| Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Italian | Ieri, oggi, domani |
| Directed by | Vittorio De Sica |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | Carlo Ponti |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Giuseppe Rotunno |
| Edited by | Adriana Novelli |
| Music by | Armando Trovajoli |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 118 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | Italian |
| Box office | |
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Italian:Ieri, oggi, domani) is a 1963comedyanthology film directed byVittorio De Sica.[3] StarringSophia Loren andMarcello Mastroianni, the film consists of three short stories about couples in different parts of Italy. The film won theAcademy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the37th Academy Awards.[4]
In 1954, in the working-classNaples district ofForcella, Adelina supports her unemployed husband Carmine and their child by sellingblack market cigarettes in the street while pregnant with their second child. When her furniture is to be repossessed due to an unpaid fine, her neighbours assist her by hiding the furniture. A local lawyer warns Carmine that, since the fine and furniture are under Adelina's name, she will be imprisoned. However, Italian law stipulates that women cannot be imprisoned while pregnant or within six months after the delivery. Armed with this information, Adelina schemes to stay pregnant continuously.
After seven children in eight years, Carmine becomes too exhausted to perform sexually and Adelina nearly resorts to being impregnated by their mutual friend Pasquale, but decides against it. She then turns herself in, and the whole neighbourhood gathers money to free her and petition for herpardon, which eventually occurs and she is reunited with Carmine and their children.
While her wealthy industrialist husband is on a business trip toStuttgart, boredMilanese housewife Anna picks up her lover Renzo, a lower-class writer, in her husband'sRolls-Royce for a drive in the countryside. She feels neglected by her husband, who, according to her, only cares about work and money. On the drive, Anna allows Renzo to take the wheel of the Rolls-Royce, and while she seductively proposes that they run away together that night, he swerves to avoid a young boy selling flowers by the roadside and crashes the car into a tractor. Infuriated by the damage to her Rolls-Royce, Anna hitches a ride home with a passing motorist, leaving Renzo by the side of the road. After begrudgingly buying a bouquet of flowers from the boy, Renzo throws the flowers away as he walks away.
Mara works as a prostitute from her rooftop apartment overlookingPiazza Navona, servicing a variety of regular high-end clients including Augusto, the wealthy, powerful and neurotic son of aBologna industrialist. One evening, Mara befriends Umberto, a handsome and callow young man studying for the priesthood but not yetordained, who is visiting his grandparents in the adjacent apartment. Embarrassed to disclose her real occupation, she tells him that she is a manicurist. Umberto's strict grandmother sees them talking and, knowing that Mara is a prostitute, interrupts their conversation, telling Mara that she will go to hell and threatening to start a petition to have her evicted from the building. Umberto protests, but Mara defends herself.
The next day, Umberto's distraught grandmother visits Mara and informs her that her grandson, who is infatuated with Mara, is willing to renounce his priesthood to be with her. Sympathetic, Mara vows to set Umberto on the path of righteousness back to theseminary and, if she succeeds, she will take a vow of celibacy for a week. When Umberto argues with his grandparents and threatens to join theFrench Foreign Legion, Mara goes over to their apartment, with the reluctant Augusto in tow, and finally persuades Umberto to return to the seminary, earning his grandmother's gratitude. Mara rewards Augusto with astriptease but stops as she remembers her week-long vow. Frustrated, Augusto prepares to leave, but Mara convinces him to stay and pray with her.
"Adelina"
| "Anna"
"Mara"
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The production ofYesterday, Today and Tomorrow took place in various locations across Italy. Each of the three segments was shot in different settings, reflecting the diverse cultural and social landscapes of the country. The first segment is set inNaples and follows the story of Adelina. The second story is set inMilan and revolves around the character of Anna. The final segment is set inRome and centers on Mara.
The "Adelina" segment is based on the true story of Concetta Muccardi, a Neapolitan street vendor of contraband cigarettes who had 19 pregnancies to avoid going to prison. Muccardi died on 21 November 2001 at the age of 78, by which time five of her children were still alive.[5]
For herstriptease scene in the "Mara" segment, Loren was coached by Jacques Ruet, choreographer for theCrazy Horse.[6]
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow grossed $9.3 million in North America, becoming the third highest-grossing Italian film at the time, behindLa Dolce Vita and8½.[2] The film brought home $8 million in proceeds for Carlo Ponti's company.[7]
John Simon ofThe New Leader describedYesterday, Today and Tomorrow as an "overrated dud",[8] whileBrendan Gill ofThe New Yorker referred to it, in passing, as a "club sandwich."[9]Bosley Crowther, inThe New York Times, found it a "wonderfully elaboratedburlesque."[10] ForVariety, the objects of "this breezy, non-cerebral, three-episoder," are "the wonders of Italy and Sophia Loren." It's a film, it reads, directed with "cinematic flair and invested with sensual gusto."[11]
On theRotten Tomatoesreview aggregator, the film holds an approval rating of 78%, based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10.[12]
In 2015, Sophia Loren'sautobiography was published, under the titleYesterday, Today and Tomorrow: My Life.[13] In 2021, Jacek Górecki's retrospective view of De Sica's oeuvre inGazzetta Italia was similarly titled "Ieri, oggi, domani."[14]
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