La Loi from Jules Dassin in 1959 presents Gina Lollobrigida in a totally different light from her Hollywood films. She's very earthy, not that refined but sensual as shown that all the townsmen desire her. The Law is a fairly complicated story about a town boss in more or less Southern Italy and the various characters who try to somewhat lock horns with him, like the town judge, the lawyer and an assortment of bizarre characters. LA LOI captures the Southern Italian town down to a 'T' recognizing the various traits that still exist there... not to mention my own Italian heritage.
The plot, taken from a French Novel of the era defines the Italian culture like that of a true Italian writer, not a French one. The cast assembled by Jules Dassin is quite extraordinary. GINA is the main attraction but add to her performance indelible ones from Pierre Brasseur as the boss, Marcello Mastroiani, Yves Montand, Melina Mercouri and Raf Mattioli not to mention the terrific smaller parts for actors and the entire film can become a lesson on ensemble performances. Shot in a very appropriate B & W cinematography, one gets a true taste of a town that is teetering on its own demise. Well worth seeing!
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