about it, raving about how good it is. I found it boring and slow but His parts were pretty good. I have posted a short clip of Gordon Mitchell's parts on my Y/T channel in case you want to see it. The main story is about a young couple who run away because their families don't approve of their marriage only to find the outside world is mean and nasty. Plague, theft, violence, hunger are now a reality from their lavish lifestyles at home with their rich families. This only played on Italian TV so it is very rare.