Production
Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress travels to a mountain resort, only to evoke jealousy from women and lust from men. A woman offers to take an injured man to the hospital. A widowed father and his son seek for a new wife/mother. A man seeks revenge for a woman's honor. A bored housewife tries to explain to her husband that he's not as romantic as he used to be.
The ape-man, found somewhere in the jungles of Congo, transferred to Milan and named Bingo Bongo. The only one who believes in the human qualities of him is Laura, a woman anthropologist , so their affection for each other even grows to love.
Covering only the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis, vignettes include: Adam and Eve frolicking in the Garden of Eden until their indulgence in the forbidden fruit sees them driven out; Cain murdering his brother Abel; Noah building an ark to preserve the animals of the world from the coming flood; and Abraham making a covenant with God.
A 7 part adaptation of the epic tale of Aeneas, written by Virgil as the Roman sequel to Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
Three couples are involved in a murder at Montecarlo.
Italy, 1916. Oreste Jacovacci and Giovanni Busacca are called, as all the Italian youths, to serve the army in the WWI. They both try in every way to avoid serving the army.
A wealthy trader saves the life of a poor suicidal man who then decides that his savior has the responsibility of taking care of him and his family.
An Italian fur merchant who is going to Sweden for the first time to attend the annual fur auctions in Stockholm.
Imprisoned for practicing black magic, writer and adventurer Giacomo Casanova escapes and wanders Europe, using his fluid sexuality to find his place in life amid a variety of eccentric and strange characters.
Sweet-sour comedy on Italy's 1950s rage to get rich as fast as possible! The businessman wants to satisfy his wife's craving for luxury and a "respectable life" so he becomes heavily indebted. In desperation he agrees to sell a precious part of his body for a large sum of money. But just before the crucial operation he panics...
When Italy surrenders to the Allies, part of the Italian army is dispersed and soldiers begin to return to their homes.
After several attempts at suicide, depressed thief Antonio Marchi accidentally drowns in a river and ends up in hell.
Undercover cop Nico Giraldi is once again transformed, now as a trucker in a criminal gang.
The film consists of six short stories created by different directors, but all the stories share one thing: a warm irony to current events.
Cupertino, Italy, 1623: A simple-minded and clumsy young man joins a Franciscan order as a hired hand, overcoming his intellectual and social challenges with a pure heart and a simple faith. God performs a miracle through him, quite literally raising him to sainthood.
The misadventures of Attila and his band of barbarians as they take up arms against the Roman Empire in their native Milano
In Naples, a voice from the skies announces one morning that the final judgment will be at 6 p.m. on that day. What follows is a series of vignettes depicting various people's reactions (or lack thereof) to the announcement.
Ulderico Quario hires as servant a very beautiful young woman Teresa. Ulderico decides to proceed like a new Pygmalion and he sets about teaching her the art of seductions. But Teresa together with Cecchina start using these newfound skills to persuade Ulderico to marry her in order to claim his inheritance.
Taddeus is the manager of the Grand Hotel Excelsior. The Summer season begins in May and since then many odd persons frequent the hotel. There is Ilde Vivaldi, in love with Taddeus and the boxer Pericle Coccia who has an important match and falls in love with Maria. There is the Mago di Segrate trying to win world fame by levitating thirty meters high. And there is the waiter Egisto whose daughter is in a Swiss College believing her father is a man of importance.
