La Loi

In the Italian fishing village of Porto Manacore, the men gather in the local tavern in the night to play a game called "The Law", where one of them is selected as "The Boss" after an allotment and the others are humiliated by him. The real boss of the town is the powerful aristocrat Don Cesare (Pierre Brasseur), an old man in his last days but still in the command. The young and sexy small time crook Marietta (Gina Lollobrigida) is the servant of Don Cesare and sexually disputed by the hoodlum Matteo Brigante (Yves Montand), by her brother-in-law Tonio (Paolo Stoppa) and by the engineer Enrico Tosso (Marcello Mastroianni). Marietta wants to marry Enrico, but she is too poor and does not have a dowry. The local Inspector Attilio (Vittorio Caprioli) is an unfaithful husband and the naughty Giuseppina (Lidia Alfonsi) is his mistress. Donna Lucrezia (Melina Mercouri) is the judge's wife that has a crush on the lawyer student and Matteo's son Francesco (Raf Mattioli). When Marietta steals a large amount of a Swiss tourist, she sees the chance to marry Enrico, but the police are investigating the case.

"La Legge" is a minor movie that recalls a soap-opera of the great director Jules Dassin but it is still enjoyable and entertaining. The story takes place in a small fishing village in the South of Italy, where nothing happens but sex, infidelities and gossips. The real power is in the hands of an old aristocrat, and the dwellers dispute a despicable game of power where most of the participants are humiliated as a sort of compensation. Gina Lollobrigida is extremely sexy, her beauty is amazing and there are many erotic scenes considering that it is a movie released in 1959. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Lei dos Crápulas" ("The Law of the Debaucheries")

I saw it and I think that is very good, but my VHS is in English and I would like to get a DVD with Spanish subtitles. Gina Lollobrigida is my favorite actress, so I would like to see this film again ad so to understand like must be. I am sorry because my English is not good. Anothers Gina DVD that I want to get are:Trapeze, The hung back of Notre Dame, Buona Sera, Mrs. Cambel, King, Queen and Valet, Salomon and Sheeba, Beautiful but Dangerous, Fanfan La Tulipe,Come September,Bread, Love and dreams, Bred, love an jealous, Alia, Wife for a night,The Lonely woman. woman of Straw, Go naked in the world and if is possible, a book called Imperial Gina.Thanks you.

In this heavy Jules Dassin drama, you're treated to an Italian landscape, an Italian-sounding plot, and two popular Italian actors...speaking French. This feels like an Italian movie, but it's in French, so if you like old European dramas, you're going to love this one.

The residents of a poor fishing village are controlled by the powerful Yves Montand. He's menacing, wealthy, and has enough influence to get what he wants by any measure. In the evenings, he plays a drinking game called "The Law" with the men of the town. Whoever is boss for the evening gets to say insulting things to anyone and force the players to humiliate themselves. While this game is the title of the movie, it's more of a symbolic title rather than being the main focus of the plot. Yves may make "The Law" in the evenings, but he also runs the town during the daytime.

I've never been impressed by Yves Montand, but I've only ever seen him in movies where he was forced to speak English. Evidently, the language barrier greatly impeded his acting ability, because in La legge he was fantastic. I didn't even know it was him until halfway through the movie when I remembered who was in the opening credits. He was incredibly frightening, and it was clear he had a love of power and great hopes and dreams for his family. Great villains are not just evil, but they show the audience their motivation. Bravo, and please accept my apology, M. Montand.

The concurrent plot in The Law is Gina Lollobrigida's own power over the men in the town, similar to Yves's control. She can drive a man to madness because her tight dresses and sensual movements make him half-crazed, but in her great power, none of the men who desire her ever force themselves on her. She may not be a frightening force in the town, but she has just as much power. While Yves has his mind set on seducing Gina, she has her heart set on marrying Marcello Mastroianni. This is a pretty racy movie for its time, with love scenes that undoubtedly made Will Hays of the Production Code blush. There's violence, incestuous themes, infidelity, and enough tight dresses to make you forget all about Sophia Loren. Seriously, folks. Gina is so beautiful and distracting in this movie, it's a wonder any other Italian actress ever became popular. And she speaks three languages! Marcello's French accent is also very good, so if you want to see these talented linguists, you'll be in for an extremely entertaining and steamy movie night.

Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to sexual content and violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. A couple of minutes before the end, after Melina Mercouri asks for a drink, there's an abrupt camera spin and it will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

(1958) Law/ La legge (In French with English subtitles) DRAMA

"Law" as the movie is called is a type of game this small village sometimes plays, and yet somehow echoes like this in real life. Based on a novel written by Roger Vailland, which takes place in a Mediterranean community, where jobs are scarce and the people living their appear to help one another. The movie has film veteran, Marcello Mastroianni as Enrico Tosso which they nickname l'agronomo comes to visit a wealthy baron, Don Cesare (Pierre Brasseur) requesting for his daughter Marietta to be his servant for a reasonable amount of money. She declines but rather want to be married to him instead. What's resonating is the fact that it centers on this small community and it is interwoven together in which we as viewers can identify with, since things were different back then. Was this about what happened when the Great Depression hit or when stealing was the only means of making a living? Director Jules Dassin does not say, for he just presents the characters as they're without worrying what the audience thinks about them.

This Jules Dassin movie shot in a fishing village in Southern Italy is breathtakingly beautiful! In terms of casting, this Franco-Italian production shows a very strong palette of incredible actors: Gina Lollobrigida, Marcello Mastroianni, Pierre Brasseur, Yves Montand, without forgetting the sublime Melina Mercouri. The plot is all about power and domination, with an assumed sexual touch, in a still very archaic community dominated by paternalistic and machist characters. The arrival of the northern man, played by Mastroianni foreshadows the end of this system, of this "law" from which the two main female characters interpreted by Gina Lollobrigida and Melina Mercouri each try to escape in their own way. As always with Jules Dassin, the care taken in photography, framing and viewing angles ensure an aesthetic delight bordering on perfection. All the actors are excellent, and Gina Lollobrigida bursts the screen with her talent, her look, her energy. But it is also particularly important to note the very convincing interpretations of Pierre Brasseur, Yves Montant and Melina Mercouri, who is truly overwhelming. This film is an absolute must see!