Let's Hope It's a Girl

1986 Italian film

Mario Monicelli
Suso Cecchi d'Amico
Leo Benvenuti
Piero De Bernardi
Tullio Pinelli

Produced byGiovanni Di ClementeStarring

Liv Ullmann
Catherine Deneuve
Giuliana De Sio
Philippe Noiret
Giuliano Gemma
Bernard Blier
Stefania Sandrelli

CinematographyCamillo BazzoniEdited byRuggero MastroianniMusic byNicola PiovaniDistributed byClemi Film

Release date

1986 (1986)

Running time

120 minutesCountryItalyLanguageItalian

Let's Hope It's a Girl (Italian: Speriamo che sia femmina) is a 1986 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. For this film Monicelli was awarded with a David di Donatello for Best Director and a Nastro d'Argento in the same category. The film also won the David di Donatello for Best Film, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Producer, Best Editing and Best Script.^[1]

Plot

Elena Leonardi lives apart from her husband, with her younger daughter, a niece, a housemaid who has a daughter of the same age, and her husband's senile old uncle, in a rural farmhouse in the country. Her husband returns to propose a big renovation project to build a modern SPA, but she cannot offer her support because of the farm's severe economic situation and his history of failed business ideas and debts.

The husband dies in a car accident that was partially caused by exasperation that the family doesn't take him seriously, in business or in the education of his daughters, one of whom he has just found in bed with yet another fiancé she had just brought home the day before. The grieving family decides to sell off the whole property, pay off the debts, and split up: some would move to Rome, the senile uncle would be tricked to stay in a hospice, the older daughter would get married, and the housemaid would finally follow her husband who had emigrated in Australia many years earlier.

The plan eventually falls apart. In the end the family reunites at the farm and decides not to sell it off, despite not knowing how to pay for its upkeep or pay off the debts. They decide to continue to live together in the country.