Sedotta e abbandonata Seduced and Abandoned
Pietro Germi 1964 Italy 1st time; DVD
In 1950s Sicily, a father of five's honour comes under threat when he finds out one of his daughters has lost her virginity to her sister's fiancé.
This begins with a dramatic revelation and then, for the next two hours, concentrates on the desperation of its aftermath and consequences. It's a brilliant film, excessive and exhaustive, and often rather funny; Germi shows a fierce confidence in his writing, and admirable control of cinematic form. Highly stylised stuff, it's visually exciting and superbly edited... He knows when to cut and what to, and the shot-to-shot relations between the end of one scene and the beginning of the next (such as doors closing and opening, or dialogue mirrored across different spaces in time) creates a sustained energy and tension, of events spiralling into one another. Seemingly, a massive influence on The Sopranos - there's a moment where a rumour escalates into scandal around town, which might have consciously been echoed in season five of the show, when rumous fly regarding Tony and Adriana's possible fling.


Add this to your Netflix queues as soon as possible, folks.It's available on Criterion.


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