Many films have been made on the subject of life at the sanatorium, and many books have been written by many famous authors, so why would not Vittorio de Sica feel tempted to join the club and make a contribution to this vast congregation of artistic associations with death in good company, where at least some always have to get out alive? The story here is very simple, Florinda Bolkan works hard at her factory and has spells of serious fatigue, is advised to have a medical check-up, she agrees reluctantly, she is proved to have a touch of TBC and is sent up in the mountains for a possible cure. There her life begins. She wakes up both as a woman and as an intellectual and even discovers something of a true love. But it is only a brief vacation. When she gets well that new discovered universe is shattered.
The great art here is the exploration of a new world and universe of humanity in a very brief episode. There are many films like this, like "Brief Encounter" by David Lean, on which countless films have been modelled. What separates this film from all those is the delicate and extreme sensitivity caught in the characters. Vittorio de Sica was like no one else an expert on long personal shots of just expressions in a human face, and this film is particularly rich in that art. You can never tire of these faces. Florinda Bolkan is the main character, it's her story, but many others become part of it, especially the handsome young Daniel Quenaud, the only character you have to feel truly sorry about. After this Vittorio de Sica only made one more film, the Sicilian "Il viaggio" with Richard Burton and his favorite actress Sophia Loren, and then he died at only 73.
The great art here is the exploration of a new world and universe of humanity in a very brief episode. There are many films like this, like "Brief Encounter" by David Lean, on which countless films have been modelled. What separates this film from all those is the delicate and extreme sensitivity caught in the characters. Vittorio de Sica was like no one else an expert on long personal shots of just expressions in a human face, and this film is particularly rich in that art. You can never tire of these faces. Florinda Bolkan is the main character, it's her story, but many others become part of it, especially the handsome young Daniel Quenaud, the only character you have to feel truly sorry about. After this Vittorio de Sica only made one more film, the Sicilian "Il viaggio" with Richard Burton and his favorite actress Sophia Loren, and then he died at only 73.