Directed by: Paolo Nuzzi
Stars: Aldo Maccione, Agostina Belli, Andréa Ferréol, Erminio Macario, Loredana Martinez
Language: Italian | Subtitles: English
Country: Italy | Imdb Info
Also known as: Il piatto piange
Description: On the shores of Lake Maggiore, in the town of Luino during the Fascist era, a circle of young bourgeois friends pass their nights in the underground gambling den of the Metropolitan Hotel. Poker games stretch into dawn. Gossip flows freely. Romantic intrigues and visits to the local “house of tolerance” punctuate their otherwise uneventful days.
The title — roughly meaning “the pot is crying” — refers to a weak hand at the card table, but it also reflects something deeper: the quiet dissatisfaction simmering beneath provincial life. Between bluffs and bravado, these men drift through friendship, rivalry, and sexual escapades, filling the emptiness of small-town routine with risk and indulgence.
Directed by Paolo Nuzzi and featuring performances from Aldo Maccione and Agostina Belli, the film blends nostalgic period detail with light erotic farce. The fascist backdrop remains more atmospheric than political — a setting of uniforms and hierarchy framing youthful recklessness.
Part coming-of-age comedy, part social satire, Il piatto piange captures the ritual of male bonding through cards, boasting, and restless desire — where the real stakes are pride, not money.
Legacy Note:
Arriving during Italy’s 1970s erotic-comedy boom, the film reflects a wave of nostalgic “period vice” cinema — looking back at pre-war Italy with a mix of irony, sensuality, and soft satire. It’s less about historical critique than about mood: smoky rooms, whispered bets, and a generation idling while history looms in the background.
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