The Pizza Triangle

Awesome movie. I had never before watched an italian comedy but this one impressed me very much. The way that Ettore Scola deals with the tragic themes of the film is absolutely remarkable. By a use of the brechtian detachment he at first makes you laugh at horrible things such as suicide and conjugal violence while at the same time reminding you that what you are seeing is a film by constantly breaking the fourth wall and then at the end of the movie he makes the audience feel absolutely uncomfortable and guilty for indulging themselves in the humor of the film as he points out that these are not laughing matters and actual things that happen. I also love the not monogamous undertone this one has and i can't help but thinking that the director implies that monogamy is outdated and one of the sources of violence against women. One thing that in a way validates this argument is the fact that Ettore Scola casts Monica Vitti in this, the same Monica Vitti famous for L'avventura and La notte, both films that deal with some of the same issues and always with the thought that maybe we would be better off if we renewed our morals (that by the way was sort of a obsession of Antonioni at the time, just watch his interviews). Anyway it's a film and you can interpret it in whichever way you like to, i'm just here to say that it is a great, funny, beautifully shot, amazingly acted ( i absolutely love Monica Vitti in this), and amazingly scored and for those reasons, even if the politics in this don't interest you, you should see it regardless.

Adelaide (Monica Vitti) kisses unconscious bricklayer Oreste (Marcello Mastroianni) on a pile of rubble. He's angry at the garbage piles in the city. She's obsessed with him. Pizza maker Nello (Giancarlo Giannini) is obsessed with her. It's a love triangle.

I really like the surrealism early in the movie. It's a little weird that it turns into threesome and then it gets serious with the jealousy. This did win a few European awards. It's a pizza with widely different toppings. It's never safe. It's a farce. I'm not laughing that much, but it is fascinating. Her suicide attempt is kind of funny. I was never sure of how this was going to end.

This is the passionate, tragic, acid, perversely funny story of a love triangle -- at one point, almost a ménage-à-trois -- involving bricklayer Oreste (Mastroianni in one of his very best performances, a sort of grotesque version of his character in "I Compagni"), flower-seller Adelaide (isn't it time we acknowledged Monica Vitti as THE most accomplished Italian comedienne ever? And being that gorgeous didn't hurt either) and pizzaiolo Nello (Giancarlo Giannini in a star-making role). With this film, Ettore Scola proved to be the great new voice in commedia all'italiana, a deserving heir to the maestri of this great tradition (DeSica, early Fellini, Germi, Monicelli, Risi) but adding steamier sarcasm and corrosiveness in his pitiless criticism of Italian society and its conservative mores.

We, as the audience, play a very important part here: it's to us (the invisible judge of a trial) that Oreste, Adelaide and Nello present their cases in the flashbacks that shows us the different angles of their convoluted story of friendship, love, betrayal and attempted murders/ suicides, in a sort of comedic Rashomon. The expertise of Scola's writing and the charisma of the starring trio make us care a lot for those hopeless losers, so unmistakably human.

Scola achieves a very rare thing: he uses caricature, comedic clichés and grotesqueness and raises them to refined art, craftily mixing tragedy and comedy with political overtones and social satire. This is on the same level as (and is a sort of cross between) Scola's masterpieces "C'Eravamo Tanto Amati" and "Brutti Sporchi Cattivi". You can do no wrong here: this is a delight that keeps your brain working AND your laughing muscles contracting, an achievement that sounds almost paradoxical by today's moronic, puerile standards of film comedy.

A brilliant film; all three leads are just magnifico and Monica Vitti never looked better. Vitti, Mastroianni and Giannini in one film! Sharp treatment of un amour fou. Had never heard of the film before I recently saw it at a festival of restored films at MoMA in New York--what a terrific surprise, a genuine treat, funny and dark film about obsession. I doubt it could ever have been made in the US unfortunately; can't think of any American directors who could handle this successfully. Mastroianni shows his great range. If you love Italian film, see it soon! Now I'm going to see any other Ettore Scola films I can find or haven't seen yet.

I loved seeing this at MoMA on 10/20/11. We first meet Monica Vitti & Marcello Mastriani at the closing down of a small ramshackle street fair/carnival in an ugly empty lot in Rome. She is urging the ride operator to give a longer experience & he has drank a bit too much after helping to tear down some of the exhibits & falls asleep awaking to Monica kissing on him. A romance begins amongst piles of plastic garbage & flies while he continues to go home to a wife who appears to be his mother. Flashbacks to recreating a crime for detectives take us back to the florid romantic affair complete with lush orchestrations featuring that electronic harpsichord so popular during this early 70's time period. What follows is a charming absurdly funny at times interesting story told in fascinating narrative involving characters turning to talk to us in the audience in order to inform us of different aspects of character & story that we otherwise wouldn't know - sometimes in theatrical spotlights - other times in extreme close-up. I particularly liked some of the sped up film & over amplified sound effects, esp. physical hits which gives the film that "slapstick" crazy kind of absurd playfulness. Other online reviews can give further insights into this enjoyable piece. I would say that this one is prime pickings for remake since it's distribution has been inconsistent & spotty at best.