A classic

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a really solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. First of all, I have noticed that, even though I have seen tons of movies dealing with Nazi Germany, I have actually seen very little movies dealing with Fascist Italy. Well, this movie did give a pretty good idea on how intoxicating the Fascist propaganda was on the masses. Sure, it might seem appalling almost 80 years later but, back then, as displayed in this movie, pretty much everyone swallowed it and actually even enjoyed it. Concerning the movie itself, it was one of the favorite movies Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni made and it makes sense since they both delivered some of their best performances here. Eventually, even though it might seem to be a rather simple movie with only 2 characters and only 1 location, it turned out to be rather complex after all. Indeed, they basically gave us two complete opposite views on the political spectrum back then in Italy with, on one side, a Fascist housewife with 6 children and an anti-Fascist homosexual living by himself. What stroke me was how lonely these 2 characters were. Indeed, even though they were quite convinced about their personal political views, it didn’t bring them much happiness after all. It was probably even more surprising that they got along so well and that’s probably where the movie probably slightly lost me. The fact that they pushed it even further than being only unlikely friends probably didn’t help. Indeed, it was actually quite refreshing that there wouldn’t be anything sexual between these two characters, that their connection would be on a complete different level, so it felt rather misguided that they still had to have sex anyway. Eventually, I think I might have to re-watch this movie at some point to make up my mind about it. Anyway, to conclude, it really deserves its strong reputation though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.