L'Amore in città (Love in the City) (1956)

Five directors. Five stories. Before sex in the city, there was love. This uneven ensemble, predominantly from a feminine perspective, glimpses at the many facets of love in the city of Rome. Unsuccessful suicides, marriage agencies, the 'seduced and abandoned,' the dancehall and fleeting gazes. The tales by Fellini and Antonioni, respectively, are the weakest shorts ~ wonderful concepts, but their distinctive visions are still in development with these 1953 films. Maselli offers the most complete work and uniquely Italian situation of the 'seduced and abandoned.' I don't believe most Americans will understand the social and political factors involved with this fairly common and unfortunate situation. My favorite shorts were those by Dino Rosi and Alberto Lattuada. Rosi's concept of three hours in the paradise of the dance hall is well-executed and ripe with many characters and types of love. Lattuada's view is near perfect, delightful, distinctively Italian, sexy and humorous, all with almost no dialogue. This is not a great film; but it is a good film, definitely worth watching for the history and development of Italy and it's cinema.