This is a portmanteau film with 5 directors--Visconti, Pasolini, Bolognini, Franco Rossi (not to be confused with Francesco Rosi), and De Sica--each contributing a standalone segment. All the 5 segments are held together by actress Silvana Mangano, playing 5 different types of women, 3 where the woman is manipulated/controlled by men, 1 where the woman controls the man, and 1 where neither man nor woman is in absolute control. This is the ultimate Mangano film, showcasing her screen presence, her ability to act, and making the viewer wonder how she did not become a Sophia Loren (both were born in poverty, both married super-influential Italian film producers) or a Gina Lollobrigida who is rumored to have attracted the powerful magnate Howard Hughes. Mangano had more talent than both.
Of the five segments, the Visconti segment, which opens the film, is the longest of the five, shows the brilliance of the director as well. Visconti's lover Helmut Berger appears in an insignificant role of a young mansion/hotel help, who is seduced by an ugly, rich lady, Visconti's interest in social divides surfaces. When the Mangano character Gloria looks out of the building to the snowy exteriors, Visconti's brief visual recalls the very Pieter Breughel the Elder's painting "The Hunters in the Snow" that enraptured Tarkovsky and used it in "Solaris" and "Mirror" and von Trier in "Melancholia"! (The cinematographer is no other than the gifted Giuseppe Rotunno who worked with celebrated directors Visconti, Fellini, Zinnemann and Huston.) The Visconti segment underscores so subtly how husbands control their wives.
The De Sica segment with a handsome Clint Eastwood has the wife mourning how she is shackled at home by a husband who to his credit is not more attracted to other women than his wife.
The Pasolini segment too has a woman being manipulated by her husband (Toto) and his grown-up son.
The Rossi segment shows a won controlled by the father, only to find her father kills her cousin to save her "honor."
However, it is the Bolognini segment that shows the woman in control and not being controlled,
But it is the Visconti segment that brings out the best in the actress Silvana Mangano and the director.
P. S. Palestinian director Elia Suleiman reprises a visual of the De Sica segment in his film "Divine Intervention." Suleiman ought to have stated that in his film credits. Also Visconti's lead actress in his debut film "Obsession," Clara Calamai, has a minor role of an ex-actress in the Visconti segment. Visconti often re-used his actors in his later works--Ms Mangano was a prominent example.
Of the five segments, the Visconti segment, which opens the film, is the longest of the five, shows the brilliance of the director as well. Visconti's lover Helmut Berger appears in an insignificant role of a young mansion/hotel help, who is seduced by an ugly, rich lady, Visconti's interest in social divides surfaces. When the Mangano character Gloria looks out of the building to the snowy exteriors, Visconti's brief visual recalls the very Pieter Breughel the Elder's painting "The Hunters in the Snow" that enraptured Tarkovsky and used it in "Solaris" and "Mirror" and von Trier in "Melancholia"! (The cinematographer is no other than the gifted Giuseppe Rotunno who worked with celebrated directors Visconti, Fellini, Zinnemann and Huston.) The Visconti segment underscores so subtly how husbands control their wives.
The De Sica segment with a handsome Clint Eastwood has the wife mourning how she is shackled at home by a husband who to his credit is not more attracted to other women than his wife.
The Pasolini segment too has a woman being manipulated by her husband (Toto) and his grown-up son.
The Rossi segment shows a won controlled by the father, only to find her father kills her cousin to save her "honor."
However, it is the Bolognini segment that shows the woman in control and not being controlled,
But it is the Visconti segment that brings out the best in the actress Silvana Mangano and the director.
P. S. Palestinian director Elia Suleiman reprises a visual of the De Sica segment in his film "Divine Intervention." Suleiman ought to have stated that in his film credits. Also Visconti's lead actress in his debut film "Obsession," Clara Calamai, has a minor role of an ex-actress in the Visconti segment. Visconti often re-used his actors in his later works--Ms Mangano was a prominent example.