"Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" is certainly not the pinnacle of the oeuvre of Vittorio de Sica. Movies such as "Bicyclethieves" (1948) and "Umberto D" (1952) are held in much higher esteem. On the other hand watching this bittersweet comedy isn't wasting your time either. Responsible for this are to a great extent the two lead actors Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, big stars already and acting at the top of their abilities. Fourteen years later the chemistry between these two was still there in "Una giornata particolare" (1977, Ettore Scola).
"Yesterday. Today and Tomorrow" is an episode movie. Every episode is about the relationship between a man (Mastroanni) and a woman (Loren). In every episode the woman is firmly in control. In this respects the film is very much like an episode film such as "Boccaccio 70" (1962, De Sica, Fellini, Visconti and Monicelli) in which De Sica was responsible for one episode featuring also Sophia Loren.
In "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" the episodes are linked to Italian cities.
The first espisode is linked to Naples in the South of Italy. We see poverty, but we also see solidarity. When the couple has debts and a bailiff comes by, all the furniture has been stored in the neighborhood, so there is nothing to confiscate. In this episode the woman is above all mother. However, that does not mean that the eroticism is hard to find. Sophia Loren makes very clear that making love is not only to get pregnant but is also fun.
The second episode is linked to Milan in the North. The woman is the wife of a rich industrialist. During a car ride with her lover she keeps saying that she is bored and money means nothing to her. The way she acts contradicts at least the latter part of the previous sentence. Unlike the first episode the relationship between man and woman in this episode is empty and cold. This shortest episode of the three has much in common with films that Michelangelo Antonio made around the same time ("La notte" (1961) and "Eclypse" (1962)). To accentuate the coldness of the bourgeoisie de Sica adds images of washerwomen at the river Po and a freckled little boy selling flowers along the road.
The third episode is linked with Rome in the middle of Italy. It is maybe the least bittersweet and most comedy of all the episodes. It certainly is the most well known of the three due to the striptease that Sophia Loren, playing an expensive call girl, gives to her regular customer Marcello Mastroianni.
"Yesterday. Today and Tomorrow" is an episode movie. Every episode is about the relationship between a man (Mastroanni) and a woman (Loren). In every episode the woman is firmly in control. In this respects the film is very much like an episode film such as "Boccaccio 70" (1962, De Sica, Fellini, Visconti and Monicelli) in which De Sica was responsible for one episode featuring also Sophia Loren.
In "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" the episodes are linked to Italian cities.
The first espisode is linked to Naples in the South of Italy. We see poverty, but we also see solidarity. When the couple has debts and a bailiff comes by, all the furniture has been stored in the neighborhood, so there is nothing to confiscate. In this episode the woman is above all mother. However, that does not mean that the eroticism is hard to find. Sophia Loren makes very clear that making love is not only to get pregnant but is also fun.
The second episode is linked to Milan in the North. The woman is the wife of a rich industrialist. During a car ride with her lover she keeps saying that she is bored and money means nothing to her. The way she acts contradicts at least the latter part of the previous sentence. Unlike the first episode the relationship between man and woman in this episode is empty and cold. This shortest episode of the three has much in common with films that Michelangelo Antonio made around the same time ("La notte" (1961) and "Eclypse" (1962)). To accentuate the coldness of the bourgeoisie de Sica adds images of washerwomen at the river Po and a freckled little boy selling flowers along the road.
The third episode is linked with Rome in the middle of Italy. It is maybe the least bittersweet and most comedy of all the episodes. It certainly is the most well known of the three due to the striptease that Sophia Loren, playing an expensive call girl, gives to her regular customer Marcello Mastroianni.