The film follows a Sicilian laborer who loses his job after refusing to vote for a Mafia-backed candidate as he leaves Sicily for Turin where he finds himself in a far more complicated and corrupt world despite falling for a communist woman whom he would bear his child despite the fact that he’s married. It is a film that explores a man whose attempt to defy the system only to enter a modern world where corruption is almost everywhere as he tries to be part of another system in communism while falling for a woman who shares his ideals only for things to get complicated due to encounters with other Mafia-based factions and such. Lina Wertmuller’s screenplay follows the many misadventures of its titular character in Mimi (Giancarlo Giannini) who lives with a family including his wife Rosalia (Agostina Belli) whom he is unable to impregnate. After it was revealed that he voted for a communist candidate instead of a Mafia-backed candidate, Mimi loses his job as he goes to Turin to find a new job only to realize that he is dealing with those who are part of the Mafia where Mimi claims he’s related to a Mafia boss’ cousin.
During his time in Turin, Mimi would meet Fiorella (Mariangela Melato) who sells sweaters while is also a communist as he tries to prove his love to her including an act of rape that doesn’t go well yet Fiorella falls for him despite the fact that he’s already married. Still, they would gain a child until he witnesses an incident involving the Mafia boss he used to work for would force him to return to Sicily with Fiorella and their son in tow though he doesn’t tell anyone about them. Still, rumors are made about Mimi as he is given a new job with some power as he learns about what Rosalia has done since he left Turin as he decides to get revenge by sleeping with a police officer’s wife in Amalia (Elena Fiore) who learns about what her husband did. Yet, it all plays into everything that Mimi would endure but also how he would also put himself in situations beyond his control and give in to corruption.
Wertmuller’s direction is entrancing for not just showcasing these two different worlds that Mimi would endure as she would set the film both in Sicily but also Turin that both act as unique characters in the film. Notably as the film and closes with a desolate location on a mine in Sicily where a group of men would send out pamphlets to vote for this Mafia-backed candidate where Mimi would show a world where workers have to choose for their own survival as nothing is secret which only frustrates Mimi. The usage of wide and medium shots not only play into the locations that Mimi would be in but also in this sense of isolation that Mimi would endure as a man who feels like he doesn’t belong in the world. Even as Wertmuller would use close-ups to add to the drama including these extreme close-up zooms to show men with three moles on the right side of their faces as they all represent some form of corruption.
While the film is presented as a comedy of sorts as it plays into Mimi’s own background as a Southerner from Sicily who doesn’t understand the ways of the modern world. Especially when it comes to women as Wertmuller doesn’t mince words into the fact that Mimi confuses passion towards women as they feel like he’s trying to rape them. Wertmuller also showcases that despite the freedom that Mimi would attain with Fiorella and in Turin, the presence of the Mafia would always come in to play into his fate. The third act is where Mimi’s actions as a man and this need to be presented as a man showcases some of the fallacies of masculinity as it is a system in itself. A system that is full of flaws as well as the fact that ideals can make people lose sight of what is really important in the grand scheme of things. Overall, Wertmuller crafts a riveting and witty film about a laborer’s attempt to buck the system in a modern and complicated world.
Cinematographer Dario Di Palma does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of fog and low-key natural lighting for the exterior scenes in Turin as well as a mixture of vibrant colors for some scenes in the exteriors in Sicily along with some straightforward lighting for some of the interior shots. Editor Franco Fraticelli does excellent work with the editing as its usage of rhythmic cuts play to the humor along with other straightforward cuts to emphasize some of the drama and suspense. Production designer Amedeo Fago and set decorator Emilio Baldelli do amazing work with the look of the different homes that Mimi lived in to the spacious loft he would share with Fiore in Turin to the more cramped world that he was living in Sicily before his departure to Turin as well as a more chaotic lifestyle upon his return to Sicily. Costume designer Enrico Job does fantastic work with the costumes from the colorful sweaters and wool clothing that Fiorella creates to the more stylish look of suits that Mimi would wear later in the film as well as the black that many of the people in Sicily wears.
Hair stylists Giancarlo De Leonardis and Michele Trimarchi, along with makeup artist Rosa Luciani, do terrific work with the different hairstyles that Mimi would have throughout his time from the ragged perm as a laborer to a slick look while the makeup showcases the different bosses that Mimi would encounter. Sound mixer Franco Bassi is superb as it play into the atmosphere of the locations and the places where Mimi would work at as well as some sound effects that add to the drama. The film’s music by Piero Piccioni is wonderful for its orchestral score that has some playful themes as well as some somber themes that add to the film’s humor and drama.
The film’s remarkable cast feature some notable small roles from Livia Giampalmo as the wife of a worker who is friends with Rosalia, Gianfranco Barra as Amalia’s police sergeant husband whom Mimi doesn’t like, Ignazio Pappalardo and Tuccio Musumeci as a couple of fellow laborers that are friends of Mimi who feel alienated by his new social status, and Luigi Diberti as a mysterious figure from the Mafia that wants to help Mimi. Elena Fiore is brilliant as Amalia Finocchiaro as the police sergeant’s wife whom Mimi tries to woo in the film’s third act in an act of revenge as she also learns about what her husband did as she takes part in the revenge. In a trio of roles as different Mafia bosses, Turi Ferro is excellent in those different roles as men who serve as an obstacle for Mimi as well as make him do things he doesn’t want to do.
Agostina Belli is amazing as Rosalia as Mimi’s wife who never feels sexually attracted to Mimi as she is often sad until Mimi leaves Turin where she finds herself and does things that would eventually piss Mimi off bad. Mariangela Melato is incredible as Fiorella as a Trotskyist clothing designer whom Mimi falls for as she shares Mimi’s ideals relating to communism while coping with the fact that he’s married as well as involve himself in things that are too much for him to handle. Finally, there’s Giancarlo Giannini in a sensational performance as Mimi as this laborer who tries to defy the system only to leave Sicily for Turin only to encounter a far more complicated world and then return to Sicily with a new family only to put himself in bad situations. Giannini’s performance is full of wit and physicality in his approach to humor but also showcases a man who is seriously flawed in his treatment of women but also how his masculinity and idealism would also play into his downfall.
Mimi metallurgico ferito nell’onore is a phenomenal film from Lina Wertmuller that features an incredible leading performance from Giancarlo Giannini. Along with its ensemble cast, colorful visuals, a playful music score, and its exploration of social and gender politics from the views of a man that is trying to buck the system. It is a film that showcases a man trying to fight the system only to realize that he is part of a system that is far more complicated than what he’s trying to rebel against. In the end, Mimi metallurgico ferito nell’onore is a sensational film from Lina Wertmuller.
Lina Wertmuller Films: (The Lizards) - (Let’s Talk About Men) - (Rita the Mosquito) - (Don’t Sting the Mosquito) - (The Belle Starr Story) - Love and Anarchy - (All Screwed Up) – Swept Away - Seven Beauties - (A Night Full of Rain) - (Blood Feud) - (A Joke of Destiny) - (Softly, Softly) - (Camorra (A Story of Streets, Women and Crime) - (Summer Night) - (As Long as It’s Love) - (The Tenth One in Hiding) - (Ciao, Professore!) - (The Nymph) - (The Blue Collar Worker and the Hairdresser in a Whirl of Sex and Politics) - (Ferdinando and Carolina) - (Too Much Romance…It’s Time for Stuffed Peppers)
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