***Spoiler alert*** Anna Magnani is a force of nature in this movie. As Maddalena, she laughs, she cries, and kisses 50,000 lire goodbye, all in an attempt to make a better life for her young daughter. She thinks that future is in the movies, and Maddalena is the ultimate stage mother.
La Magnani dominates any and every scene she's in. One remarkable scene is when she pushes her way into the screening of her daughter's screen test: she recognizes an assistant who had acted in a film called "Under the sun of Rome" (Sotto il sole di Roma). This is an actual film, and as I had just seen it last week (it's the season of Neorealism for me), I recognized that the actress was indeed the female lead in that earlier film. The assistant describes how she's dropped out of acting because no director has hired her lately, which starts to undermine Magnani's dream for her daughter. A remarkable bit of verisimilitude, and causes all kinds of alienation effects. Great film, great performances, including the actor who played Maddalena's husband (in another brilliant touch, named "Spartaco"!)
La Magnani dominates any and every scene she's in. One remarkable scene is when she pushes her way into the screening of her daughter's screen test: she recognizes an assistant who had acted in a film called "Under the sun of Rome" (Sotto il sole di Roma). This is an actual film, and as I had just seen it last week (it's the season of Neorealism for me), I recognized that the actress was indeed the female lead in that earlier film. The assistant describes how she's dropped out of acting because no director has hired her lately, which starts to undermine Magnani's dream for her daughter. A remarkable bit of verisimilitude, and causes all kinds of alienation effects. Great film, great performances, including the actor who played Maddalena's husband (in another brilliant touch, named "Spartaco"!)