Based on 'Il fu Mattia Pascal', one of Pirandello's many stories concerning the transitory nature of the intangibles "truth" and "identity". Mattia Pascal is a downtrodden average man, treated like trash by his fiancée, scorned by his associates, and cheated out of his inheritance by contemptuous relatives. The dispirited Pascal heads to Monte Carlo, accruing a fortune and also assuming the identity of a less fortunate gambler who killed himself. The "new" Pascal is treated with a dignity and respect that overwhelms him--and nearly kills him.
Acting
Mastroianni's weary eyes hold three lifetimes
Direction
Monicelli balances Pirandello's philosophy with human warmth
Writing
Wit so dry it could start a fire
Director
Mario Monicelli
Marcello Mastroianni
Mattia Pascal
Senta Berger
Clara
Flavio Bucci
Terenzio Papiano
Laura Morante
Adriana Paleari
Laura del Sol
Romilda Pescatore
Andréa Ferréol
Silvia Caporale
Bernard Blier
Anselmo Paleari
Caroline Berg
Véronique
Néstor Garay
Giambattista Malagna
Alessandro Haber
Mino Pomino
Carlo Bagno
Pellegrinotto
Clelia Rondinella
Oliva Salvoni
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Pirandello's novel (1904) invented the 'unreliable narrator' before modernism made it cool.
Mastroianni filmed this during his legendary affair with Catherine Deneuve — method acting existential dread?
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