The Birds, the Bees and the Italians [Signore & signori] *** (1966, Virna Lisi, Gastone Moschin, Alberto Lionello, Gigi Ballista) – Classic Movie Review 7926

The estimable Virna Lisi gives an entertaining turn as Milena Zulian to give a lift to director Pietro Germi’s often unsubtle and overacted but sometimes sharp and amusing Italian La Ronde-style sex farce The Birds, the Bees and the Italians [Signore & signori], which tells three interlinked stories of love in the Veneto countryside. It surprisingly, shared the Palme D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1966, along with the equally surprise winner A Man and a Woman.

It is hard to imagine either of these films winning the Palme D’Or today as they are purely commercial enterprises, though admittedly at the semi-arty upper end of the market. However, the difference is that A Man and a Woman is still a fondly remembered icon of the Sixties and The Birds, the Bees and the Italians [Signore & signori] is forgotten. It was also Golden Globe nominated in 1967 as Best Foreign Language Foreign Film.

Also in the cast are Alberto Lionello, Gigi Ballista, Nora Ricci, Franco Fabrizzi and Beba Loncar.

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians [Signore & Signori] is directed by Pietro Germi, runs 113 minutes, is made by Dear Film and Les Films du Siecle, is written by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Luciano Vincenzoni and Pietro Germi, from a story by Luciano Vincenzoni and Pietro Germi, is shot by Aiace Parolin, is produced by Robert Haggiag and Pietro Germi, is scored by Carlo Rustichelli, and designed by Carlo Egidi.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7926

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