Divorce, Italian Style

Uproariously funny, whether you prefer to see a straightforward, definitively Italian comedy or a wickedly honest, political/pre-feminist satire. Pietro treats all variety of people in this small Sicilian town — from the nominal nobility to harridan wives, starving artists, peasants, lawmakers — with a degree of understanding and respect on the one hand, and farcical exaggeration on the other, at all times. Mastroianni is, well, exactly as perfect as we all expect him to be as the slimy, sad, somehow still-lovable Ferdinando, and Germi’s detailed, rich, and varied choices in presentation are continually surprising and universally effective.