Where it was filmed 'Divorce Italian Style'

The setting for Pietro Germi’s searing comedy, based on Giovanni Arpino’s novel Un delitto d'onore, is the fictional town of Agromonte in Sicily: the film was actually shot in Ispica in the territory of Ragusa. The director examines two different outmoded legal models in the Italy of the time: divorce, which was impossible, and the crime of honour. The story develops around the Church of St. Bartolomeo, in corso Umberto I, whose staircase is often traversed by the main characters. In front of the church in via Foscolo is the bar with outside tables where the residents of Agromonte find out about Fefè’s actions from the newspaper. The church bell tower features particularly at Angela’s father’s funeral. The obelisk at the crossroads of corso Umberto I and via Matteotti was however added specifically for the film. Other scenes, e.g. when Fefè (Marcello Mastroianni) tails Carmelo Patanè (potentially a lover for his wife) or runs, gun at the ready, down via Dante intent on carrying out the crime of honour, feature the Basilica of the Santissima Annunziata. The seaside scenes where Fefè’s wife is covered with sand were shot on the beach of Santa Maria del Focallo and near the large dune known as Maccone Bianco which Is the location of a nature reserve.

Part of the film is set and shot in Catania. Fefè wants to see Angela (Stefania Sandrelli) again and needs to make a significant purchase, so after a first scene with a panoramic shot of piazza Duomo, with the Elephant Fountain, the Baron sits at a bar in the port of Ognina where he fantasies about his crime of honour and offers wine to a lawyer.