Hapless Peppino (Puglisi) is engaged to the plain elder daughter (Biggio) of proud Don Vincenzo (Urzi), but cannot resist the innocent charms of the Don's stunning younger daughter, Agnese (Sandrelli). Though a fumbling suitor, he seduces the impressionable girl, and of course gets her pregnant. Once the scandal emerges, Don Vincenzo explodes, resolving that the only honorable solution is for Peppino to marry Agnese. But, supported by his family, Peppino decides he won't marry a defiled woman — even though he did the defiling! This revelation puts one Sicilian town in an uproar, and sets off a series of escalating machinations, all conceived to restore "family honor."

This black comedy skewers Sicilian mores with a sharp cinematic knife, making "Seduced" by turns funny and tragic. Agnese, the central object of all the fuss, is maltreated throughout, but the beautiful Sandrelli strikes the right balance so that our sympathies for her don't overwhelm the film's broadly humorous tone. Though the ferret-like Puglisi is tailor-made for the unsympathetic role of Peppino, this is truly Urzi's film. His volcanic Don Vincenzo serves as comic centerpiece and driving force behind the whole tumultuous affair. An unbridled, satiric masterpiece from director Germi.