The Sign of VenusMovies like The Sign of Venus
- Key Features:
- Romantic comedy, Jealousy, Love triangle, Female relationships, Social satire, Desire, Italian cinema, Gender dynamics
- Tone:
- humorous, satirical
- Target Audience:
- Fans of classic comedies, Viewers interested in social commentary, Those who enjoy romantic stories
- Emotional Arc:
- Amusement → Frustration
The Sign of Venus

Agnese has many men who woo her and live with her cousin Cesira, who has the opposite problem with men and wishes she would also have men woo her.
The Sign of Venus
A portrait of the flaws and peculiarities of four type of girls living in different districts of Rome.

A boy and a girl fall in love but their fathers take a strong dislike to each other, clashing repeatedly during the preparations for the upcoming marriage.

Ferdinando Cefalù is desperate to marry his cousin, Angela, but he is married to Rosalia and divorce is illegal in Italy. To get around the law, he tries to trick his wife into having an affair so he can catch her and murder her, as he knows he would be given a light sentence for killing an adulterous woman. He persuades a painter to lure his wife into an affair, but Rosalia proves to be more faithful than he expected.

During the bombing of Naples in World War II, a cynical businessman helps a naive prostitute, who spends the next two decades desperate to have him reciprocate her feelings.

Giovanna, Carla, Francesca, Chiara. What these women have in common so different from each other? Which will never be the not insignificant detail that makes their lives secretly imperfect? And what mystery female is so intimate and private, that more private you can not? Whatever it is, all they want. A food designer, her first love and one sciampista for dogs are the stars of this comedy merrily shameless telling women what no one had ever dared to tell.

Salvo and Valentino are two happy Sicilian friends, who do not want to work, because they know that if they find a permanent job, their girlfriends will ask them to marry them.

Forty-something Mattia has every woman in town lusting after him. But every time a woman wants to get hitched, he drags out his 'daughter' (actually the girl next door) to pass judgment on this woman.

Five short stories loosely dealing with the roles of women in society. A superstar actress travels to a mountain resort, only to evoke jealousy from women and lust from men. A woman offers to take an injured man to the hospital. A widowed father and his son seek for a new wife/mother. A man seeks revenge for a woman's honor. A bored housewife tries to explain to her husband that he's not as romantic as he used to be.

Gilberto, 50enne, si fa coinvolgere in una cosiddetta speed-date, una gara in cui i protagonisti devono trovare un partner in 3 minuti. Arrestato, deve confessare tutto in presenza della moglie che lo sbatte fuori di casa. Rifugiatosi da amici scopre che il suo migliore amico è amante della moglie e comincia a tentare di avviare nuove relazioni che falliscono tutte.

Back to his hometown, a former marshal finds his house occupied by a young woman working as a fishwife.

From married couples to platonic roommates to testy rivals with romantic chemistry, the never-ending battle of the sexes gets personal.

When Marino goes to Rome for an event, he certainly does not imagine meeting Marisa, who will become the love of his life. But once love is found, it is a matter of spreading it and here the difficulties begin: first the father who opposes it; then, after the death of his father, the gossips who make Marino believe that Marisa was a little good, so much so that Marisa runs away. Repentant, Marino searches in vain and then, almost by accident, finds her again, Mrs. Ciceri. But love admits no obstacles, not even that of a deaf and dumb husband.

Baron Zazà, always broke due his dissolute lifestyle, decides to con a hefty sum of money out of his wealthy but greedy brother.

Romeo and Felice lead two rival bands who constantly make fun of each other. One day, Romeo meets and falls in love with Giulietta, without knowing that she is Felice's sister.

Five searches for love unfold in interconnected stories in which fathers, daughters and male suitors try to perfect love matches based on astrology.

Francesco and Claudia are best friends. They're inseparable and tell each other everything, until another man enters the picture stealing Claudia's heart. Francesco then realizes that friendship between man and woman is a complicated thing.

A young fashion blogger and an aspiring songwriter seem to have not that much in common, but when Cupid’s arrow hits them, every difference fades away and overnight they decide to get married. Even their fathers do not have anything in common: Gaetano is a strict mayor from Southern Italy, while Diego is a rich entrepreneur from the North. Between the two forthcoming in-laws, instead, is hate at first sight. They seem to agree on one single common goal: prevent this marriage at any cost! After fighting by any means in a struggle that will also involve their two bizarre families, will they manage to say no to the wedding?

Traveling from New York to Italia, pretty Mary rushes into moody macho lawyer Tito. The girl immediately falls for the guy with the gruffy manners and in an very impertinent way, she leans on him as she gets in trouble: Not only that she gets tied up in her suite by some Gangsters, but also, her new husband is found dead.

Antonio, Peppino and Lucia are three brothers who live in the country near Naples. Lucia's son, Gianni, goes to Naples to study medicine, but there he knows a ballet dancer. They fall in love and, when she goes to Milan, Gianni follows her. Informed of this and afraid that their nephew will stop studying, the three Caponi brothers leave for Milan to persuade Gianni to come back and continue studying and abandon the "Malafemmina" (bad girl).

An American girl on vacation in Italy finds an unanswered "letter to Juliet" -- one of thousands of missives left at the fictional lover's Verona courtyard, which are typically answered by the "secretaries of Juliet" -- and she goes on a quest to find the lovers referenced in the letter.

Eugene, a young nobleman, asks two penniless idlers to impersonate his noble relatives to help him marry Gemma, the daughter of an enriched cook.

The story of an encounter between a bourgeois man and a poor woman, because their teenage children fall in love.

In many small episodes, various characters represent the typical vices and comedy of Italian society in early 2000.

Lucia is a young and talented advertiser but is out of luck when it comes to love. Madly in love with her best friend's boyfriend, she struggles with her feelings when they are set to get married.

Construction worker Oreste and young fiancee Adelaide meet Nello, a cook in a pizzeria. This love triangle often goes to communist rallies, and enjoys the filthy beaches of Ostia. Will the hostile environment pave a way to jealousy?

Three tales of very different women using their sexuality as a means to getting what they want.

Felice Sciosciammocca, the mayor of Roccasecca, sends his nephew Ciccillo to Naples so that he will become a good doctor.

Two cousins haven't spoken for almost twenty years, thanks to the enmity that their fathers feel toward one another. But an accident suddenly brings the cousins back together and thrusts them deep into the heart of the mafia.

After her audition as Juliet fails to impress, a young actress determined to act in the latest production of Shakespeare's play crossdresses and is unexpectedly chosen for the role of Romeo.

Andrea is having a bad luck with girls. Maybe because he's only man in his big family which include mother, three sisters, grandma, nurse and a dog which is of course female also.

She's a divorce lawyer, single mother and perpetually at war against men, he is a couple's therapist, single and not looking, they meet and collide in a bourgeois and romantic Rome...

In an accident the young mechanic Marco Coccia meets Cristiana. The two fall in love with one another. Cristiana confesses only later that she is a genuine princess. For Marco it is not a problem, but for Cristiana's parents it is a very big problem. The two must separate. When one evening Cristiana calls Marco and lets him know about her forthcoming wedding, Marco with the car races toward Paris and has an accident...

The story of Romeo and Juliet is exactly the opposite: two families, the Casisa and the Vitrano, who adore each other, and their two children, Anna and Claudio, students away from home and longtime lovers, who hate each other and want nothing to do with each other. When they return home, the two find an idyllic situation: the friendship between their families is so strong that they've even joined forces in business. The Casisa, ricotta producers, and the Vitrano, producers of cannoli shells, will sell "the lovers' cannoli," for which Claudio and Anna will be the unwitting ambassadors. It's so difficult to tarnish that picture that the two not only lack the courage to admit they've broken up, but, gripped by an increasingly childish fear, they complicate matters by telling outright lies: not only do they announce their wedding, but also the imminent birth of a child. From here, a hilarious game of misunderstandings begins, which will lead them to commit the wrong elopement.

The relationships between a veteran marshal, his bride-to-be, a rookie and his fiancée are severely tested when the young carabiniere is temporarily sent to a distant town.

A wealthy broker, Federico Picchioni, within two days forfeits his partner and work, finishing well to living with two children and granddaughter (abandoned by her father). He is, at this point, in the face of many difficulties of adjustment but finds comfort in the help of his neighbor.

Parent-teenage children clashes in 21st century Italy.

Alberto Nardi is a Roman businessman who fancies himself a man of great capabilities, but whose factory teeters perennially on the brink of catastrophe. Alberto is married to a rich and successful businesswoman from Milan, Elvira Almiraghi who has a no-nonsense attitude and barely tolerates the attempts of her husband to keep his factory afloat with her money.

There's a new girl in school, Angela, the Headmaster's neice. Every male will try to seduce her, even her uncle. Meanwhile she will drive the philosophy's teacher mad and her best friend Irma will have a good time with the classmates. Will they get the grades?

A rich farmer is well known for being very unkind. He's misanthropic, misogynous and cantankerous. Until he meets by chance a gorgeous girl...

Carlo descends on his former lover's unsuspecting family and the scheming Rocco tries to break up his old rival Marcello's wedding.

In Italy, three men fall in love with three women. First a young engaged lawyer has a fling, then the middle-aged married man has a fling, then a retired man falls in love with his friend's daughter.

The charismatic Snaporaz encounters an alluring woman on a train and pursues her through a forest. He ends up at a hotel populated by women gathered for a feminist conference, where he is an unwanted presence. Snaporaz soon discovers he’s entered a phantasmagoric world where women have taken power.

When her social-climbing father is relocated from small-town North to his native Rome, 12-year-old Caterina enrolls to his old school, finding herself at sea with an environment where students sort themselves by social class and their parents' political affiliation.

When young and attractive Lina Stroppiani, a thief like the rest of her family, tries to steal the taxi of Paolo, together with two accomplices, she can't possibly know that this will have far reaching consequences.

A Sicilian woman is dishonored by her lover, then goes to London with a pistol intending to murder him.

When Jan decides to marry his girl-friend Sara, he is not aware of his opponent: her father, who is an Italian.

This romantic drama by Michelangelo Antonioni follows the love life of Vittoria, a beautiful literary translator living in Rome. After splitting from her writer boyfriend, Riccardo, Vittoria meets Piero, a lively stockbroker, on the hectic floor of the Roman stock exchange. Though Vittoria and Piero begin a relationship, it is not one without difficulties, and their commitment to one another is tested during an eclipse.

During the annual Christmas gathering at the family home, the parents surprise their children by announcing their decision to move in with one of them and pass on the house.

When a impoverished widow’s family moves to the big city, two of her five sons become romantic rivals with deadly results.

Fred works for a company that creates alibis for cheaters until Clio, the daughter of one of his client, falls in love with him.

The film presents the tale of Agnese Ascalone, daughter of prominent miner Vincenzo Ascalone, and takes place in a small town in Sicily. Agnese is seduced by her sister Matilde's fiancé, and has a tryst with him for which she confesses and tries to repent, only to be discovered by her mother and father.

Three Italians travel to their hometown to vote for elections: Pasquale is a Southern immigrant living in Munich who's genuinely happy to come back to Italy, even if just for a few days, but the country he dreams of is far from reality; Furio travels to Rome with his family, but his niggling attitude threatens to push his wife Magda over the edge; young Mimmo is also going to Rome, but the trip is repeatedly interrupted by worries about his grandma's health.

Elena and Antonio seem not to be made for each other. They are too different in terms of character, life choices, worldview, and the way they relate to others. They are total opposites. However, they are overwhelmed by a mutual attraction they're trying hard to avoid; but to which they succumb to.

Sweet-sour comedy on Italy's 1950s rage to get rich as fast as possible! The businessman wants to satisfy his wife's craving for luxury and a "respectable life" so he becomes heavily indebted. In desperation he agrees to sell a precious part of his body for a large sum of money. But just before the crucial operation he panics...

An anthology film that presents three storylines, all set in the Italian town of Treviso. In the first story, a husband pretends to be impotent as a cover for having an affair. In the second, a bank clerk abandons his wife for his mistress, but the rest of the town's husbands become jealous and unite to conspire against them. In the third, men of the town all seduce a promiscuous teenager, but her father eventually reveals that she is underage, and they face prosecution for statutory rape.

Italy, 16th century. Petruchio, a choleric, lying and poor rural landowner from Verona, arrives in Padua in search of fortune and a wife, while Baptista, a wealthy merchant, announces that he will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter, to marry until the temperamental and unruly Katherina, his eldest daughter, does.

The amorous adventures of Andrea Rossi-Colombotti, an army officer who finds pleasure with beautiful women in life-threatening situations.

Alessandro and Arturo have been together for over 15 years and, despite the feeling they still have for each other, their relationship is now at crisis. When Alessandro’s best friend, out of the blue, asks them to take care of her two kids for a few days, something changes in their daily routine and love will drive them to a crazy and unexpected turn in their life.

A Milanese businessman is beside himself when his son tells him he's going to marry the daughter of a pizza maker from Naples.

When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband's coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Il Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.

On the Adriatic Riviera the destinies of a variety of characters cross. A piano player is the lover of a rich woman who wants him to become a killer, a call girl is looking for her true love, two workers want to marry two old billionaires.

Marco encounters his ex-girlfriend Consueloand starts seeing her without telling that he has just married. Antonio is an MP and during his European trip he has a love affair with elegant Olga who has a big secret to hide. Recently-jilted Fabio is mistaken for psychiatrist by a beautiful girl Valentina with whom he falls in love. A divorce lawyer Sandra is romantically attracted to her client's husband Massimo.

Going through his daily routine in a stereotypical neighborhood, a street cleaner falls in love with a charwoman. Unfortunately for him, so does his superior officer.

A romantic comedy about a young interior decorator who, as a result of a romantic disappointment, becomes the female counterpart of Don Juan. The misadventures of the manizer make her rediscover the value of love.

An American in Paris lives by sponging off his working friends, and throws a party using borrowed money when his rich American aunt dies, believing firmly in his horoscope.

A ne'er-do-well who's married to a millionnaire realizes his financial trouble might be solved if his wife was dead - and sets out a plot to achieve just that. A remake of Dino Risi's "il vedovo".

Clelia, a self-made woman coming from humble means, travels back to Turin, her hometown, to scout locations for the successful Roman atelier she works for. At the hotel, she encounters some upper middle-class women and she finds herself drawn into their friendships.

Five women celebrate one of the girl's bachelorette party but one of them doesn't show up.

On his deathbed, a powerful Mafia boss names his estranged son heir to his criminal empire: however, his men discover too late that the son at issue is an idiotic manchild.

A common day in the actual Italy, narrated by the different stories of seven different people, it's the starting point for an overview to the 21st century's italian society, among corrupt politicians, unfaithful husbands, hardcore soccer fans and dishonest businessmen.

Three characters' misadventures in semi-deserted, summertime Rome: a dim-witted mama's boy falls for a tourist; a would-be womanizer struggles to find company for his sex tourism trip to Kraków; a hippie is drawn into his father's schemes to bring him back into polite society.

Rome, 1929. The Pope's tailor sends his only son, 35-year-old virgin Nello, to more liberal Bologna hoping he'll find a wife. His head brimming with ideas on romantic love induced by classical poetry, Nello falls for Angela, a beautiful blind woman who indulges him only to win back her fiancé.

The film is about an old fashioned Italian with moral values of the 1930/40's , who has to find a wife in the modern, woman's liberated society of Australia of the 1960/70's.

A multifaceted exploration of the pointlessness of sexual stereotypes. Liv Ullmann is a countess who, after her divorce, takes over the family farm. Realizing that she can't rely on the patriarchal society structure for assistance, Ullmann runs the farm herself with the help of her female servants and relatives. When the Count (Philipe Noiret) comes back into her life, he and his male buddies find themselves outclassed by the expertise of the ladies.

Jacopo has a serious problem. He may be a brilliant marriage guidance counsellor, but he can never manage to have a steady relationship for more than two weeks. And for good reason: since he was very young, Jacopo has been cursed and brought bad luck to every woman who has fallen in love with him. Really bad luck. Because of this, he has vowed to stay away from women, for their own good. But the moment he lays eyes on Sara at a friend’s birthday party, he is smitten. Despite his resistance, the two fall head over heels leading to back-to-back, laugh-out-loud moments of disaster! Sara will quickly learn the consequences of her choice as the limits of her love are put to the test.

Lorenzo known as Ghandi and Elena met at 18 during a vacation through Nevada and ended up doing the classic madness: they got married in Las Vegas. A few hours later everyone was going their own way, putting the incident behind them (or at least that's what Elena thinks). Twenty years later Elena is about to marry a very rich and brilliant man, but her best friend Sara, a lawyer, informs her that, being technically still married to Lorenzo, she must first dissolve that bond or she will be accused of bigamy. Elena and Lorenzo must therefore return to Las Vegas and obtain a divorce decree in a few days. If they really want to.

A policeman who spies on the lives of others, an important banker married to a housewife who poses as a noblewoman. A precarious young masseuse and an electrician madly in love. Very different lives that end up intertwining. But also extremely complicated and troubled lives ... Even if, after all, life is a wonderful thing ...

Left heartbroken after Romeo begins to pursue her cousin Juliet, Rosaline schemes to foil the famous romance and win back her guy in this comedic twist of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

In 1950s northern Italy, a woman tests her fiancé's love and passion by trying to break his commitment to premarital chastity.

Mirea is about to be 18 years old, and her family is prepearing a big party for her. Teresa, Mirea's mother, wants to gain notoriety, so begins to spend recklessy for the celebration. When the day finally comes, an unexpected death puts it at risk.

Congressman Bonfili, a family man and promoter in the Italian Parliament of a family law, has a clandestine affair with a feisty starlet wannabe actress. In his murky scheming, he also involves his blameless private driver.

In a large villa on Lake Como, everything is ready to celebrate Elio and Caterina's wedding. It will be the most beautiful day of their lives and also of their parents' lives, especially their respective fathers, Giacomo and Giovanni. Too bad that together with Margherita, Giovanni's ex-wife and mother of the bride, Aldo, her new partner, also arrives at the wedding. Friendly, outgoing and above all a total troublemaker. Giacomo and Giovanni try to contain him in every way, but under Aldo's blows, cracks open up from which a hidden malaise emerges, destined to call into question the friendship between Giovanni and Giacomo, their marriages and more. And that will force everyone to deal with their own doubts and with the courage it takes to allow themselves happiness.

Maurice is an aging veteran actor who becomes taken with Jessie, the grandniece of his closest friend. When Maurice tries to soften the petulant and provincial young girl with the benefit of his wisdom and London culture, their give-and-take surprises both Maurice and Jessie as they discover what they don't know about themselves.

Middle-aged Giulietta grows suspicious of her husband, Giorgio, when his behavior grows increasingly questionable. One night when Giorgio initiates a seance amongst his friends, Giulietta gets in touch with spirits and learns more about herself and her painful past. Slightly skeptical, but intrigued, she visits a mystic who gives her more information -- and nudges her toward the realization that her husband is indeed a philanderer.

Roberto, a shy law student in Rome, meets Bruno, a forty-year-old exuberant, capricious man, who takes him for a drive through the Roman and Tuscany countries in the summer. When their journey starts to blend into their daily lives though, the pair’s newfound friendship is tested.

Movie director Niccolò has just been left by his wife. Subsequently he embarks on an obsessive relationship with a young woman who eventually leaves him and disappears while searching for her, he meets a variety of other willing girls. This gives him the idea of making a movie about women's relationships. He starts to search for a woman who can play the leading part in the movie.

Gianni is sixty. He is retired but has not become lazy for all that. In fact he is a helpful fellow who gives a hand to all those who need one: shopping for his wife, walking the pretty neighbor's dog, and so on. Everybody likes Gianni, but is it for the right reasons? Doesn't his wife profit by the situation (she still works so it is only logical that Gianni do all the chores)? Isn't he subject to the excruciating whims of his rich mother?... Sure, everybody LIKES Gianni, but who LOVES him? Agreed, being kind to them, he is the ladies pet, but he does not attract them anymore. That is why, when his macho lawyer friend Alfonso blames him for not having young mistresses "like every other senior Italian male", Gianni, who is beginning to ask himself questions about what it is like to become old, starts chasing dames.

Oscar dreams of becoming an actor or a stuntman. To contact a manufacturer he stages an accident and consequently injures a young actress, then tries to limit the damage by taking the girl to his home.

When Debora's ex-husband, a popular neomelodic singer, loses his life in a stage dive, she worries that her 11-year-old son Ciro may be showing symptoms of depression. Taken to a child psychologist, shy Tommaso, Ciro eventually confesses to him that it's not his father's death that has got him down, it's love for his classmate, the cute Ludovica. The two make a deal: Tommaso will help Ciro to win the affections of Ludovica, while Ciro will give Tommaso a hand at having a chance with his mother.

After five years of marriage, Diana discovers the joys of adultery, claiming that she can save her failing relationship through betrayal.

Bahia Benmahmoud, a free-spirited young woman, has a particular way of seeing political engagement, as she doesn't hesitate to sleep with those who don't agree with her to convert them to her cause - which is a lot of people, as all right-leaning people are concerned. Generally, it works pretty well. Until the day she meets Arthur Martin, a discreet forty-something who doesn't like taking risks. She imagines that with a name like that, he's got to be slightly fascist. But names are deceitful and appearances deceiving.

Eli has four children, an unemployed husband and a job with an almost impossible commute. Vale is single and makes ends meet by working in clubs as a dancer. Tied by a profound emotional bond of true sisterhood, the two women's lives are two sides of the same coin, but their mutual solidarity isn’t always enough to lighten the load of their difficult circumstances.

A street priest struggling to save his church learns his late uncle left him a small business that could turn his fortune around: he'll soon realize that said business is in fact... a brothel!

With a reputation for seducing members of the opposite sex, regardless of their marital status, a notorious womanizer discovers a beauty who seems impervious to his charms. However, as he continues to pursue the indifferent lady, he finds himself falling in love.





