Review of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963) by David F — 04 Apr 2012

This movie showcases Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren and Rome at their nadir in crisp, Italian color. Each plays three roles in three short stories. The first has the two actors playing a poor couple in which the wife is threatened with prison for illegally selling cigarettes.

Rome provides them with few opportunities to get by and eventually sends Sophia to prison when the authorities show up and for once she is not pregnant. In the second, Loren plays the bored wife of a rich businessman who flirts with Mastroianni until he crashes her car.

Here the colorful, busy streets of Rome are briefly glimpsed before the couple sets out for the countryside. In the third, Loren is a courtesan who understandably attracts both Mastroianni and a seminary student with an adjoining roof.

The Rome of this tale is one of private apartment rooftop balconies overlooking the more public squares in which the furtive lusts and desires of humanity are grappled with outside of the agora. Parts one and especially three have an exuberant good humour while part two achieves a kind of icy sophistication I associate with many of the best post-war Italian films like La Dolce Vita, though it doesnâ(TM)t quite reach the depth of the ideas of that great film.

While the comedy could have been more amusing itâ(TM)s a pleasure to watch these three actors in the prime of their careers.