DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY: Lina Wertmüller  
PRODUCERS: Romano Cardarelli, Daniele Senatore
PHOTOGRAPHY: Dario Di Palma
EDITOR: Franco Fraticelli
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Amedeo Fago
COSTUME DESIGNER: Enrico Job
MUSIC: ​Piero Piccioni
WITH: Giancarlo Giannini (Carmelo Mardocheo detto Mimí), Mariangela Melato (Fiorella Meneghini), Turi Ferro (Don Calogero / Vico Tricarico / Salvatore Tricarico), Agostina Belli  (Rosalia Capuzzo in Mardocheo), Luigi Diberti (Pippino), Elena Fiore (Amalia Finocchiaro)

REVIEW

Giancarlo Giannini stars as the hapless Mimi, a southern Italian steelworker whose life and loves are hopelessly complicated by his associations with the Mafia, the Communist Party, and his lovers. Hell-raising comedy-drama and great social satire.

"The film that launched the Wertmüller vogue in the US remains a hilarious satire, as a married man with communist ideals finds his commitment tested when he returns to town with his mistress. When Mimi (Giancarlo Giannini) is fired after voting against the Mafia candidate in a local election, he leaves his wife (Agostina Belli) and quits Sicily to seek work in Turin. There he falls in love with a sexually liberated anarchist (Mariangela Melato). When the couple move back to Turin, a revelation about his wife leads to a series of crazed events, and Mimi’s political ideals begin to ebb away. Lena Wertmüller’s bawdy satire boasts hilarious set pieces, and Giannini’s gift for larger-than-life comedy is exploited to its hilt. It’s the film that most evokes her love of commedia dell'arte tradition. Two scenes – one of domestic violence, one of a seduction attempt of a plus-size woman played by Wertmüller regular Elena Fiore – throw political correctness out the window, but Wertmüller’s critique of inadequate men is as sharp as ever."

— Barbican
EXCERPT: The Seduction of Mimi (Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore)

FILM SOCIETY SCREENINGS

Nelson     
Tuesday 17 March, 6.00pm

Hamilton     
Monday 30 March, 8.00pm

Tauranga     
Wednesday 15 April, 6.15pm

Wellington     
Monday 4 May, 6.15pm

Dunedin     
Wednesday 13 May, 7.30pm

Canterbury     
Monday 25 May, 7.30pm

Auckland     
Tuesday 2 June, 6.30pm

Whanganui     
Monday 22 June, 7.00pm
CLASSIC CINEMA selection >>