Une journée particulière

First of all for this movie I just have one word: 'wow'. This is probably, one of the best movies that touched me, from it's story to it's performances, so wonderfully played by Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. I was very impressed with this last one, because he really brought depth to the character, as it was a very hard role. Still, the two of them formed a pair, that surprised me, from the beginning until the end, showing in the way, a friendship filled with love, that develops during the entire day, settled in the movie. The story takes some time to roll, as the introduction of the characters is long, but finally we are compensated with a wonderful tale about love and humanity. If you have the chance, see it, because it's a movie that will stay in your mind for many time. Simply amazing - 9/10.

I had intended to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Marcello Mastroianni's passing with numerous unwatched films of his that I own on VHS; however, given my ongoing light-hearted Christmas marathon, I had to make do with just this one! As it happens, it features one of his best performances - and he was justly Oscar-nominated for it (with the film itself being likewise honored). This was also one of 14 collaborations with that other most widely-recognized star to emerge from Italy, Sophia Loren; both, incidentally, are playing against type here - she as an unglamorous housewife and he a homosexual!

By the way, the film's title has a double meaning: the leading characters are brought together on the historic day in which Hitler came to Italy to meet Mussolini (the event itself being shown in lengthy archive footage), but it more specifically refers to the stars' 'brief encounter' in which they share moments of friendship, revelation and, briefly, passion - though each knows that a return to their normal existence is inevitable, which leads to the film's abrupt bittersweet ending. This is virtually a two-hander (with all other characters - save for the nosy concierge of the apartment block in which the story takes place in its entirety - which include Loren's gruff and fervently patriotic husband, surprisingly played by John Vernon, appear only at the beginning and closing sequences); still, the cramped setting doesn't deter director Scola (for the record, this is the 7th film of his that I've watched and own 3 more on VHS) and cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis, so that the result - though essentially low-key - is far from stagy: the camera is allowed to prowl the various sections of the large building, observing the proceedings intimately or dispassionately as the situation requires, but always keenly.

The narrative, of course, depends entirely on the performances of the two stars for it to be convincing, and they both deliver (their on-screen chemistry is quite incomparable); it's interesting, however, that while Loren walked away with the prizes in their home turf, it's Mastroianni's moving yet unsentimental outsider (the film, somewhat dubiously, does seem to equate his sexual deviance with Anti-Fascism!) who generally impressed international audiences!

This film literally took my breath away ! Both Mastroianni and Loren are fantastic actors, who can express a whole range of human feelings in just a look or a silence. This film is an unbelievable contrast : simplicity and sobriety in form but ultimate sophistication in content and in the actors' performance. I have never seen a film which raises so many questions at the same time : war, family, tolerance, women's condition, fanaticism, homosexuality, etc. Furthermore, it is a wonderful love story between two people who are actually too good for the world they live in. And last but not least, the contrast between the scruffy apartments and the beauty and elegance of Mastroianni and Loren is incredible. Mr. Scola achieved a masterpiece without make up, special effects or wonderful sceneries. When you have seen the film, you will understand that the special day was not for Mussolini and Hitler, who all the sudden seem very unimportant compared to what happened to the two characters. The day I have seen this film was definitely a special day for me as well, unforgettable ! It is just the most human film I have ever seen, a wonder of refinement.

While Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren may rate among the most visually appealing couples in cinematic history, the sad and profound beauty that they create here is far, far deeper than that of superficial appearance alone. Mastroianni is outstanding as Gabriele, a completely alienated and repressed gay man at the height of fascism's grip on Italian society during World War II. Loren plays Antonietta, an equally stifled housewife and mother of six who has been humiliated by her unfaithful and disrespectful husband. They live directly across from each other in a large apartment building in Rome, and they meet by chance when all of their neighbors suddenly vanish in order to attend political rallies all over the city on Hitler's first visit to the Italian capital.

Even as a tired, frumpy housewife who had been drained of life itself, Sophia radiates a quiet, subdued beauty that could only flow from her and no one else. Even the routine, mundane task of clearing off a kitchen table is captivating when Sophia Loren is doing it. What makes "A Special Day" so "special" is not only Sophia but Marcello in his Oscar nominated role and the superb direction by Ettore Scola.

As the very intense, human relationship between two lost souls continues to develop through the "special day", the mechanized, military marches of Nazi Germany and the deafening roar of the adoring mobs in response to Hitler's public appearance assault the ears from the building caretaker's radio, providing a stark contrast of two opposing but powerful forces in the world, love and hate. As I listened to the steady, harsh brutality of the German marches and the enthusiastic reaction by the Italian multitude, I was even more perplexed by the alliance of these two nations, Germany and Italy, with cultural roots that seemed as far apart from one another as any two on the face of the earth. The unlikelihood of Gabriele's and Antonietta's unique friendship paled in comparison to the oddity of a pact between the likes of Italy and Germany, an alliance that was an indisputable fact of history, as difficult as that may be to believe.

Although the film ends tragically, the beauty and strength of Gabriele's and Antonietta's complex relationship triumphs in its own, extraordinary way. Even in the darkness and the gloom, I was somehow left with a glimmer of hope for the pathetic, pitiful human race. I don't know exactly why.

I too was quite astonished to see how few people had voted on this film, and just HAD to write something about it, although my comments are quite similar to those written already.

I like many things about the film. The superb acting between Mastroianni & Loren. The way the film is narrated: Humanity and love slowly developing between these two outsiders, and contrasted to the simultaneously & continuously ongoing inhumane marching pace of the fascist radio announcer (who happens to be a colleague of Mastroianni's part)and the adherents "going to and coming from the show". To me this is a very fine film about what it is to be human. Maybe some of you would argue that the anti-fascist "message" is too clearly delivered, but to me this didn't destroy the film in any way. My vote is 10/10.