Siempre Habrá Un Mañana

A saga of domestic abuse and deeply rooted misogyny and somewhat a celebration of female empowerment. Did not expect the ending, I was hoping for something grander for Delia's disobedience, but this goes to show how significant it was at the time.

There is also some humour here and there, but I have to say putting a musical number over a scene of spousal abuse kind of has the opposite effect. It makes light of something awful and I cringed watching it. Or maybe that was also by design, who knows. It's certainly uncomfortable.

The opening scene sure sets the tone and it only gets worse from there. Up to hearing don Ottorino advise his son on how to effectively discipline his wife. Initially I thought he was advocating for her, but no. And then Giulio showing his true colours and Marcella refusing to see it and you can feel Delia's whole being shuddering.

I did not feel like watching an old (style) movie, and this is I imagine the reason why they chose back and white, but the actors' performances make it come to light.

Very interesting debut: a mix of comedy (one-liners), drama (domestic violence), romance (love and friendship). The correct ingredients for a wonderful result. Rome in black & white appears too be a little "didactic", like a good "copy" of old times (just after the 2WW), but pleasant and very faithful to the original one. Delia is a woman like many others, in a common enough situation in those days. The final twist, which slowly makes its way, amazes and exalts the viewer. A spontaneous applause rose at the end of the movie, in a suburban cinema, in Rome. The same Rome that Paola Cortellesi makes us regret.

I will start by saying that I really love Paola Cortellesi, she is one of the finest Italian actresses of these times, capable of offering the greatest laughs and the most bitter tears, thanks to her versatile acting skills.

This happens throughout this film too. She is Delia, a middle-aged woman who lives with her husband, three children and her nasty father-in-law in terribly harsh conditions. She struggles to make ends meet and to sustain her family, while suffering domestic abuse and dreaming of a past love. When her daughter gets engaged to the son of the local café owner, she senses that her she risks embarking in a life of strain and violence, just like hers.

I loved the performances in this film: Paola Cortellesi, Vittorio Mastandrea (one of my favourite actors), Giorgio Colangeli and Emanuela Fanelli. The use of black and white was clever, as it gives the film a poetic look. I also appreciated the bittersweet scenes: tragedy mixed with comedy.

Nevertheless I wouldn't call this a masterpiece as I thought the storyline was a bit forced, especially with the final surprising end, which seems a bit too detached from the rest of the film...

This is a masterpiece, a surprise because unexpected. Brilliant story based on true events, but full of symbolisms and deeper meanings that are all connected on the final scenes of the movie. Great directing and acting by Cortelesi, but also great choice of the characters and performancefrom the other actors. The women's universe in Italy back then was complicated and the road to the recognition of their rights was full of obstacles, with many dramatic stories happening. The movie manages also to be ironic and there are moments you laugh. Then suddenly it becomes dramatic again and you want to cry. Then you bacome angry. All these fluctuations are captivating, meanwhile represent the reason why Paola manages to give a powerful message through the art of cinema.

Paola Cortellesi is extremely talented, both as an actress and a comedian. Now we can also add directing to her resume. This movie has issues, but the undeniable truth is that it's very lovable. The main character is very sympathetic, simple on a psychological level but nonetheless believable. The other standout of the movie is Emanuela Fanelli, who could probably improve every movie she's in at this point. The movie succeeds in creating a lot of tension. There's a specific control of space (the main character moving through the same places every day) that adds a sense of intimacy, of smallness of the world, and at the same time of claustrophobia when Delia (the protagonist) feels trapped in it. An excellent control of tension. Conflicts that would seem small actually appear big and important because of it. The way things all of a sudden become surreal and movie-like help us enter the mind of the character. The best scene in the movie incorporates a weird mix of lighting, camera, choreography and anachronistic in a weird creepy way that I never really see in Italian cinema these days. I would call this movie quirky, nostalgic and heartfelt. An impressive directorial feat.

Now the issues: the concept of the story is not bad, but it's also a bit superficial in tying the personal with the political. The character of the young son-in-law takes a weird behavioral shift that doesn't feel natural. The movie can't fully decide whether to be psychological (where the reality is a grotesque reflection of Delia's psyche) or realistic (where other non-main characters, even villains, actually have depth and believability). The Vinicio Marchioni character is pointless and honestly feels like a mere plot device, a misdirect. There's a moment where two characters who speak different languages all of a sudden understand each other for no reason other than to move the plot. Also the bait-n-switch at the end is weird for a number of reasons, and goes in an unforeseeable direction that feels more like Cortellesi preaching at the audience directly than anything character related. And lastly, the music: some songs worked, but the choice to incorporate music with various degrees of anachronism makes the movie feel fake, like we're not actually watching a period piece but a director toying with an aesthetic to make a point. And that undermines the sincerity of the whole thing.

That's it, that's all I have to say. Movie is good, it's fun, it's tense, it's sad, it's creepy. An outlier in the current Italian cinema landscape.