evanston_dad A unique film about the ravages of World War II, told specifically from the point of view of an Italian woman and her young daughter.The woman is Sophia Loren, and she won the first ever Oscar given for a foreign language performance in this film. She plays Cesira, a spitfire who is blithely indifferent to Italy's role in the war until the horrors of it hit home in deeply personal ways when she and her daughter leave bomb-addled Rome to trek across the Italian countryside to wait out the fighting. Most WWII films are told from the point of view of the men in combat or the women who wait at home patiently for them, letting their commitment to the cause be their solace. Few films are told from the point of view of women on the wrong side of the conflict (as we've been taught) who don't much care who wins or loses as long as their lives are left untouched. One would be justified in thinking that Loren's character is either selfish or naive, or both, but one would have to be inhuman not to feel compassion for what happens to her and her daughter.Loren was known as nothing but a sex kitten at the time of this film's release, and director Vittorio De Sica uses this to his advantage. Her Cesira is a woman who's used to being alluring to men and isn't above wielding her sexuality when it might work to her advantage. But Loren goes far beyond sex kitten in this film, to something nuanced and ultimately heartbreaking.Grade: A

oOgiandujaOo_and_Eddy_Merckx Definitely I think a film where it helped to have some context before watching. After the battle of Monte Cassino in WWII, some Moroccan troops under French colonial command, went on a massive rape spree in the surrounding countryside of Ciociaria, you can read about the numbers involved, but really it's beyond understanding. But to an Italian audience watching a WWII movie called La Ciociara (literally the woman from Ciociaria) I guess they would have known what was going to be happening in the movie. I was not aware of the incident and it just seemed like a bizarre and affronting denouement to the movie, too weird to invent. It turns out that once again, the truth is stranger than fiction. In Italy the victims are known as the Marocchinate, literally those given the Moroccan treatment.The lead up to the outrage is always hinting at danger, but the movie is in fact quite sweet. It's about a lady and her daughter (Cesira and Rosetta) who return to the village of her humble origins from Rome whilst the Allies are bombing. They are both very lovely people, who meet Michele, a man in between their ages (played by Belmondo) who is an intellectual. There are some brilliant scenes for example when Cesira points out to Rosetta that Michele is a subversive, and when Rosetta asks what that means, Cesira says, "a nice man who doesn't want to work". And there she has it in a nutshell, despite barely being able to write. It occurs to me that all liberal education is really there for is to make up for natural deficits, but Cesira doesn't actually have those deficits. The movie just seemed full of natural wisdom. Although the movie shows how abject and shocking life can be, it also makes you fall in love with love, the way Cesira, Rosetta and Michele love each other is just so perfect. I also liked a movie that understood that an intellectual is just another of the pilgrims on the way to Canterbury.Sophia Loren received the Best Actress Oscar here, the first time an Oscar had gone to a performance in a non-English language movie. Like Gillo Pontecorvo's Kapò, another Italian war movie from the same year it treads a dangerous ice by utilising formalism when depicting earth-shatteringly hideous events.

edwagreen Sophia Loren is truly memorable in her Oscar winning performance of 1961.She portrays a mother trying to help her child survive World War 11 in Italy.Unable to put up with the bombings in Rome, she decides to flee with her daughter to the countryside. There she will meet adventure after adventure.A widow, who had been married to a much older man, she had a lover whose only wish is that a bomb should fall on his wife so that he could be free to marry Loren.During her adventure, she meets Michele, solemnly played by Jean-Paul Belmondo. A man who had one time thought of becoming a priest, he lusts for her before tragedy ensues.The molestation scenes are adeptly depicted. This was also an unfortunate part of war.A memorable film made better by Loren's captivating performance. A gem of a film.

moonspinner55 Italian shopkeeper Sophia Loren flees her war-ravaged city with her frail teenage daughter for a neighboring village to stay with relatives, but on the journey home, their lives are cruelly disrupted when the woman and her child are cornered by lusty soldiers. Loren's character is sensual and maybe loose, but she's never insensitive and one immediately feels a connection with her (and you can't take your eyes off her when she's on-screen). This is a perceptive drama, not so much a document on the horrors of war as it is a testament to the human condition, both good and bad, weak and strong. There are some lovely art-house flourishes and bits of humor dotting the script, but the film doesn't have a gripping, lasting impact, it doesn't stay with you or haunt you the way a timeless drama should. Loren passionately emotes and won a well-deserved Oscar, but the other performances are just serviceable; she dominates the proceedings. **1/2 from ****