The Scientific Cardplayer

The Scientific Cardplayer (Lo scopone scientifico) is a 1972 Italian comedy-drama directed by Luigi Comencini from a screenplay by Rodolfo Sonego. Alberto Sordi, Silvana Mangano, Bette Davis and Joseph Cotten star. The story centers on a rag-and-bone man and a cleaning woman living in a Roman shantytown. Every year the couple is invited by an old billionaire acquaintance to play scopa, the classic Italian card game, and each time they dream that this will finally be their chance to strike it rich. The wealthy woman, however, is unbeatable, and the annual match lays bare the gulf between the poor couple's hopes and the ruthlessness of the rich. Regarded as one of the notable works of the commedia all'italiana tradition, the film was selected in 2008 for the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's list of 100 Italian films to be saved, works considered to have shaped the country's collective memory between 1942 and 1978.