The Taming of the Scoundrel

The Taming of the Scoundrel (Il bisbetico domato, 1980) is an Italian comedy starring Adriano Celentano, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Elia, a wealthy, scowling, defiantly single farmer, is perfectly content among his tractors and his silence — until a beautiful stranger named Lisa lands on his doorstep.

Celentano plays a boor who flinches at perfume, chatter, and anything that disturbs his bachelor routine. Ornella Muti is Lisa, stranded at his farmhouse by a broken-down car and quickly convinced that this grumpy bear can be tamed. He insults, she teases, he hides in the cellar stomping grapes, she follows him down. The whole film grows out of that battle of wills, packed with songs, sight gags, and Celentano's rubber-faced mugging.

The Celentano–Muti pairing became the gold standard of Italian comedy after this and reunited several times over. The movie was endlessly quoted on Soviet screens, and revisiting it is a real treat for anyone who misses warm, uncynical humor. Stream The Taming of the Scoundrel (1980) online on iFILM.