La provinciale (The Wayward Wife)

Gemma, the uneducated daughter of a landlord, falls in love with a wealthy young man, Paolo Sartori. But she can’t marry him, as her mother reveals that he is her illegitimate half-brother. Overcoming her disappointment, she resigns herself to marrying Franco Vagnuzzi, a professor for whom she feels no real attraction and who neglects her. Gemma meets Countess Elvira, who persuades her to become the lover of a man called Vittoni. Subsequently she wants her to sleep with other acquaintances of hers. Franco suspects nothing, while Elvira starts to blackmail Gemma and installs herself in their home. When Elvira threatens to follow the couple to Rome, where Franco is about to be transferred, Gemma, exasperated, attacks her and wounds her with a knife. With this act she succeeds in driving her away and reconciling with her husband.

To make La provinciale the way I wanted I had to fight to the death with the producer [...]. The row was over this: there were two treatments to choose from [...]: one was by a French screenwriter who had also made some very good films [...]. The treatment of La Provinciale was well written, but run-of-the-mill stuff, with the character of the girl’s husband the way Moravia had seen him, as a rather old, sentimental and romantic figure. The other was mine and Bassani’s. I told him: “I’m doing mine and I’m not doing F’s.” And the producer: “No, I’m doing F’s, and I’m not doing yours. Otherwise, I’m not making the film.” And then I said: “Ok then, we’re not going to make the film.”

PRODUCTION: CSC - Cineteca Nazionale
Via Tuscolana, 1520
00173 – Roma, Italia
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Mob. +39 3456204596
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RESTORATION CURATED BY: Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia-Cineteca Nazionale in collaborazione con Compass Film

LABORATORY: CSC Digital Lab (Roma)

WORLD SALES: Compass Film
lorena.libassi@movie-time.it
nicole.libassi@movie-time.it

ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION: Compass Film
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nicole.libassi@movie-time.it

PRESS OFFICE: Gabriele Barcaro – CSC – Cineteca Nazionale
Via Tuscolana, 1524
00173 – Roma, Italia
Tel. +39 0672294316
gabriele.barcaro@fondazionecsc.it