Marcella Mariani
A humble country girl is cast in a film and falls in love with the famous lead actor.
Donne e soldati was an example of a ‘decentralised’ production, far from Rome, something that for the most part Italian cinema didn’t fully succeed in achieving until the 1990s. . In many ways the film, which is both Picaresque and anti-heroic, was too far ahead of its time, and it is often considered the precursor to Monicelli’s L’armata brancaleone. This time out, Ferreri takes the reins as producer of the ill-fated undertaking (the two directors will never make another film); however, Donne e soldati, apart from marking Ferreri’s estrangement from Italian cinema for a number of years, today appears to display earthy and carnivalesque elements that will subsequently influence certain aspects of the Milanese director’s vision.
The story follows the escapades of a Florentine mechanic, a local "Don Giovanni," who romances several women simultaneously and secretly. His multiple relationships come to the women's attention, and they conceive a plot to punish the mechanic for his behavior.
A man escapes from prison but he is seriously wounded and eventually becomes paralyzed. He receives help from a fisherman and his family.
