A small Italian town decorated for festivities, “una good old festa di piazza”, this is what we need to boost our  human appetites up. No more pretending,  no fake plots, life happens in our piazzas, too bad for those who don’t bother going down.

 
Sofia Loren in a scene from the movie.
The Italian Joyful spirit has gone serious, but it takes a flashback of a movie to remember that life is made of the simplest things Bread, Love and a little bit of imagination….
We should all act a little crazier, our lives should be more drama-comic and spicy. See Sofia Loren in the movie Scandal in Sorrento: a little scandalous with a zest for taking life by its horns.
Donna Sofia is in love with a traffic policeman yet marries the Maresciallo (Vittorio de Sica) to make him jealous. Too complicated?
Not to mention she was living abusively in the Maresciallo’s apartment refusing to leave by right before ever meeting him.
This is the lesson we should all learn: a little complication and intrigue make  life sexier.
A good laugh and taking yourself less seriously is the right condiment. Yes to onions and aubergines, no to canapés.

From Italian Neoralism came the Commedia all’Italiana: an insight into reality nonetheless.  Some called it the Neoralismo Rosa (Pink), a fun way to look at the little tragedies in life.  Director Dino Risi’s “Poveri ma Belli” winked at Italian aesthetics and their power to transform poverty into a graced state of being.

Sofia Loren’s unmistakable feistiness in Scandal in Sorrento created a myth, a way of being that could give light to any situation with its boisterous tones and colors that were definitely not inspired by any nature morte.
Hey Mambo, the song that characterizes the 1955 movie, lets this type of woman take center stage and seduce with impertinence.

Dino Risi’s movie is not an exaggeration of Italian life: it is a piece of history and dna we should not melt in a porcelain pot.
Kitsch is back, so are flirts and fantasist love affairs.

By Acelya Yonac