Dos mujeres

Very bad print (even on DVD), but very good movie. A war film that focuses more on the people who suffer, instead of telling the story of those fighting the battle. It's also a movie about love, relationship, bonding between a woman and her daughter. Sophia Loren's performance is stellar. Belmondo is also very good. Young Eleonora Brown's performance gets better during the film. The last 30 minutes of the movie are poignant. It's heartbreaking to listen to Cesira apologize to Rosetta. Watch it.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on February 19th, 2006.

81/100 (***)

It's WWII. Cesira (Sophia Loren) flees Rome away from the allied bombing for the sake of her 13 year old daughter Rosetta (Eleonora Brown). She's a widow of a loveless marriage and she's the object of everyman's desire. They go back to Cesira's home village. The idealistic anti-Fascist Michele Di Libero (Jean Paul Belmondo) falls for her. Mussolini is imprisoned and Michele is overjoyed. They even help a couple of English soldiers. The situation deteriorates as the war closes in and food becomes scarce. A group of Germans force Michele to lead them back to their lines. As the Americans approach, the villagers clear out. Cesira decides to go back to Rome on their own. They take shelter in a bombed out church where they are both raped by a large group of Arab soldiers.

Sophie Loren is magnetic. She powers every scene. Eleonora Brown does a good job keeping up. The story meanders a little. There are a lot of unrelated things that pop up. All of a sudden, there's a Russian deserter. The randomness sometimes help the story. When the story moves to the German occupied town, it really starts to move. The tension gets ratcheted up higher and higher.

I confess that this film was showing late one night on TCM and initially the idea of a war film was not an appealing prospect at one o'clock in the morning.

That being said,I realized how much we lose by prejudging film, and actors by their more recent performances. As Sophia Loren was popular before my time, I remember her from fluff and spy movies such as "Arabesque" with Gregory Peck. A forgettable film, at most. Not so for "Two Women".

The performance of her innocent daughter Rosetta, is also marked and memorable. Refugees from the bombing of Rome during World War II, Sophia Loren as Cesira, and her daughter are fleeing the city, come across relatives in the country, and encounter a harrowing fate.

The feel of the film is palpable and stark, the scene and the shadows of the men as they come across these two women in the effigy of a church, is ominous and effective. The expressions and body language of Loren are heart-rending and sorrowful, as we see her realize what has become of her daughter, what has become of their world. The scene I will remember most is where she is finally rescued, her daughter begins to sing, recovering from the attack. Cesira (Loren) turns her face outward, toward the window, ravaged and ruined, yet finding some strength to continue on. We see a multitude of emotions cross her face without uttering one word.

Truly a film not to be missed for Sophia Loren's performance alone. 9/10.

very sad film by vittorio de sica (famed director of "the bicycle thief.") the first two thirds of the film move slowly, but it's still very engrossing. the final third of the film is pure cinematic tragedy. sophia loren won the oscar for best performance for a lead actress in this movie, and i beleive that she dearly deserved it. prior to seeing "two women" i had no idea what a terrific actress she was. her role as the mother desperately trying to shield her daughter from the horrors of the world is one of the finest that i have ever seen. this is a truly heartbreaking and beautiful film.

I gave this film 9/10 while understanding its weaknesses. First, as others note, the print is the worst I've ever encountered sometimes turning faces into gray pudding, but the problem was not so great to keep me from responding fully to the film's power, and I decided to evaluate the film rather than the print. I have more serious concerns about events at the film's climax which raise issues which are resolved too quickly. In fact these issues might be the subject of a whole new film, and if treated here they would require another hour of play time. The films hasty resolution of these issues makes important behaviors seem poorly motivated and unbelievable. However, the issues in question are not the central issues of the movie. When Cesira apologizes to her daughter (and at other points) I was left sobbing in spite of the film's failure to properly address the daughter's final trauma. This is not a about recovering from trauma. Rather, it is a film about human fallibility and self-deception or, as Michele puts it, "You can't escape, not even from yourself." Cesira faults others while never examining her own behavior. Like those around her, she acts only to preserve her own immediate interests. At the other extreme. Michele's idealism prevents him from realizing his own humanity. Only Rosetta demonstrates the purity to see beyond self-interest, and the instinct to truly tell right from wrong. Her downfall is the tragedy of the film. Yet through all of this the film shows us how, when pushed to extremes, these people are capable of forging deep human bonds. Such bonds have the power to redeem all as they finally redeem Rosetta. I can't conclude without adding my own appreciation for Sophia Loren's extraordinary performance.