Seduced And Abandoned (DVD)

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The broad brush tactics certainly produce their share of painfully funny moments. The older men in town gather together to discuss how many loads a man can shoot off in his lifetime; the conversation breaks up when the men ogle three rather robust prostitutes who parade into town. Leopoldo Trieste also generates his share of funny scenes as a penniless and mostly toothless baron who Don Vincenzo recruits to marry Rosaura, yet another attempt to maintain "family and honor."

For a brief moment, Agnese seems like she will escape this pathetic patriarchy, but there is no happy ending for her or anyone else in this bleak comedy. The hyper-cartoonish style is off-putting at times, and Germi might have benefited from turning down the decibel level from time to time, but "Seduced and Abandoned" is both funny and scathing, and, in my opinion, a more successful film than "Divorce Italian Style" even without the presence of the great Marcello Mastroianni.

Subtle it ain´t; scabrous, it sure as hell is.

Video

The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The digitally restored transfer preserves the crispness of the black-and-white photography, and there is virtually no sign of damage or debris from the source print.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Mono. Optional English subtitles support the Italian audio.

Extras

The only substantive extra is "Commedia All´Italiana: Germi Style" (26 min.), a series of interviews with screenwriters Luciano Vincenzoni and Furio Scarpelli (of Age-Scarpelli fame), and film scholar Mario Sesti. They discuss the tragi-comic tradition of commedia all´Italiana, and Germi´s influence in the sub genre. Recorded in Rome in 2006 for the Criterion Collection.

The DVD also includes and interview with actor Lando Buzzanca (7 min.) and an interview (6 min.) and screen test (2 min.) with Stefania Sandrelli. The interviews were recorded in 2002. An original theatrical trailer rounds the collection.

The liner notes feature an essay by film critic Irene Bignardi, as well as some nifty cartoon art (also featured on the menus.)

Closing Thoughts

Pietro Germi began his career with "serious" neo-realist films, but is best known today for his screwball comedies. He followed up "Divorce Italian Style" and "Seduced and Abandoned" with "The Birds, the Bees, and the Italians" (1965) to form his unofficial trilogy of Italian sex comedies, or rather comedies about Italian sexual mores. It was not as successful as the previous two films, and his career petered out soon afterwards.