Il magnifico cornuto (The Magnificent Cuckold)

Pietrangeli takes inspiration from a play from the 1920s, transposing the action from Flanders to Brescia: in the crosshairs, the bourgeoisie born of the recent industrial boom, the gossipy and meddling nature of provincial cities, the insecurities and contradictions of a society caught between the winds of modernity and its archaic customs.
Ugo Tognazzi is the rich hat manufacturer who becomes convinced that his wife — Claudia Cardinale, enigmatic in her disarming smile — is surely being unfaithful to him, and he prefers the pain of certainty to the gnawing jealousy.
The chosen title caused no end of complications for the film, including shooting locations being cancelled to avoid reputational damage and a difficult promotional campaign — even taxi drivers refused to advertise Il magnifico cornuto on their cars. To quote Salvo Randone, interviewed at the time about his role in the film: “Italy is afraid of simple, unequivocal words”.

"Pietrangeli fits perfectly into the dynamics of 'Commedia all’italiana', which reached its expressive peak in those very years. But above all, an uncommon refinement of the cinematic discourse emerges, in which every single authorial choice seems driven by a highly intentional look at the tools of the cinematic medium [...] the 'Commedia all’italiana', in one of its most perfect and crystalline manifestations, precisely because it is so strongly personalised by an authorial gaze, reveals its anguished and suffocating underside. We laugh, and we choke on sneers." (Massimiliano Schiavoni, Quinlan)

PRODUCTION 1:
Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Via Riva di Reno, 72
40122 Bologna, Italia
Tel: +39 0512194214
E-mail: cinetecadirezione@cineteca.bologna.it
Web: www.cinetecadibologna.it

PRODUCTION 2:
Compass Film
Via Luigi Settembrini, 30
00195 Roma, Italia
Tel: +39 063211549
E-mail: compassfilm@hotmail.it

PRODUCTION AT THE TIME OF FILMING: Sancro Film

CO-PRODUCTION AT THE TIME OF FILMING:
Les Films Copernic, Paris

LAB:
L’Immagine Ritrovata

WORLD SALES:
Compass Film - Lorena, Nicole e Stefano Libassi
Via Luigi Settembrini, 30
00195 Roma, Italia
Tel: +39 063211549
E-mail: compassfilm@hotmail.it

PRESS OFFICE:
Andrea Ravagnan - Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna
Via Riva di Reno, 72
40122 Bologna, Italia
Tel: +39 0512194833 / +39 3358300839
E-mail: andrea.ravagnan@cineteca.bologna.it