I've been reading with some amusement the comments on this board.
"Journey to Italy" from 1954 stars Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders and was directed by Bergman's husband, Roberto Rossellini.
Catherine and Alex travel to Naples so they can negotiate the sale of a villa they inherited.
The marriage has broken down; the two don't seem to communicate much, and there is tension. Eventually they both state their unhappiness and decide to divorce and to spend time apart during the trip.
Catherine goes on a sightseeing tour of Naples while Alex hangs out in Capri flirting with women.
The fact is that neither one of them want to divorce, but they simply don't know what to do to make things better.
European filmmakers often don't deal in dialogue as much as they do in images and in feelings. That means watching a film and not waiting for something to happen in an action way but rather in an emotional way, or the way in which a film makes a statement. A great example of this is Antonioni's L'Eclisse.
If you watch a foreign film with the expectation of it moving quickly or that something big is going to happen, you're often bored or disappointed. On the other hand, sometimes a movie is simply boring and disappointing or pretentious. I don't think this is one of them.
Catherine and Alex come to grips with their marriage against the beauty of Naples, and what Catherine and Alex see and experience allows them to make a decision.
There is certainly still love there - Alex is jealous when he sees men paying attention to Catherine. Catherine has inner dialogue when she's driving that indicates that she has forgotten the qualities that caused her to marry Alex in the first place. Instead, she now focuses on his sarcasm and his critical nature.
When one falls out of love, one becomes apathetic. Yet he still has the power to hurt and annoy Catherine, and she can make him jealous.
She can't help but say to him, "You should rest now too" and noticing when he comes in late. Rather than admit that, she merely says I heard something and wanted to make sure it was you.
At the end of the film, they witness a miracle and experience another one.
I actually didn't think Sanders and Bergman had much in the way of chemistry but I suppose for a falling-apart marriage, that works. Ingrid Bergman gives a beautiful performance as a disappointed and sometimes angry woman who is able to come out of herself while seeing Naples.
Ingrid Bergman's radiant beauty shines throughout; she gives a lovely, gentle performance; Sanders' character for me was less fleshed out - and again, isn't that just like a man, showing little of his real emotions.
I'm sure it sounds like I'm trying to give a lecture on How to Watch a Foreign Film. I'm not - I've hated plenty of them. It just seems to me that sometimes, particularly among young people on this board, there's an emphasis on the technical aspects and a desire to be passively entertained. Doesn't work in this case.
"Journey to Italy" from 1954 stars Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders and was directed by Bergman's husband, Roberto Rossellini.
Catherine and Alex travel to Naples so they can negotiate the sale of a villa they inherited.
The marriage has broken down; the two don't seem to communicate much, and there is tension. Eventually they both state their unhappiness and decide to divorce and to spend time apart during the trip.
Catherine goes on a sightseeing tour of Naples while Alex hangs out in Capri flirting with women.
The fact is that neither one of them want to divorce, but they simply don't know what to do to make things better.
European filmmakers often don't deal in dialogue as much as they do in images and in feelings. That means watching a film and not waiting for something to happen in an action way but rather in an emotional way, or the way in which a film makes a statement. A great example of this is Antonioni's L'Eclisse.
If you watch a foreign film with the expectation of it moving quickly or that something big is going to happen, you're often bored or disappointed. On the other hand, sometimes a movie is simply boring and disappointing or pretentious. I don't think this is one of them.
Catherine and Alex come to grips with their marriage against the beauty of Naples, and what Catherine and Alex see and experience allows them to make a decision.
There is certainly still love there - Alex is jealous when he sees men paying attention to Catherine. Catherine has inner dialogue when she's driving that indicates that she has forgotten the qualities that caused her to marry Alex in the first place. Instead, she now focuses on his sarcasm and his critical nature.
When one falls out of love, one becomes apathetic. Yet he still has the power to hurt and annoy Catherine, and she can make him jealous.
She can't help but say to him, "You should rest now too" and noticing when he comes in late. Rather than admit that, she merely says I heard something and wanted to make sure it was you.
At the end of the film, they witness a miracle and experience another one.
I actually didn't think Sanders and Bergman had much in the way of chemistry but I suppose for a falling-apart marriage, that works. Ingrid Bergman gives a beautiful performance as a disappointed and sometimes angry woman who is able to come out of herself while seeing Naples.
Ingrid Bergman's radiant beauty shines throughout; she gives a lovely, gentle performance; Sanders' character for me was less fleshed out - and again, isn't that just like a man, showing little of his real emotions.
I'm sure it sounds like I'm trying to give a lecture on How to Watch a Foreign Film. I'm not - I've hated plenty of them. It just seems to me that sometimes, particularly among young people on this board, there's an emphasis on the technical aspects and a desire to be passively entertained. Doesn't work in this case.