Marriage Italian Style
The story is told in flashback. Sophia Loren plays Filumena, who is the long-time mistress of businessman Marcello Mastroianni, appears to be dying. Mastroianni, who is planning a wedding to a young chippie, is annoyed at first and then, realizing she is really dying, agrees to marry her on her deathbed. But it's just a trick.
We learn that Mastroianni first met her during the war when she was 17 and working in a brothel (he is a client). He helps her during an air raid, and they will later become lovers. She continues to work as a prostitute, but he sees her between his business trips, sets her up in an apartment, and basically is her husband in everything but name.
The second-half twist is that Loren has three sons, and tells Mastroianni that he is the father of one of them, but won't tell him which one, because he wants to treat them equally. The boys don't know she's their mother, and there's a big dramatic scene when she calls them together. This is the scene that got her an Oscar nomination for the role.
The movie mixes melodrama and light comedy and it doesn't always gel. Of course, this is an Italian cinematic trait, best done by Fellini. De Sica, who made the incredible naturalistic drama Bicycle Thieves, doesn't seem at home in this style of film. Mastroianni, who is almost always effortlessly charming, is not so here, playing a cad who's redemption seems forced.
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