Commedia sexy all'italiana

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Laura Antonelli in one of the commedia sexy's most iconic scenes, from The Naked Cello (1971)

The commedia sexy all'italiana (pronounced [komˈmɛːdja ˈsɛksi allitaˈljaːna], lit. "sex comedy Italian style"), also known as commedia scollacciata ("low-cut comedy") or commedia erotica all'italiana, is a subgenre of the Italian commedia all'italiana film genre.

Style

Commedia sexy is characterized typically by both abundant female nudity and comedy, and by the minimal weight given to social criticism that was the basic ingredient of the main commedia all'italiana genre.

erotic film with ample slapstick
elements which follows more or less clichéd storylines.

History

Roots

This subgenre has its roots in several different series of films. The

Vedo nudo
(1969)) focused on Italian hypocrisy and shame about sexual taboos, popularizing sex-based plots.

Main era

The commedia sexy was very successful commercially between the 1970s and early 1980s, although it was generally panned by critics (with a few exceptions such as several comedies starring Lando Buzzanca), and then declined when female nudity became common in Italian mainstream cinema, television and magazines, and when pornographic films became more widely available.[1]

The decamerotici (1971–1975)

The Decameron (1971), Canterbury Tales (1972) and Arabian Nights (1974), and inspired by the tales of Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and the One Thousand and One Nights) contained nudity and sex-based plots. The success of these films and the relaxation of Italian censors, beginning from the early 1970s, paved the way for dozens of soft-core productions set in medieval or Renaissance times, collectively known as decamerotici (singular: decamerotico; alternative terms include decameronico and decamerone, as well as boccaccesco).[1][2][3][4] The wave of decamerotici lasted from 1971 (starting with In Love, Every Pleasure Has Its Pain) until the end of 1975, with an early peak in 1972.[5] In total, about 50 decamerotici were produced.[6]

Subgenres

Gloria Guida, one of the commedia sexy's icons, here in La liceale (1975), a title from the "high school comedy" subgenre.

Other very popular subgenres (Italian: sottofiloni) of the commedia sexy all'italiana included high school (Italian: scolastica), military (Italian: militare), hospital (Italian: ospedaliera), police (Italian: poliziottesca)[7] and family comedies (Italian: familiare).

Actors

The commedia sexy launched the careers of several actresses, including

glamour models Anna Maria Rizzoli and Carmen Russo
also followed this route in the early 1980s, a period when the genre was starting to fade in popularity.

The genre is also identified with a number of prominent male comedians and actors, including Lando Buzzanca, Lino Banfi, Carlo Giuffrè, Alberto Lionello, Pippo Franco, Alvaro Vitali, and Renzo Montagnani.[1][2]

Selected filmography

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1441160690
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 888440035X
    .
  3. ISBN 9788858654866
    . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  4. ISBN 9788862921084
    . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  5. ISBN 9788890035920
    . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  6. ISBN 9788873515692
    . Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  7. ^ Cremonini, Maria. Le Favolose Attrici Anni Settanta (in Italian). Retrieved 16 February 2019.

Further reading

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