Two Women
La ciociara
Directed by:
Vittorio De SicaScreenplay:
Cesare ZavattiniCinematography:
Gábor PogányComposer:
Armando TrovajoliCast:
Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown, Pupella Maggio, Raf Vallone, Vincenzo Musolino, Renato Salvatori, Carlo Ninchi, Emma Baron, Luciano Pigozzi (more)Plots(1)
Cesira and her 13-year-old daughter, Rosetta, flee from the allied bombs in Rome during the second world war. They travel to the village where Cesira was born. During their journey and in the village, the mother does everything to protect Rosetta. However, on one occasion they both get raped by soldiers hiding in a church. This cruel event is too much for the always powerful fighting Cesira and she suffers from a breakdown. During their stay in the village, a young intellectual, Michele falls in love with Cesira who does not know how to reply to the advances of such a gentleman. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (3)
The role of Italy in World War II was very diffident, the regime was unpopular, the army ineffective, and the overall situation on the home front was gloomy. Italian war films therefore usually do not focus on military alliances and epic battles, but rather on the fate of civilians in the background, and Two Women does not deviate from this tradition. The story of a woman from Rome who, out of fear of bombings, sets off with her daughter to the countryside to stay with relatives follows the tradition of neorealist films of the 1950s and presents a great opportunity for Sophia Loren to showcase her acting skills. Paradoxically, it is she herself who prevents me from giving the film the highest rating. I do not underestimate her acting talent at all, but I just couldn't connect with her as an actress. The same applies, by the way, to other famous names of world cinema of that era, starting with Brigitte Bardot. Overall impression: 85%.
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There are not as many flagrant things in it anymore given the fact that it all takes place during the war. It doesn't falsify as many elements from the time of the production year - after all, the poor countryside doesn't invite so much to the exhibitions of the present. Nevertheless, Two Women is much more so a solo by Sophia on an arbitrary theme than anything else. Had Belmondo not later become a prominent actor, it would have been impossible to perceive anything besides Sophia. Let alone the ideas from Albert Moravia's book. Yet I'm certainly fascinated by the fact that even after 28 years Sophia played the same role in the remake. Unlike, for example, Gina, who has become a character a generation older in the new version of La romana.
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Sophia Loren and Jean-Paul Belmondo have an interesting and strong chemistry that you might not expect from Belmondo in particular. But he was really such a great actor that he could handle similar roles with bravado. Ordinary people here are not as ordinary as they might seem, and even war isn't strong enough to kill even the slightest evil.
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