MENAGE ALL'ITALIANA (aka MENAGE ITALIAN STYLE) is a comedy directed in 1965 by Franco Indovina and starring Ugo Tognazzi, Anna Moffo, Dalida, Maria Grazia Buccella and Romina Power. The film was inspired by the paradoxical true story of Carlo Valdesi, a man who married eight different women through a series of lies, cheating, falsified documents and opportunistic disappearances.
Alfredo, a former nurse and unsuccessful trader, has a weakness when it comes to women: how many he approaches, how many he loves and wants to marry. By falsifying documents, he manages to marry Giovanna (a singer), Carmelina (a jealous rich woman), Stella (a minor), Egle (a scatterbrain), Anna (an ambitious go-getter), Esther (an elderly woman), Ulla (a Swede) and Erika (a German). After each union, Alfredo disappears. When the polygamist is sought by law enforcement for financial reasons, Alfredo finds a solution in the disfigured and unrecognizable corpse of a stranger, and during his funeral, as his incriminating documents are lowered into the ground with the casket, he nods from a nearby window to his first wife Giovanna, the singer, with whom he reunites.
Ennio Morricone has managed to represent in music the female universe in which the male lead is immersed, creating a memorable series of themes, sometimes funny and other times melancholy, alternated with danceable tunes.
The composer relies on the extraordinary voice of the soprano and actress Anna Moffo, who performs "In fondo ai miei occhi,'' and on Dino's voice, very popular among the youth at the time, and in the second leitmotif, ''Ho messo gli occhi su di te.''
This brand new reissue is essential in the discography dedicated to two-time Oscar-winner Ennio Morricone, and it will raise awareness of the musical art of this Italian genius for new generations of film music fans.
The CD is packaged in a jewel case with a 12-page booklet designed by Alessio Iannuzzi. Audio mastering and liner notes by Claudio Fuiano.
|
