Decameron Nights
"The Love Tales that millions have enjoyed!"
Italian poet Boccaccio (Louis Jourdan) hides in the court of Fiammetta (Joan Fontaine) and tells three tales of love and lust.
Top Cast
-
Joan Fontaine
Fiametta / Bartolomea / Ginevra / Isabella
-
Louis Jourdan
Giovanni Boccaccio / Paganino / Guilio / Don Bertando
-
Binnie Barnes
Comtesse di Firenze / Nerina / Old Witch
-
Carlos Villarías
-
Carlos Díaz de Mendoza
-
Joan Collins
Pampinea / Maria
-
Mara Lane
Girl in Villa
-
Gérard Tichy
-
Stella Riley
Chica en pueblo
Overview
Italian poet Boccaccio (Louis Jourdan) hides in the court of Fiammetta (Joan Fontaine) and tells three tales of love and lust.
Rating
5.0
/ 10
6 Reviews 1 Popular
1 Reviews
-
CinemaSerf5 Jun 22, 2022Based on the hugely imaginative work of Giovanni Boccaccio, this is a rather lacklustre effort with Louis Jourdan taking the role of the acclaimed storyteller who is seeking shelter from the pursing troops of the invading Duke of Lorenzo. He has also learned of the location of his love "Fiametta" (Joan Fontaine) but upon arrival at the villa in which she, and four others (including a terribly wooden Joan Collins as "Pampinea") are hiding, he is only permitted to stay with them on the condition that he tells them a story each evening and that he doesn't try to seduce anyone. He agrees, but clearly plans to use his tales to arouse her ardour nonetheless. His stories challenge the strength of her morals, to varying extents: always a young woman married to much older man (always Godfrey Tearle) but the third story comes from the woman herself, and it offers an interestingly juxtaposed position to those presented in his, more opportune, depictions. The stories themselves challenge stereotypes of romance; the place of a woman in the home; the nature of love and honour and loyalty but the film itself falls well short. Fontaine is remarkably sterile and Jourdan, despite his mellifluous tones, lacks charisma. It takes for ever to get going and when we do, it all struggles to animate itself. Much like with Shakespeare, so much of the nuance of the narrative - the descriptive language that is subtle, funny and potent struggles to translate onto a screen at the best of times - and this isn't one of those. His works deserved a much more sensitive and competent adaptation for the screenplay. What we are left with here is just a confused romantic adventure with some seriously undercooked characters across the board. It runs beyond two hours, so there is no real excuse for this short-selling. Pity.
Recommendations
At a crossroads after her divorce, a schoolteacher ventures toward a fresh start in life — and love — when she signs up for a grueling group hiking trip.
Happiness for Beginners
6.2 2023
John Thornton, is a fearless man who's after more than gold; he wants to do what's right. Thornton works for the U.S. mail and is the only person daring and smart enough to figure out how to travel the deadly 600 miles from Skagway to Dawson, Alaska in the icy winter. His incredibly dog Buck is by his side and part of how he survives.
The Call of the Wild
6.1 1972
On his twenty-first birthday, the Prince goes on a quest that takes him across the land searching for the one woman that gets him sexually excited, Princess Sleeping Beauty.
Fairy Tales
6.1 1978
The enchanted story of Pinocchio.
Pinocchio
6.1 2009
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
Accident Man
6.3 2018
Sheik Ahmed desperately desires feisty British socialite Diana, so he abducts her and carries her off to his luxurious tent-palace in the desert. The free-spirited Diana recoils from his passionate embraces and yearns to be released. Later, allowed to go into the desert, she escapes and makes her way across the sands...
The Sheik
6.0 1921
France, 1640. Cyrano, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. The chivalrous Cyrano sets up with Christian an innocent deception, with tragic results.
Cyrano de Bergerac
6.9 1950
In this enchantingly cracked fairy tale, the beautiful Princess Buttercup and the dashing Westley must overcome staggering odds to find happiness amid six-fingered swordsmen, murderous princes, Sicilians and rodents of unusual size. But even death can't stop these true lovebirds from triumphing.
The Princess Bride
7.7 1987
The Four Musketeers defend the queen and her dressmaker from Cardinal Richelieu and Milady de Winter.
The Four Musketeers
6.4 1974
Faced with the suspicious death of their father, two brothers must motivate one another to get back on their bikes and take the Las Vegas Motocross Championships by storm.
Supercross
6.3 2005