Till Marriage Do Us Part

Sicily at the start of the twentieth century. On their wedding night Eugenia and Raimondo learn that they have the same father; they are brother and sister. The marriage is invalid, but annulling it would cost both the inheritance and the family's honour. The two of them decide to tell nobody. In public they will appear as husband and wife, and inside the house they will live as siblings. Eugenia stays trapped in that arrangement for years. Luigi Comencini's film comes from the harshest wing of comedy Italian style: what is ridiculous is not the situation but the order that makes it possible. When family honour, the church and property come together, a woman's life can be frozen entirely and nobody finds it strange. Laura Antonelli plays Eugenia; she was the most sought-after name in Italy for parts of this kind at the time. The film makes you uncomfortable while it makes you laugh, and that is exactly its intention.