User Reviews

An amusing, verging on wonderful film movie that is unfortunately compromised by the dub; Loren speaks perfect English and Mastroianni - whose beautiful voice is a star turn in itself, knew enough to acquit himself. Instead we get some pretty unconvincing American Speakers.

Adelina of Naples. This segment of the film is a fictionalized take on true events 10 years earlier. Lauren is the principal breadwinner for her family, selling black market cigarettes and committing other illegal acts to make ends meet. To avoid jail, she merely need remain pregnant which her semi-employed husband Carmine (Mastroianni), is expected to chip in with. The rub however, is that the shoe factory next door has, for several years, kept the poor man awake so that after 8 or so other siblings, he simply is not the race horse he used to be. Chastised by his wife for his weakness, Mastroianni despairs while Adelina (almost) produces number nine with Carmine's best friend; luckily nothing happens.

Lauren's luck and the appeal processes are eventually exhausted, Adelina does go to a jail that better frankly, than the average Motel 6. Carmine, in the mean time, contacts the press and the Pope, really everyone, and finally, Sophia is sprung. During her internment, Mastroianni apparently recovers his strength and the movie ends with the certainties that he 'got his thang back,' and that, at least to 1963 eyes, things in Naples would never change.

At the time the movie was lauded for its unsubtle criticism of the Catholic Church's birth control policies, policies, which it was reasoned, contributed to high birth rates, poverty, apathy and - laziness of Naples. Arguably the best segment of the movie and by far the longest.

Anna Of Milan

The weakest of the three segments, though not without charm. This segment basically has no plot whatsoever. Sophia Lauren is Anna, a rich, bored woman who has married an industrialist and has time and amore to spare, especially as her rich husband travels. A lot.

Mastroianni plays Renzo ,a writer with a curious haircut and a raincoat, a man appalled by Lauren's focus on money, yet still a man! Come on; we're talking Sophia Lauren..

One fine Sunday, the pair travel to the country in her new Rolls (this episode is almost a commercial for that particular brand) Renzo passing the time chiding Anna for her materialism in between bouts of desire. Lauren insists that she wants to go somewhere, anywhere to get away from all 'this.' Really she insists, she could give up money at any time and as a token of her good faith on this point - allows Mastroianni to drive.

Eventually, overwhelmed by so much woman and horsepower, Renzo crashes, almost killing a child selling flowers on the roadside. The Rolls' in flames, Anna flips out, her only concern the car, she even insists that use HIS clothes to douse the flames!

Returned to her senses by the crash, Anna shows through her anger that her true love is the Lira, especially when she rides off into the Milanese sunset with another swinger - a short guy in a Lancia. The Rolls abandoned for repairs on the roadside, Renzo buys some flowers from the almost run-over little flower peddler who asks if it's 'really a Rolls?'

The day's stock results are announced on the Roll's radio as Mastroianni walks bemusedly out of camera, (very effective shot) discarding the flowers on the roadside. While too obvious - 'money is the poison of today,' the curious scenery and some fine acting, make this episode enjoyable, if lightweight.

Mara Of Rome

This famous episode stars Lauren as Mara, an upscale hooker and is frankly, hilarious and a treat for the eyes. What incredibly beautiful cinematography this episode employs!

There are two themes in this episode: Mastroianni's 'Rusconi,' son of a wealthy industrialist from Bologna is wild about Mara - and the camera by the way is wild about Mastroianni, who is murderously handsome. Unfortunately, something always arises to interrupt his love - especially the second theme, namely: The crush on Mara of her shy young neighbor, a gorgeous young man being sent to a seminary by his tiny little grandparents who seem to want him there for his own good and just maybe, their own finances.

One comic turn after another arises to prevent Rusconi's union with Mara; on one occasion, hounded on the phone by his Father in Bologna, Rusconi insists, that he is 'not an idiot,' and then reminds his Dad that you have to 'bribe the minister, first. That's why it is called a bribe.' Showing great capacity as a comic actor on a level with his dramatic turns, Mastroianni really puts the 'S' in star power and is hilariously funny.

Tired of the 'what next?' Mastroianni swears off Mara and says he is leaving forever. In the meantime, the self-righteous Grandma next door accuses Mara of being a common whore and home-wrecker who is ruining her young man and promises to evict her. (In reality, it was the shy young man who made a Roman roof top approach, asking Lauren if she would go to the beach with him; she is non-committal.)

Enraged by the Grandma, Lauren fires back: How can anyone judge HER - after all, she is very choosy about the men she sleeps with.

Mastroianni returns - duh! Stating that he kept thinking about Mara. Finally the young man's affairs are sorted - (poor Rusconi forced into action as peacekeeper) and neighborly relations, restored. As a reward, Lauren performs a very famous (and rather tame, in fact) strip tease for Rusconi, whose by-now ruined nervous system leads to a series of hilarious faces. About to dish out the REAL reward, however, Lauren recalls she has made a vow of chastity for 'just two weeks'.

This segment, while perhaps overtly addressing hypocrisy (the grandparent's) is in my opinion, really about nothing but fine acting, gorgeous faces and glorious Rome. A great moment in Cinema, and by far my favorite segment.

This movie is made up of three separate vignettes starring Sophia Loren and Morcello Mastrianni playing three different couples. Each segment differs greatly as far as their length and quality.

The first is the longest, and for me, the least interesting. It's about a woman who continues to have baby after baby after baby in order to stay out of prison for a petty crime. Considering she ultimately had 7 kids in the process, the story seems to drag on and on. She could have done it once or twice or even three times, but the skit went on and on with not nearly enough payoff.

The second is by far the shortest and is about a selfish spoiled rich brat. It's mildly interesting but that's about all.

The final skit makes the movie. If it weren't for this one, the movie might have been scored a 4 or 5. It's about a prostitute who has turned the head of a young man in training to be a priest. At the same time, Mastriani is a customer who is again and again and again thwarted in his goal of bedding Loren. It may not sound funny based on the description, but it's very entertaining and her striptease is very sexy to say the least!

My overall impression of the movie is only fair. I think that's because I am a BIG fan of the earlier Neo-Realistic films directed by DeSica. They are almost totally different from this movie--having none of the expensive production values or polished actors. However, they were simply better movies. If you compare UMBERTO D., MIRACLE IN MILAN or any of his other Neo-Realistic films of the 40s, they show the director at the top of his form. Ieri, oggi, domani just looks contrived and ordinary in comparison.

YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW. Three short films about sex starring the two top Italian stars of the day, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni, and directed by Vittorio De Sica.  In the first part Sophia plays a pregnant woman who may have to go to prison for selling contraband on the street.  However, after speaking to a friend who is a lawyer, she and her husband find that the government cannot send a pregnant woman to prison.  So, Marcello has his work cut out for him as soon as the new baby is born.  Very soon she is pregnant again, then again, and again, seven times in all, and keeping her out of jail the whole time - that is, until Marcello runs out of "gas."  Very charming and funny episode.  In the second episode Marcello is having an affair with married Sophia, playing a completely self serving, rich snob.  Almost the entire film takes place in her Rolls Royce as they head for another sexual escape while the rich husband is away.  That is, until they have a car accident.  The third episode, the most famous, is the story of a high priced call girl, Loren, who is trying to arrange time for her best john, Mastroianni, who also is in love with her.  In the house next door, however, is a young man who is studying to be a bishop and is questioning his path in life, particularly after he watches Loren, in a skimpy lacy outfit, watering her plants on the outside deck.  The boy and his mother, a very self-righteous woman who abhors Loren's character, keep getting in the way of Marcello's time with Sophia.  When things are finally worked out with the boy and his mom, Sophia does her famous strip for Marcello, who is sitting on her bed, bouncing up and down in delight in response to Sophia's every move.  It's a very funny scene, and the episode isn't bad, but of the three, the first one, the pregnant woman story, is the most entertaining.  All three stories had something interesting to say about sex in Italy of that time, in particularly the second story about the rich woman having the affair, but it was the least entertaining of the three.  The thing that was good about all of them was how different the six characters created by Sophia and Marcello were.  Vittorio De Sica's direction was superb.  The music and cinematography added a lot to the wonderful atmosphere, particularly in the first episode.  If you're unfamiliar with Loren's or Mastroianni's Italian output this is a good one to take out for a first spin, especially if you've never seen Sophia in anything other than her Hollywood films.

Wasn't too bad, but wasn't the best either. Sophia Loren is smokin' hot in this, like usual, and particularly the strip tease at the end. Little disappointed they stopped some of the tease, such as going from mostly covered down to bra without showing the clothes coming off. I could imagine how Marcello's character is losing his mind watching this. Overall, I'd have to agree that the second vignette was the weakest, and also happened to be the shortest.

My biggest issue is the DVD print I watched. I don't know if there's a new edition out, but an academy award winning film should at least be seen in letterbox format, instead of what looks like a poor quality VHS transfer.

{{{ Fandor.com has this film available for online viewing in a version tat has none of the technical problems cited in other reviews here about this film.}}}

Vittorio Di Sica's Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow (1963), starring Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren is a very entertaining and artistic film. This is a three segment film, with each segment telling a story about a completely different romantically involved couple, and with very different circumstances in each story. The romantic couple in each story, each segment, is portrayed by Mastroianni and Loren.

The acting performances by Mastroianni and Loren in this film as a whole are outstanding. Each segment of this film, being such a different type story from the others, required them to veritably assume a different personality in each segment. Both Mastroianni and Loren did so very convincingly. This film, and its three divergent story lines, required a real chemistry between these two heavyweights of Italian cinema, which they apparently have. It is really amazing to watch these two fine actors in this film act in unison in each segment, acting as though the persona of the character in each individual segment was conceived and written just for them.

There is no deep "meaning" or esoteric symbolism in this film. It is just great storytelling at its best. "Just spinning a good yarn" times three. Yet, Di sico's excellent direction, and the excellent performances by both Mastroianni and Loren, brings some difficult to comprehend type of cohesion to these three divergent stories, as if each segment was just a part of a comprehensive whole story. I would suppose that this "comprehensive whole story" might just be called "the story of life". Each divergent story segment is a little "slice of life", somehow fitting into the larger "slice of life" that is the whole film.

This film has great artistic merit in that it convincingly portrays, and even celebrates in a way, the very "stuff of life", of everyday life, of your life and mine. This is an artistic film inasmuch it successfully portrays the relentless and indomitable spirit of life, of mundane and ordinary everyday life.

In my opinion, Vittorio De Sica really lost most of his talent when he met up with Sophia Loren. His films with her always feel like mush compared to his earlier masterpieces, even the much lauded Two Women. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow is comprised of three short stories, all starring Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. This might be De Sica's worst film if it weren't for the third segment. The first two are really poor. The first, "Adelina" (all three are named after Loren's character), is about a married woman who sells illegal cigarettes on the street. The cops try to arrest her, but cannot since she's pregnant. No pregnant woman can go to jail, and they get six months after the birth, while nursing, before they can be sent, too. The solution? Obviously, keep getting pregnant so they can never send her to jail. Soon, with seven kids, Mastroianni is too tired to keep fathering children. This story is just plain stupid. The second story is so negligible it barely exists. It's called "Anna" and Loren is a rich woman cheating on her husband with Mastroianni. The two of them drive around in a car for a while. Who cares? It's all too bad, too, because "Mara," the third story, is excellent. Not as good as De Sica's masterpieces, but wonderful all the same. Loren is a high class prostitute who gets into an argument with her elderly neighbor after she flirts with her grandson, who is in the seminary. After the argument, the kid decides to quit and the old woman and Loren join forces to convince him to go back. Mastroianni is hilarious as an eager john getting more and more irked that his time with Loren is getting compromised. The whole film is worth sitting through for this, but I'd almost suggest just fast-forwarding to this third part. It also features Loren's infamous striptease. The movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1965.