Incompreso [Misunderstood] **** (1966, Anthony Quayle, Stefano Colagrande, Simone Giannozzi, John Sharp) – Classic Movie Review 10,054

Director Luigi Comencini’s super-good 1966 drama Incompreso (Vita col figlio) [Misunderstood] stars Anthony Quayle in the original Italian version of the 1984 English-language remake Misunderstood with Gene Hackman.

Leo Benvenuti and Piero De Bernardi’s screenplay is based on Florence Montgomery’s turn-of-the-century novel.

Quayle is tremendous as Sir John Edward Duncombe, looking after his two boys, Andrew (Stefano Colagrande) and little brother Miles (Simone Giannozzi) after the mother’s death. Everyone is handling grief in their own way. In Andrew’s case, he is putting on a front that leads his father to think he is unaffected by his mother’s death. But he is Misunderstood. Though the father is crucial, along with Quayle’s performance, the main theme is the plight of the children.

John Sharp adds a sharp performance as Uncle Will.

Also in the cast are Giorgia Moll, Graziella Granata, Adriana Facchetti and Rino Benini.

It is made by Rizzoli Film and Istituto Luce, and filmed in Technicolor in Florence, Tuscany, Italy.

Luigi Comencini was born on June 8, 1916 in Salò, Lombardy, Italy. He is known for Eugenio (1980), Everybody Go Home! (1960) and Bread, Love and Dreams (1953). He died on April 6, 2007 in Rome, aged 90.

© Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 10,054

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