Three of the most popular actresses of their time, master director Federico Fellini and three of his celebrated colleagues: “Boccaccio 70” is a curious episodic film with an epic running time. Now it’s finally fully available in home theater.
Four acclaimed directors join forces to create a groundbreaking full-length episodic film with a star-studded cast. Among them: Romy Schneider, Sophia Loren and Anita Ekberg at the height of their fame as style icons. But “Boccaccio 70” is just an obscure but intriguing footnote in European film history and in the work of director-maestro Federico Fellini.
The publication history alone is curious: An entire act of social satire was banned from the international market, the rest was further cut for the German cinema release for an FSK release from 18 years. But viewing habits are changing: the film is now approved for ages six and up. 20 years after a rather loveless DVD release of the German cinema version, there is finally an upgrade worth having: As of this week, “Boccaccio 70” has been restored and is available as an unabridged media book!
» “Boccaccio 70” unabridged at Amazon*
The limited media book includes the film on both DVD and Blu-ray, as well as a comprehensive booklet on the making of this cinema curiosity. For the edition, “Boccaccio 70” was digitally revised and scanned in HD. The light-hearted, caustic comedy about love and lust has been included in the unadulterated international version, which lasts more than two and a half hours.
The bonus material also includes the long unreleased episode outside of Italy. You can, as it were, expand the international uncut version with a few keystrokes to the full Italian version with a playing time of about 200 minutes on your home screen.
“Boccaccio 70”: love, sin and pleasure
Loosely inspired by the Italian poet Giovanni Boccaccio and his scathing commentaries on society, “Boccaccio 70” tells of morality and vice in Italy in the 1960s. Federico Fellini’s episode “The Temptation” is about the conservative Dr. Antonio (Peppino De Filippo), who rants about the (alleged?) moral decline in Rome. When an oversized, voluptuous advertising poster featuring Swedish sex symbol Anita Ekberg is placed in front of his front door, he loses his mind…
Meanwhile, Luchino Visconti’s episode “The Job” is about Count Ottavio (Tomás Milián), who was photographed hanging out with call girls. As if the press scandal wasn’t bad enough, his furious father-in-law blocked all his accounts in response. Ottavio’s wife Pupe (Romy Schneider) has an unusual solution…
Director Vittorio De Sica, on the other hand, tells the story of a bustling town whose streets are always full thanks to the cattle market, hype and church processions. But when Zoe (Sophia Loren) decides to raffle off a night with herself, the town’s male populace loses its head completely!
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And then there’s the episode that once caused a small protest from the director: The rental decided that by Mario Monicalli staged act exclusively on the Italian market. In solidarity with their colleague, Fellini, Visconti and De Sica stayed away from the Cannes Film Festival where “Boccaccio 70” was presented.
Monicelli’s episode is about Renzo (Germano Gilioli) and Luciana (Marisa Solinas), who both work in a factory. Although the bosses strictly forbid relationships within the company, they fall in love and secretly marry in the immediate family circle. When a superior watches Luciana and brutally harasses her, the innocent lie threatens to come to light…
Incidentally, the film title was meant to be teasing: “Boccaccio 70” was made in 1962, but those responsible joked that their film would not pass Italian censorship until 1970. They had no idea that their film would make the more interesting journey in Germany.
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