MovieChat Forums > Divorzio all'italiana (1962) Discussion > Need some help

Need some help

posted 17 years ago by steff_united
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Hi everyone

Part of my exam is going to be about this film which I loved. But can anyone help me a bit towards giving some advice if all the characters are stereotypical in this film? I would say, most of them are as they reflect how people were throughout this time. But would be good to get some opinions.

Also, the use of voice over... why was that so successful in this film?

Really hope some of you can help me... My mind seems to get a bit blank these days with all my exams :$

Grazie mille

[–] Professicchio 15 years ago

Well I guess it's a bit late now but here we go:

I would not say that the characters in this film are stereotypical as much as archetypical.
The difference is that the film portrays characters that, in one way or another, bring a strong degree of verosimilarity to what was the actual state of things in Sicily at the time.
There are slight 'adjustments' for comical purpouse, but it never descend into farce, in this respect, the film deserve comparisons with the best of the likes of Billy Wilder.

If stereotypes we want to talk about, those, unfortunately, came as consequence of this film great success worldwide, which brought various re-interpretations and 'homages' in the decades to come; in other words the reality portrayed in the film made such an impression that has become a recurring image that people have of Italy and its culture, just ignoring the regional differences and the fact that times have changed greatly.