Italian marriage

The film takes place in Italy in the 1940-1960s.

1943 year. Filumena Marturano, a 17-year-old prostitute in a brothel in Naples, accidentally meets while bombing Domenico Soriano, a wealthy young man.

In 1945, during the post-war devastation, they met again and since then their relationship has become constant. From the first meeting, Filumen fell in love at first sight with Soriano. Domenico liked the girl, but it's hard to call his feelings love. He is satisfied for a long time with occasional meetings, but then takes Filumena out of the brothel and rents her an apartment. A few years later (around 1950), he brings her to his home, but treats Filumena as a servant, giving her his mother, who is suffering from senile dementia, to her care. Gradually, Domenico entrusts Filumena with all the worries about his business (a bakery, a pastry shop, a store), and she does an excellent job, although she has not received a normal education.

With all this, Domenico himself leads a womanizer, having fun in European capitals, scamming money, and rarely appears at home. Filumena, however, directs all her strength and savings to the secret education of her three sons. Children do not know who their mother is.

Time goes by. Despite the fact that Domenico and Filumena have been together for 20 years, he does not intend to marry her. Moreover, he decides to make an offer to the young cashier of his store. Filumena decides to take a desperate step - pretends to be dying, so that Domenico marries her out of pity. After the rite performed by the priest at the bed of the imaginary dying, Filumena gets up and reveals the truth to him. Domenico furiously refuses to recognize marriage and, with the help of a lawyer, seeks to declare the marriage illegal. This is followed by a break and Filumena leaves the house, finally informing Domenico that he is the father of one of her three sons.

Domenico understands how much this woman means to him, and marries her.

• Marcello Mastroianni - Domenico Soriano (in the Soviet box office, the role was duplicated by Eugene Vesnik )
• Sophia Loren - Filumena Marturano (in the Soviet box office, the role was duplicated by Serafim Kholina ) ^{[2] [3]}
• Thecla Scarano - Rosalia
• Aldo Pulisi - Alfredo
• Marilo Tolo - Diana
• Gianni Ridolfi - Umberto
• Generoso Cortini - Michele
• Vito Moricone - Riccardo

• 1965 - Prize of the Moscow Film Festival to the best actress (Sophia Loren) ^[4] .
• 1965 - Nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actress (Sophia Loren) ^[5] .
• 1965 - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, as well as two nominations: best actress - comedy or musical (Sophia Loren), best actor - comedy or musical (Marcello Mastroianni).
• 1965 - 4 David Di Donatello Prizes: Best Director (Vittorio De Sica), Best Producer (Carlo Ponti), Best Actor (Marcello Mastroianni), Best Actress (Sophia Loren).
• 1965 - Silver Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress (Tecla Scarano), as well as 4 nominations: Best Producer (Carlo Ponti), Best Actor (Marcello Mastroianni), Best Actress (Sophia Loren), Best Cinematography in a Color Film (Roberto Gerardi).
• 1966 - Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film ^[6] .

• Italian divorce