Cinema: What Price Honor?

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Love and Marriage. "But I am a married woman!"

"All right, I'll make it 700,000 lire."

"But sir, I was just married this morning, and I am still pure."

"Still pure? A million lire!"

"My husband would never consent."

On the contrary, the lady's husband (Lando Buzzanca), a Sicilian yokel whose passion for honor is exceeded only by his lust for lucre, has hardly any difficulty deciding how much the honor of his bride (Maria Grazia Buccella) is worth. A few days later he discovers it was worth less than he thought. The police inform him that 1) the million-lira check has bounced, and 2) he will go to jail unless he can explain what he did to earn so much money.

The story of the bartered bride is older than Boccaccio, but this Italian retelling of the tale—the best of the film's four briskly lubricous episodes—is red-peppered with high spirits and low jinks. It provides much amusement for the young in gland, but more mature moviegoers may feel surfeited by 106 minutes of unadulterated adultery.