The Visitor (1963)

Imagine when corresponding with your would-be boyfriend for the first time that you commend him on sending you his photo which also featured a boat that had the same name as your deceased mother! How very romantic. Mind you, at least that’s better than one respondent to “Pina” (Sandro Milo) who was quite an hunk but more interested in her savings! “Adolfo” (François Périer) is the man she has selected to meet and so she anxiously awaits his arrival at the station. He’s not exactly an oil painting nor do they exactly “gel” as he is a little more reserved than she but each are polite enough as she takes him to her home. This arrival is a bit of a baptism of fire and introduces him (and us) to some of the local characters who live in her town and who don’t take too kindly to this interloper. Can they make a go of things? Well as their day unfolds we are presented with flashbacks of both of their previous lives and as “Adolfo” starts to enjoy the wine some of his reservations begin to flow more than ebb. It’s a genuinely quite funny look at life and there’s an enjoyable chemistry between Milo and Périer that is engagingly complemented by the eccentric “Cucaracha” (Mario Adorf), “Chiaretta” (Angela Minervini) and a tightly cast group of characterful individuals who amiably show off the eccentricities of a community that’s not seen much change since the Pope was called Peter. Antonio Pietrangeli directs with deftness here, allowing the personalities to shine but also including some local locations, daft scenarios and some mud to create a sense of sexually charged mischief throughout. I’m not sure it does wonders for the Italian car industry, though - nor their manly reputation as Casanovas, either.