federovsky

This film is going in my all-time Top 50.

The film works as a bittersweet fantasy of youth. And who hasn't known a girl like this, at least in imagination? So beautiful she can get whatever she wants, vibrant and energetic, entitled and narcissistic but warm and charming - a real challenge for any young man, but the experience would be the stuff of life.

There are many delightful and amusing moments, from the shot of the cyclists at the beginning - focussing on female legs. To mention a few more: the avant-garde dance wearing a catsuit (presumably Guendalina's homage to Audrey Hepburn in "Funny Face", though curiously, both these films were released within the same week in Italy); Guendalina with the kitten; the emotional scene at the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa; the frequent calling out of Guenadlina's unusual name (a witty feature); the melancholy tone of the scene with the prostitute; the open-air cinema in the rain; the child testing her new hearing aid; the girl's father in his stunning sports car; the boy's pleasantly fussing mother and sister; Guendalina washing in the sea after falling in the dirty creek; riding backwards on the top of the bus at night; the train scene - an absolute classic of its kind; the amusing to-and-fro of the raincoat which binds the story together.

Then there's the ultra-stylish mother - check those glasses frames, the tight outfits, the way she moves - Sylva Koscina manages to steal every scene even from Sassard, such as when the telegram arrives, and when she's asleep on the couch. Lattuada makes every scene land, crisp and fine.

I'm sure there's even more to it than all this - I'm looking forward to watching it again some time in future.