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Rating: The Italian-style comedy, a theme I would like to cover in my reviews on DeBaser (this is my second one, so forgive my inexperience), went into a deep crisis at the end of the '70s, with no significant works from masters of the genre like Sordi, Tognazzi, etc., who were - let's say it - on the artistic decline with the aggressive onset of their old age, no longer believable as protagonists in various genre films.
Simultaneously, during that era, the genre of sexy comedy emerged, created by second- or third-tier directors, mediocre screenwriters, and with the participation of actors from vaudeville or cabaret. They were not legends, but honest professionals earning their living through this popular cinema. The formula of all these films, with minimal variations, involves: many misunderstandings, middle-aged men in their fifties with young lovers, young men who are impotent or from the other shore, beautiful women on display, and many shower scenes to disprove the alleged filthiness of these works.
We must be honest and admit that many of those films were awful, their only merit being that they provided jobs for many industry workers and sparked some youthful fantasies: objectively, they are works we cannot reevaluate, otherwise risking appearing more snobbish than the snobs who usually dismiss them (forgive the rhetorical figure).
In my opinion, however, "The Wife on Vacation, the Lover in Town" is one of the most successful films of this genre, as well as one of the last ones in chronological order (1980), and therefore deserves a review on this site.
It's a successful comedy of errors, centered around a wealthy industrialist from Parma (Montagnani), forced to go on vacation with his furious lover neglected by him (Fenech), followed by his jealous and not entirely saintly wife (Bouchet), along with other characters from various backgrounds and with various connections to the protagonists, contributing to the farce (Banfi primarily, and a young Solenghi). The presence of all these characters in the same hotel sets off a comic mess, with enjoyable outcomes, though typical of the cinema of this genre in the fundamental lines I described earlier.
As for the technical aspects of the film, the direction is rather flat and straightforward, obviously without peaks of originality (it follows the screenplay), while the performances by Banfi and Montagnani are excellent, two masters of the genre and two actors perhaps wasted on these roles - for which, nonetheless, they went down in history, not having, let's admit it, the physique du role or the stage presence of actors from the previous generation, remaining essentially character actors.
Regarding the female leads, Fenech and Bouchet perform quite well - credit also goes to the dubbing actresses, especially for the latter - appearing statuesque in all their beauty: I will tell you that of the two I prefer the sweet Barbara, a woman who is also very professional and witty - I will tell you: absolutely never vulgar - as well as magnetically charming. Even now that she is over sixty - without surgery - she gives more stylish and classy points than many younger women. Criticize them as much as you want, but they are symbols of our lesser cinema, as well as an erotic dream at the end of the day chaste and never vulgar.
Rating: 5/5 within the genre, 2/5 in a hypothetical objective scale for proper reader use.
Yours always, Il_Paolo
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