Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
During the bombing of Naples in World War II, a cynical businessman helps a naive prostitute, who spends the next two decades desperate to have him reciprocate her feelings.
Marriage Italian Style is elevated almost entirely by the extraordinary performances of Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, whose chemistry and emotional range are genuinely exceptional. Loren in particular earned an Oscar nomination for her layered, fiercely comedic yet heartbreaking turn. The plot, while entertaining, follows a fairly conventional romantic-comedic arc of a woman trying to secure a man's commitment, though De Sica handles the material with wit and warmth. The cinematography is competent and colorful in the Italian style of the era but not particularly distinctive. The film's novelty lies mainly in its sharp Italian sensibility and the bold framing device rather than in any radical storytelling innovation. The ending is satisfying but not especially surprising.