Le signe de Vénus

Dino Risi has directed many Italian classics, but here he is young, but in no way does he seem inexperienced. Taking over the helm from Luigi Comencini, he brings on board a 'power trio' like Loren-De Sica- Sordi. The original script was partially written by Franca Valeri Who remains the true protagonist of this Italian caper set in the early fifties,in Rome.

Italian Cinema is full of minor films that rattle along with energy and wit, and this is one of them. Here Alberto Sordi Is repetitive alongside DeFilippo, and although the cast is choc full of great actors like Tina Pica, the script is repetitive and convaluted, stumbling on the déja-vu, especially with Sordi and DeSica as con-artists of sorts.

Franca Valeri injects a mixture of quaintness and dreamy self-delusion as Cesira (a character she had already invented for her popular TV sketches) but she brilliantly never lets self-pity crush her energy. Her pretty cousin (Loren) attracts men like flies, but Cesira Is convinced that she too will pull it off.

This is not the case and she will always be proved wrong. Manipulated or ignored by all men, she is the only one who winds up alone in the end. Or will she have another chance, as her sooth-sayer acquaintance guarantees? Resilient she is!

Not, maybe, a great film; but certainly an early showcase for a number of standout Italian actors.

Sophia Loren is the "Venus" of the title. Well that is how I would interpret the english title. She is not alone though and in the introduction to her character, we also learn about her cousin. Who seems to be the opposite of her. While Lorens character has to fight people off her, who are trying to woo her, her cousin has no one even noticing her.

Which clearly is a shame I would say, because she is also very pretty. Not in the sense Sophia Loren is depicted, but every one of us is different anyway. The cousins problem is not just the lack of opportunity, but her gullible and innocent way of looking at things. She believes in the best in humanity, which makes her quite vulnerable. Lorens character is also vulnerable - in the sense that she is reduced to her looks.

A very insightful character study, with a lot of little bits and pieces that build up to the inevitable conclusion of the movie. Very well acted and well written, even if today some side stories probably would have been cut out (like two male side kicks with their own set of problems and issues almost entirely unrelated to the two main female characters). Some people are fools some aren't ... some are way too good for this world and the people who live in it.

An annoying, boring film, male behavior that is now inadmissible, disgusting, it doesn't attract female disputes over stupid males, nor did the beautiful Sophia Loren make me fall in love with the film, boring, I almost didn't win...

Although not perhaps regarded as 'major' Risi this is a very pleasing and entertaining film with an excellent cast. Sophia Loren had just scored a hit in 'L'Oro di Napoli' under Vittorio de Sica's direction and by all accounts he is still the 'guiding hand' here. De Sica himself is as always immaculate whilst Sordi and Vallone never disappoint. It is the performance of Franca Valeri in probably her greatest role as the forlorn, luckless-in-love Cesira that steals the show. Valeri also had a hand in the script as the film was originally intended to be directed by Comencini and built around the character of the same name that she had created on radio and television. Comencini pulled out and the Risi-de Sica-Loren triumvirate moved in. Valeri still manages to come out best however. She was to excel in 'Il Vedovo' three years later for the same director. The most striking and unusual credit is that of the Production Designer: a certain Carl Theodor Dreyer!

Here, in the leading role, we meet Cesira, played by Franca Valeri. She is a free thinker. For her time, we can even consider her as a rebel. But, she is jealous, she doesn't achieve happiness, she doesn't find love.

At her opposite, there is her cousin, Agnese Tirabassi, played by Sophia Loren. Unlike Cesira, Agnese gets all the attention from men.

Despite its conservative vision of women-men relationships, the film shines through the compelling, amusing characters that bring a unique spirit to this movie filmed in Rome. It contrasts with Dino Risi's other 1955 film, Pain, amour, ainsi soit-il (1955), in the sense, that it is isn't a movie about charm, but rather on the absence of it and on jealousy.

Nevertheless, the directing of Dino Risi attenuates the film's dramatic themes. For that reason, I think that if you are a fan of Italian comedies, you should go for it.