Die Reise nach Palermo

We have a brilliant director, very talented actors, and a story written by a celebrated author, how could we have ended up with such a sappy movie.

The film begins well enough, exploring the complexities of circumstances interfering with love, particularly since the rivals love each other. This was an interesting aspect of this movie. But it quickly degrades into the worst melodrama possible.

To make the best of this film, fast forward to Sergio Bruni singing Canti Nuovi and pay particular attention to the beautiful bell tones of his voice, then go do something else in the secure knowledge that you have experienced the best part of this movie.

Vittorio de Sica's last film is a delicate realisation of one of the Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello's most sensitive and deeply human stories. It's a story of love with infinite tenderness and pain and equally infinite beauty, and all this, de Siva manages to put on screen in as restrained and perfectly controlled direction as Joseph Heifetz did in his rendering of Anton Chekhov's "Lady with the Dog" in 1959. It's precisely the same delicacy here (with equally heartfelt music by Manuel de Sica) but in colour and as beautifully operatic settings as in Luchino Visconti's "Senso". To this comes above all Sophia Loren's acting and Richard Burton's, for once remarkably controlled, until the very last scene.

This film has been rather brushed aside and neglected as too non-Vittorio de Sica to be taken seriously, but it's time to revise and give a faire appraisal of its qualities. Forget all his earlier films, all his black-and-white neorealism and all the war movies and take a look at this as something entirely different. This is a human story of bleeding hearts set before the first world war made a beautiful world disappear and at the pinpoint of death.

It has so many qualities, and not the least one is the mere cinematography, every scene being like a beautiful Italian painting, every human detail mattering including the gossiping servants, the scenes with the boy and the heart-rendering naivety of Ian Bannen, for once in a role completely void of any meanness. You have never seen him like this in any other film.

My favourite scene is when Sophia for the first time breaks her isolation after the loss of her husband, when Cesare has urged her to leave her closed-up existence and go out, while she refuses, but afterwards anyway goes up to the terrace, breathes some air and almost disappears among the laundry blowing in the wind...

I was always impressed by every Vittorio de Sica film I ever saw, but I am not exaggerating when I confess that I was never more impressed by him than in this one, mainly for its absolutely convincing humanism.

Carlo Ponti in same year tried for all means becomes successful the couple Loren-Burton, in Il Viaggio and the Brief Encounter, sadly both didn't work in plenty way, some reasons could explain this failure, firstly the language barrier, another a lame screenplay and perhaps the main reason should be Taylor & Burton outstanding partnership that make clear any forthcoming attempts are doomed to failure.

The store took place in the beginning of 20th century in small village at Sicily, where the a powerful Landlord went to die letting their properties for his sons Cesare (Richard Burton) and Antonio (Ian Bannen), actually true closest friends really, a sort a fraternal love indeed, turns out that the old man spells out that Antonio should be marry with his best friend's daughter Adriana (Sophia Loren) even she on tender age had a special fondness by Cesare in fact a mutual interest, however according the local patriarchal tradition the father is whoever choose the bride for their sons, thus the marriage is accomplished whether you like or not.

Aftermaths the forbearing Cesare decides travel on business for a long time, staying aside for mostly of time, Adrianna get pregnancy and has a boy, Cesare gift-giving a brand new automobile to Antonio, sadly he gonna die in the car's accident, grieving Adriana soon is getting sick all the time and Cesare enforcing her seeking a doctor, diagnosed the cardiac decease Cesare convincing her for travel thru Italy, although the gossip spreading on Sicily village about a suppose affair leading up to a scandalous, thus a serious matter to overcame meanwhile Cesare is concerning in Adriana's failing health.

It's really a great movie carried out by Vittorio de Sica, although it didn't get enough strength, in a slow pace it never gets fire properly, lack of chemistry, too puritan offer, stayed adrift mostly of time, also a slight boring sometimes, aside the great scenario, fine sets and a fabulous wardrobe, a movie to see one time only.

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First watch: 1984 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6.

If you can accept Richard Burton as an Italian, if you can believe that the strappingly healthy Sophia Loren is actually delicate and dying, and if you can take a plot based on needless misunderstandings, then you should enjoy the sunny photography, elegant period decor and sincere performances here. It's soft-centered, but Vittorio De Sica manages to work up a genuine romantic glow.