Alternate Best Actor 1964: Saro Urzì in Seduced and Abandoned

Saro Urzì did not receive an Oscar nomination, despite winning CANNES, for portraying Don Vincenzo Ascalone in Seduced and Abandoned. 

Seduced and Abandoned is Pietro Germi's followup to his most famous film Divorce, Italian Style, which is a similar dark satire of Italian social norms. 

Where in "Divorce" we followed the conspirator of the man who planned on having an affair through murdering his wife through an "honor" killing about an affair, this film follows instead the kind of damage control of such affairs by frequently being from the perspective of an father trying to deal with the fact that one of his daughters has become impregnated by another one of his daughter's suitor. Urzì's performance is quite a bit different from Marcello Mastroianni's mix of sad sack and suave turn, though he's grappling with a similar challenge with the film's unique, though I think successful tone. This as the film is funny, but it is also very dark in how biting it is over showing essentially the cruelties of the society in so many ways. Urzì first enters just as we see him as the patriarch of his pseudo well to do family. Urzì delivers what I think is best described as kind of a blend between comedic and naturalism. Really quite well balanced actually in portraying just the state of the father whose feathers seem always a little ruffled while also seemingly trying to self assure everyone at the same time. Urzì has a great ease in portraying the unease of his character. This just as his slightly overcooked state in his expression just shows a man who seemingly puts all the weights of his family, mostly defined by society's views of it, as wrapped into his very core. 

Urzì's performance is rather funny though very much in the specific situational way, and while maintaining the film's tricky tone to the whole thing. Urzì is wonderful in crafting this kind of specific manic energy befitting his older father that he is playing as hearing about the "seduction" he rushes off to try to make things right and check to see how things are. In one scene alone you get really the hilarity of his work as the Don takes his daughter's urine to get tested to see if she's pregnant while pretending it is for his wife. Urzì is great in showing the stress of the lies really as he's putting it forth with his eyes beating with this unsustainable pressure as clearly much is riding on this test. Urzì though is great in the moment of convincing the doctor to do things faster than is the official way by whispering his covert connections. Urzì's instant manner switch is comic gold as he does his name drop that has this great mix of being completely shameless while speaking with this false kind of discreet quality. Urzì's performance is one of this constant kind of flux that perfectly exemplifies the Don's manner of trying to contain the situation and doing everything in his power to do so. So much of the comedy really coming from Urzì's portrayal of a man who really wants to control everything in his situation, but requires him to essentially sweat bullets every step of the way. 

Urzì's performance then becomes this tapestry of distress and emotion, that often has certain comical qualities to it, as he tries to make everything right...at least in the Don's mind. Urzì is terrific in creating this specific kind of rush that he embodies as the man's body also seemingly slowly collapsing itself. This as even when the man is putting on a front of some charm or genial quality to people he needs something from, like local authorities or a new potential suitor, Urzì creates in his eyes still a withering stress in the Don even as he speaks with an eagerness and affability towards those he's trying to get something from. He's great at showing that he's always hiding something even when he's doing his best to be as convincing as possible in his intentions. When less secretive Urzì's terrific in showing that constant wave of emotion and contemplation the man has to go through in each new development or attempted plan. This as Urzì so effectively punctuates every moment in this, whether that be his annoyance at learning he won't be able to get away with killing the seducer legally or his sort of calculating reaction towards coming up with a different way to kill the man in order to preserve his family. Urzì creates this state so remarkably that carries us through so admirably the satirical but also more genuine emotional qualities that are in there. Again the tone is extremely specific yet Urzì's work balances it so well by so tangibly showing what the Don is going through at every point of the situation. This in creating this deterioration of the stress, but also punctuating moments with an even greater distress or moments of reaction that denote a temporary reprieve. Although his character ends up getting somewhat sidelined near the end of the film, as it segues to focusing more so on the two lovers by the end of the film, Urzì's work stands as a highlight of the film. This in creating a believable, yet also still funny in its own dark way, portrait of a man trying to maintain what he sees as the dignity of his family by any means necessary.