Pain, amour et fantaisie

Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida ("La Lollo") had been in a number of smaller films before this 1953 blockbuster catapulted her to international fame. The success of this rustic comedy spawned a sequel a year later: PANE AMORE E GELOSIA or "FRISKY. In BREAD LOVE AND DREAMS Gina plays Maria De Ritis, called "Pizzicarella la Bersagliera" or "Frisky" in the distributor's translation. She is a feisty country girl in southern Italy's Ciociaria area. During the course of the film she is pursued by the town's new "maresciallo" (local police chief), a lewd and lascivious woman-chaser played as only Vittorio De Sica could play lewd and lascivious, that is with great delight. At the same time Lollo is being flirtatious with the newly arrived young police officer from the north. Amorous complications ensue in what is essentially a modernized "commedia dell'arte" piece with performers of enormous appeal. The cast also includes Marisa Merlini as the midwife the maresciallo has an eye on as well. And there's the unique and marvelous character actress Tina Pica in a smaller role. Luigi Comencini directed both this film and its immediate sequel, which has much of the same cast, with great gusto.

A small village on italian countryside is the perfect scenario to unfolding a story where everybody knows about other's lives, the people will talk in each little suspicious moves, all this happen when a new chief of the police arrives in town, an unmarried man, he'll be advised by the priest who takes care about everything, the picture was a hit in those time and gave a sequel, a still young Lolobrigida and the mid age Vittorio De Sica made a remarkable performance in this enjoyable custom italian comedy!!

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First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8.5

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.

A beautiful naive Italian romantic comedy from the 1950s.

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.