(La ciociara)
Directed by by Vittorio De Sica
100 minutes
In Italian with English subtitles
Based on the book by Alberto Moravia, this riveting flick features Jean-Paul Belmondo, but the star of the movie is Sophia Loren, in the best role of her life as a woman caught in the carnage of WWII. Many feel it is one of greatest performances in the history of film, and she picked up an Academy award for Best Actress for this one. In this role she transforms from Italy's biggest sex-symbol, into a profound actress giving a feisty, gut-wrenching delivery.
Loren throws herself into her role of Cesira, a woman who has a shop in the city, but as bombings escalate, she is forced to grab her 13-year-old daughter Rosetta and make a long and harrowing journey by foot to the small countryside village where she was born. A landscape of bombed-out churches, broken lives, random killings. But this film is not about great wars being fought, it is simply focusing on the battle of two women, a mother and daughter, fighting to survive. Many people today who never were touched by a war, feel that such a horror is a thing of the past, a sort of unreal dream that will never be repeated again... but such history is important to keep in mind because Europe is indeed entering a similar dynamic these days, when anything can happen.
Vittorio De Sica (Bicycle Thieves, Umberto D.) was one of Italy's post-war directors, and this gem remains one of his top masterpieces. A searing experience, and a real heartbreaker. Beyond anything else, it is a piercing statement about the treatment of women worldwide.
DATUM EN TIJD | Donderdag 4 december | aanvang film om 20.30 | zaal open om 20.00 | entree 3,00 | Vrienden gratis | Wees aanwezig voor 20.15 uur om verzekerd te zijn van een zitplaats