"Io La Conoscevo Bene" or "I Knew Her Well" in English translation is a somewhat different film from the rest made by Antonio Pietrangeli and one of his last before his premature death. The theme of loneliness and alienation is not new in cinema,but Pietrangeli takes it from a different angle: his heroine,the naive countryside girl Adriana,who dreams of a career as a star in Rome, is not an escapist or introvert;on the contrary, she tries her best to socialize and befriend people , but the results are most disappointing and frustrating - people just ignore her, use her, make fun of her,exploit her body and her good intentions.Nobody is taking her seriously.Is it our cruel modern world's trademark?Seems to be true.INDIFFERENCE also kills. The magnificent cast of the greatest of Italian stars , each of them playing very small episodes,give distinctive CHARACTERS, blood and flesh ,to their protagonists,though their screen life lasts no more than five minutes each. The soundtrack by Piero Piccioni,like the sound of a torn string in the middle of a tune, suggests a young life broken before it has blossomed. Stefania Sandrelli, still a TEENAGER(!!) ,performs in an amazingly mature and confident way.Though she had some experience of working with great directors before (Pietro Germi), her psychological portrayal of a silly girl mesmerized by the glitter of the big city is very deep and convincing. Of course, this film was the labour of love of Antonio Pitrangeli, a very experienced director, but somewhat underrated ( nobody would put him on a pedestal alongside Fellini or Visconti).This film, undoubtedly,would make film critics and the audience reconsider the hierarchy of the Italian cinema Olympus dwellers.
20 Reviews
A compelling Italian treat
Barbouzes23 May 2016
A great capsule of life in Italy in the early 60s. There are shades of la Dolce Vita since every scene takes place in summer and features incredible clothing, but our point of view here is radically different: it is that of a vulnerable young woman instead of a successful jaded male intellectual like in the Fellini movie. The vita is not so dolce for the girl played by the innocent-looking Stefania Sandrelli (who was apparently only 19 when she starred in that film, but what maturity she displays as an actress already.) A peasant girl from the sticks, we meet her right away in Rome where she aspires to glamour, stardom, fame etc. But because she does not know anyone, and is both naive and not very bright to boot, she takes many wrong turns and indulges all the wrong people. This film is very entertaining, because we are in Rome in 1964, it feels and looks like a hot summer all along, and the dresses worn by Sandrelli are unbelievably glamorous. But it is a ferocious social satire, and it is tender neither to our silly heroine nor to the sharks who exploit her and many others. The black&white photography is gorgeous on the eyes. Nino Manfredi and Ugo Tognazzi do each a memorable turn among the victim/exploiters that populates this Roman shark tank. Sandrelli is so good (and so beautiful) that she manages to make her character attaching in spite of her flaws.
Tremendous, with a wonderful lead performance
zetes4 September 2016
Kind of a smaller version of La Dolce Vita with a female lead, this slice of 1960s Roman life is great in its own right. Stefania Sandrelli (probably best remembered as the woman who shared a sexy dance with Dominque Sanda in The Conformist) plays an aspiring actress and model who spends her nights partying her ass off and her mornings alone. The plot is pretty simple and pretty predictable, but director Pietrangeli shoots the film in a very experiential style - it feels like you're partying alongside Sandrelli, and it's just a really wonderful experience. Sandrelli herself is outstanding. It's a character that could come off as a cliché, but she plays her so knowingly and passionately. It's very, very easy to fall in love. The film is stuffed full of wonderful '60s pop songs (the only ones I recognized were by Millie Small, a Jamaican ska artist best known for her hit "My Boy Lollipop"), tremendous clothes and hairdos, and that crisp 1960s black and white. A must-see for anyone who loves the Italian films of this era.
No One Really Knew Her
mackjay24 May 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Ironically titled, beautifully shot and well-acted, this is a real 'sleeper' from late in the Golden Age of Italian cinema. Stefania Sandrelli perfectly embodies the naive girl from the provinces who wants to be a star. We never know what she can do well, apart from be charming and look terrific. But she believes there is a place for her in the firmament of the entertainment industry. Adriana gets to live only on the edge of the life she thinks she wants (nice apartment, clothes, wigs, parties, making money from sexual favors or modeling). From the start, she is taken advantage of by 'agents' or others who claim to be helping her. The numerous men she encounters are mostly ciphers themselves. Their only advantage is that they understand the ruthless nature of their world. Adriana is just their latest victim. One charmer skips out in the early morning from a hotel encounter, leaving Adriana stuck with the bill. Another, after a sexual episode, asks her to call another girl for him. In a brilliantly cringing scene, poor Adriana is humiliated in front of friends, as her long-awaited 'film debut' only serves to use her for comic fodder.
The film uses flashback to fill in Adriana's past: she was a normal, if very pretty, girl whose family has already nearly forgotten her. Like many of her kind, she craves the "love" that stardom should bring. As often with serious Italian film, the outcome is pessimistic.
Director Pietrangeli paces the film well and integrates the brief flashbacks to telling effect. Locations are well-used and often beautifully photographed. The film can occasionally remind a viewer of Robert Bresson's work: much faster paced, and with a higher energy level, but with a similar outlook on youth and the harshness of contemporary life. I'd go as far to say if this film had been directed by Bresson, it would be far better known. The international view of Italian cinema at the time was dominated by Fellini, Antonioni and a few others, while Pietrangeli, Monicelli and many fine film makers remain to be re-discovered. Here is a great place to start that re- discovery.
The film uses flashback to fill in Adriana's past: she was a normal, if very pretty, girl whose family has already nearly forgotten her. Like many of her kind, she craves the "love" that stardom should bring. As often with serious Italian film, the outcome is pessimistic.
Director Pietrangeli paces the film well and integrates the brief flashbacks to telling effect. Locations are well-used and often beautifully photographed. The film can occasionally remind a viewer of Robert Bresson's work: much faster paced, and with a higher energy level, but with a similar outlook on youth and the harshness of contemporary life. I'd go as far to say if this film had been directed by Bresson, it would be far better known. The international view of Italian cinema at the time was dominated by Fellini, Antonioni and a few others, while Pietrangeli, Monicelli and many fine film makers remain to be re-discovered. Here is a great place to start that re- discovery.
an unalloyed Italian hidden gem exhumed from near obscurity
lasttimeisaw25 May 2018
A definite highlight of Italian filmmaker Antonio Pietrangeli's career, on which would be tragically put a kibosh by his untimely death in 1968, in reality, people do die of drowning after falling off a cliff.
I KNEW HER WELL continues his streak of strong female presentation, first and foremost, it is a story about a prelapsarian countryside Italian girl Adriana (a 19-year-old Sandrelli uncannily likens a luscious Taylor Swift), who jauntily pursues her star-making dream in the capital city.
Pietrangeli and his co-writers configure a loosely chronological and episodic narrative detailing the interactions between Adriana and a smorgasbord of male characters, from boyfriends, bedfellows, exploiters to sympathetic have-nots, scathingly refracts the sprawling turpitude infesting the showbiz, that a young and unsophisticated Adriana is always given the short end of the stick, can never fall in love with the right guy, and occasional sparkling of kindness dims quickly since it is just not the right time, and the film's ostensibly disengaged observation gives way to an abrupt kicker in the end, where a dysphoria-stricken Adriana takes a radical step to purge her profound disillusion out of her existence.
Wonderfully concatenating manifold vignettes into a cogent case study pertaining to the disintegration of a starlet-to-be's pipe dream (often meld perfectly with era-specific tuneage and dancing routines), Pietrangeli enlists a swell group of multi-national supporting actors, natives Manfredi (unscrupulous), Salerno (pompous), Fabrizi (smarmy), Nero (four-square), joined by a French (Brialy), a German (Fuchsberger), an Austrian (Hoffman) and a Swiss (Adorf) to bolster the mainstay, among whom, Ugo Tagnazzi brilliantly steals the limelight with his backbreaking tap dance and abjectly obsequious attitude as a struggling has-been.
As our leading lady, Sandrelli is de facto a phenomenal wet-behind-the-ears ingénue, but also excels in bringing about a palpable strength of integrity and defiance that is well beyond her age, yet, more often than not, emanates a ghost of melancholia even when hijinks are in full swing. Unequivocally evokes a young girl's version of Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA, I KNEW HER WELL is an unalloyed Italian hidden gem exhumed from near obscurity with its shimmering amalgamation of vintage style, unaffected poignancy and incisive self-mockery.
I KNEW HER WELL continues his streak of strong female presentation, first and foremost, it is a story about a prelapsarian countryside Italian girl Adriana (a 19-year-old Sandrelli uncannily likens a luscious Taylor Swift), who jauntily pursues her star-making dream in the capital city.
Pietrangeli and his co-writers configure a loosely chronological and episodic narrative detailing the interactions between Adriana and a smorgasbord of male characters, from boyfriends, bedfellows, exploiters to sympathetic have-nots, scathingly refracts the sprawling turpitude infesting the showbiz, that a young and unsophisticated Adriana is always given the short end of the stick, can never fall in love with the right guy, and occasional sparkling of kindness dims quickly since it is just not the right time, and the film's ostensibly disengaged observation gives way to an abrupt kicker in the end, where a dysphoria-stricken Adriana takes a radical step to purge her profound disillusion out of her existence.
Wonderfully concatenating manifold vignettes into a cogent case study pertaining to the disintegration of a starlet-to-be's pipe dream (often meld perfectly with era-specific tuneage and dancing routines), Pietrangeli enlists a swell group of multi-national supporting actors, natives Manfredi (unscrupulous), Salerno (pompous), Fabrizi (smarmy), Nero (four-square), joined by a French (Brialy), a German (Fuchsberger), an Austrian (Hoffman) and a Swiss (Adorf) to bolster the mainstay, among whom, Ugo Tagnazzi brilliantly steals the limelight with his backbreaking tap dance and abjectly obsequious attitude as a struggling has-been.
As our leading lady, Sandrelli is de facto a phenomenal wet-behind-the-ears ingénue, but also excels in bringing about a palpable strength of integrity and defiance that is well beyond her age, yet, more often than not, emanates a ghost of melancholia even when hijinks are in full swing. Unequivocally evokes a young girl's version of Fellini's LA DOLCE VITA, I KNEW HER WELL is an unalloyed Italian hidden gem exhumed from near obscurity with its shimmering amalgamation of vintage style, unaffected poignancy and incisive self-mockery.
The other side of the Sixties
dierregi4 May 2020
This movie is very well know in Italy and certainly not a "hidden" masterpiece. Stefania Sandrelli gives a star-making performance as Adriana, the silly country girl who tries to navigate waters much too deep and dangerous for her intellectual level.
Adriana is rather ignorant and shallow, but pretty, outgoing and sensual and tries to climb the ladder of success "helped" by several men. Along the way, she has lots of flirts with despicable guys, among which one with Dario. The two spend a weekend at the beach and then Dario leaves her with the bill to pay, for which Adriana must use a bracelet Dario gave her.
This episode underlines not only Adriana's naivety, but also her lack of self-respect. After having been informed by the police that Dario is a gigolo and a thief and the bracelet he gave her stolen, she laughs and takes his defence.
The despicable male characters include famous actor Roberto and "talent scout" Cianfanna. It's most depressing to see the level of moral bankruptcy shared by all the show-biz characters. Only a boxer and a mechanic lack the cynicism of those working in the entertainment industry.
Adriana herself is just a pretty face with an empty head, devoid of self-awareness and pursuing a vague idea of 'success". She listens non-stop to silly pop music, loves dancing and doesn't mind having casual sex, but cannot even make a career out of prostitution, lacking the necessary cunning.
Unrooted from her country background, without any stable relations, without even the awareness of her loneliness, Adriana is just one of the million youngsters pursuing a sterile rebellion without a cause, which eventually will lead to her demise.
Adriana is rather ignorant and shallow, but pretty, outgoing and sensual and tries to climb the ladder of success "helped" by several men. Along the way, she has lots of flirts with despicable guys, among which one with Dario. The two spend a weekend at the beach and then Dario leaves her with the bill to pay, for which Adriana must use a bracelet Dario gave her.
This episode underlines not only Adriana's naivety, but also her lack of self-respect. After having been informed by the police that Dario is a gigolo and a thief and the bracelet he gave her stolen, she laughs and takes his defence.
The despicable male characters include famous actor Roberto and "talent scout" Cianfanna. It's most depressing to see the level of moral bankruptcy shared by all the show-biz characters. Only a boxer and a mechanic lack the cynicism of those working in the entertainment industry.
Adriana herself is just a pretty face with an empty head, devoid of self-awareness and pursuing a vague idea of 'success". She listens non-stop to silly pop music, loves dancing and doesn't mind having casual sex, but cannot even make a career out of prostitution, lacking the necessary cunning.
Unrooted from her country background, without any stable relations, without even the awareness of her loneliness, Adriana is just one of the million youngsters pursuing a sterile rebellion without a cause, which eventually will lead to her demise.
Antonio Pietrangeli's swansong is his greatest achievement
manicmotionman5 May 2017
There is a scene from I Knew Her Well between Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) and The Writer (Joachim Fuchsberger) that says a lot about the film:
The Writer: "Trouble is, she likes everything. She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money. Yesterday and tomorrow don't exist for her. Even living for today would mean too much planning, so she lives for the moment. Sunbathing, listening to records, and dancing are her sole activities. The rest of the time she's mercurial and capricious, always needing brief new encounters with anyone at all... just never with herself."
Adriana: "I'm Milena, right? Is that what I'm like? Some sort of dimwit?"
The Writer: "On the contrary. You may be the wisest of all."
I couldn't encapsulate the brilliance of this incredibly well directed character essay any better.
The Writer: "Trouble is, she likes everything. She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money. Yesterday and tomorrow don't exist for her. Even living for today would mean too much planning, so she lives for the moment. Sunbathing, listening to records, and dancing are her sole activities. The rest of the time she's mercurial and capricious, always needing brief new encounters with anyone at all... just never with herself."
Adriana: "I'm Milena, right? Is that what I'm like? Some sort of dimwit?"
The Writer: "On the contrary. You may be the wisest of all."
I couldn't encapsulate the brilliance of this incredibly well directed character essay any better.
Alienation in Italy
liehtzu13 October 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Another of the many Italian movies about alienation in the post-war years, very well made, beautifully shot, often interesting - but not up there with L'AVVENTURA or LA DOLCE VITA. The problem is the main character, one of the horde of young, nouveau-American European youth of the 1960s, ignorant of the war or much else besides, who only enjoys dancing to moronic music, polishing her nails, and reading comic books. Of course, she wants to be an actress. She goes through as many hairstyles as boyfriends in the course of the film, and though among them there are some recognizable faces (Franco Nero is the shy young auto mechanic here; the following year he would be cold-blooded killer DJANGO), the hairstyles tend to be more memorable than the men.
The problem with making a movie about a character as vapid as this young woman is that her story isn't compelling. Even though we find out later that she's really just a poor girl from the country from a hard-luck farm family, even though we cringe at the number of times she's exploited through the course of the film - there is one particularly cruel scene in which a young man, after sleeping with her, has her telephone the girl he really likes, just in case her mother answers - the life and death of a bubblegum-popping wannabe actress is not the stuff of great tragedy. She takes a leap just when self-awareness finally dawns: no one cares for her (except Nero's character, who she doesn't even notice), she's the butt of jokes, she really is just a beautiful idiot with no future once the looks fade. Of course, the real theme of the movie might be that thinking too much is a bad thing: in one telling sequence a jaded writer says as much to her, that her brainless, live-for-the-moment existence might be some kind of unconscious wisdom. But the life of the girl, who I suspect is a kind of symbol of the director's horror of modern Italy, grows a little tiresome before the end of the film.
The problem with making a movie about a character as vapid as this young woman is that her story isn't compelling. Even though we find out later that she's really just a poor girl from the country from a hard-luck farm family, even though we cringe at the number of times she's exploited through the course of the film - there is one particularly cruel scene in which a young man, after sleeping with her, has her telephone the girl he really likes, just in case her mother answers - the life and death of a bubblegum-popping wannabe actress is not the stuff of great tragedy. She takes a leap just when self-awareness finally dawns: no one cares for her (except Nero's character, who she doesn't even notice), she's the butt of jokes, she really is just a beautiful idiot with no future once the looks fade. Of course, the real theme of the movie might be that thinking too much is a bad thing: in one telling sequence a jaded writer says as much to her, that her brainless, live-for-the-moment existence might be some kind of unconscious wisdom. But the life of the girl, who I suspect is a kind of symbol of the director's horror of modern Italy, grows a little tiresome before the end of the film.
Disillusionment and depression
mollytinkers7 October 2021
This film is an elongated character study. The first hour drags, and I almost stopped watching. It picks up speed after that, but don't expect something uplifting.
Country girl moves to the "big city" to live an independent life and to pursue ambitions of succeeding in the entertainment industry. The IMDb summary already clues you in to the outcome. Ultimately, this movie relies upon the way it transpires; sadly, the ending offers more confusion than insight.
Don't be fooled by the reviews: it's not a masterpiece. Sorry, but it's not. It is definitely, however, and excellent example of what it means to flesh out a leading character. If it were made today, it would be a textbook example of the hidden manifestations of mental health issues.
Country girl moves to the "big city" to live an independent life and to pursue ambitions of succeeding in the entertainment industry. The IMDb summary already clues you in to the outcome. Ultimately, this movie relies upon the way it transpires; sadly, the ending offers more confusion than insight.
Don't be fooled by the reviews: it's not a masterpiece. Sorry, but it's not. It is definitely, however, and excellent example of what it means to flesh out a leading character. If it were made today, it would be a textbook example of the hidden manifestations of mental health issues.
Good bye girl
jakob134 April 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Criterion Collection has released 'Io la conocevo bebe' (I knew her well) a half century after its first showing. Stefania Sandrelli carries the film admirably, with a star studded cameos of the 1960s, say Jena-Claude Brialy, Ugo Tognazzi, Joachim Fuchsberger and a young handsome Franco Nero. A poor peasant girl comes to Rome to make her fortune. She is pretty and likes to have fun. She is bait for men who use her, take her money and drop her. She pays her way with her body and her money. She works at odd jobs, but is kept by an madam of sorts in a high rent, high rise flat in Rome. Adriana surfs her own sweet life--her own dolce vita. Pietangeli the director skilfully uses the pope tunes of the day to anchor the mood and the state of Adriana's existential highs and lows. A writer played by Fuchsberger limns her character: she lives for the moment. And when she has a chance to make it, the film of her mocks her pretensions and rips her dreams through ridicule; she is mocks as someone of no education, a 20 something who goes from bed to bed and in the end aging will walk the pavement for her living. Humiliated she throws herself off her balcony as the credits roll up the screen. A morality play? Perhaps. A commentary on a youth that is not golden and knows no future but the fleeting moment of sense 'fame', if you can call it that.
Life Is (A) A Circus; (B) A Cabaret; or (C)....
boblipton10 April 2022
If life is a circus if you're Fellini, that's all well and good. There was only one Fellini, and he's dead. For most of us, life is a struggle. For a young woman trying to make her way, it's filled with rude men and the fear of rape if you hear a stranger's foot steps at night.
Don't get me wrong. I love Fellini, but Antonio Petrangeli offers a different view of la dolce vita here. Stefania Sandrelli tries to make a go of it in a cynical and greedy world.
Don't get me wrong. I love Fellini, but Antonio Petrangeli offers a different view of la dolce vita here. Stefania Sandrelli tries to make a go of it in a cynical and greedy world.
fame has its unseemly ways
lee_eisenberg30 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
To the pantheon of movies about the vicissitudes of the celebrity world we can add Antonio Pietrangeli's "Io la conoscevo bene" ("I Knew Her Well" in English). Stefania Sandrelli plays a country girl who moves to Rome in the hope of becoming a star, but gets objectified every step of the way. 'Twas always thus, I guess.
The Criterion DVD includes an interview with Sandrelli. In her opinion, the protagonist's suicide ends her life, but begins something else: the full realization that fame will not be the bed of roses that millions imagine. I like to think that if Pietrangeli had lived longer - he drowned in 1968 - he would've expanded on this theme in other movies. Definitely worth seeing. Similar movies are Carl Reiner's 1969 dramedy "The Comic" (starring Dick Van Dyke as a screen comedian whose fame gets the better of him) and John Schlesinger's 1975 drama "The Day of the Locust" (about the ugly side of 1930s Hollywood).
As for the other cast members. Ugo Tognazzi is best known as one of the nightclub owners in "La cage aux folles". Enrico Maria Salerno (Roberto) dubbed Clint Eastwood in the Italian releases of the Dollars trilogy. Franco Nero (Italo) is best known as the original Django, and had a bit part in Quentin Tarantino's version. He is now married to Vanessa Redgrave (their son directed her in an adaption of Wallace Shawn's politically-charged play "The Fever", co-starring Michael Moore and Angelina Jolie).
The Criterion DVD includes an interview with Sandrelli. In her opinion, the protagonist's suicide ends her life, but begins something else: the full realization that fame will not be the bed of roses that millions imagine. I like to think that if Pietrangeli had lived longer - he drowned in 1968 - he would've expanded on this theme in other movies. Definitely worth seeing. Similar movies are Carl Reiner's 1969 dramedy "The Comic" (starring Dick Van Dyke as a screen comedian whose fame gets the better of him) and John Schlesinger's 1975 drama "The Day of the Locust" (about the ugly side of 1930s Hollywood).
As for the other cast members. Ugo Tognazzi is best known as one of the nightclub owners in "La cage aux folles". Enrico Maria Salerno (Roberto) dubbed Clint Eastwood in the Italian releases of the Dollars trilogy. Franco Nero (Italo) is best known as the original Django, and had a bit part in Quentin Tarantino's version. He is now married to Vanessa Redgrave (their son directed her in an adaption of Wallace Shawn's politically-charged play "The Fever", co-starring Michael Moore and Angelina Jolie).
Beautiful, but the story is lacking
gbill-7487711 February 2022
The story of a young woman from the country who moves to Rome to try to become a movie star, but encounters a string of men who use and deceive her. The strange thing is, she seems nonplussed and rather buoyant about it, and her character seems as aimless and meandering as the way director Antonio Pietrangeli tells the story. The scenes seem like disconnected snippets, some of which go on too long, which makes for a tough watch, especially in the first half.
With that said, there are moments of brilliance here. The woman (Stefania Sandrelli) goes home to her impoverished, bitter parents, and we get a brutal glimpse of the foundations of her psyche. Later she attends a party where we see an actor who's made it in the business humiliate another who hasn't, in what was the most powerful scene for me. The woman herself also finds herself humiliated in front of friends after an interview with her is edited to make her look ridiculous, then played at the movie theater. I liked the look and feel of the film as well, with the black and white cinematography and Pietrangeli's flair showing in scenes like those with 360 degree spins, or the woman simply driving around the city and listening to love songs.
Unfortunately there were just not enough of these moments to recommend or even truly like the film. It felt a little like the flipside of 'La Dolce Vita,' with the focus here on those who haven't made it big, but similarly too circuitous in its storytelling, and ultimately not all that pleasant to watch. The ending was ridiculously predictable and abrupt as well, and I wish it hadn't been so simple. Sandrelli and seeing bits of Italy in the mid-1960's made it not a complete waste, but it's not one I'd reach for again.
With that said, there are moments of brilliance here. The woman (Stefania Sandrelli) goes home to her impoverished, bitter parents, and we get a brutal glimpse of the foundations of her psyche. Later she attends a party where we see an actor who's made it in the business humiliate another who hasn't, in what was the most powerful scene for me. The woman herself also finds herself humiliated in front of friends after an interview with her is edited to make her look ridiculous, then played at the movie theater. I liked the look and feel of the film as well, with the black and white cinematography and Pietrangeli's flair showing in scenes like those with 360 degree spins, or the woman simply driving around the city and listening to love songs.
Unfortunately there were just not enough of these moments to recommend or even truly like the film. It felt a little like the flipside of 'La Dolce Vita,' with the focus here on those who haven't made it big, but similarly too circuitous in its storytelling, and ultimately not all that pleasant to watch. The ending was ridiculously predictable and abrupt as well, and I wish it hadn't been so simple. Sandrelli and seeing bits of Italy in the mid-1960's made it not a complete waste, but it's not one I'd reach for again.
Woolly social critique
bjacob26 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
In short: I didn't like it. Some inventive cuts and framing, some good scenes (the oft-quoted humiliation of Baggini, specifically), an interesting gallery of famous and good Italian actors -- but the main character is monothematic and opaque. She's a victim, but she's painted as devoid of agency or reasoning, in such a condescending way. I am not sure how this can be considered a feminist movie, when we are at every turn and twist been forced to wallow in her lurid and weirdly unrelenting humiliations. So in the end I can't help but thinking that the author was part and parcel of the very system it pretends to critique here.
Marking this as containing spoilers, but the ending is given away by the title itself.
Marking this as containing spoilers, but the ending is given away by the title itself.
Character study and critique on the exploitation of women
AlsExGal28 January 2023
Italian drama from director Antonio Pietrangeli. Stefania Sandrelli stars as a young woman working in a seaside beauty salon with dreams of becoming a movie star. Her efforts in that direction have mixed results.
This is more of a character study than a plot-driven narrative. It's also a critique on the exploitation of women. Sandrelli is very good as the beautiful Adriana, who's not so much ambitious as bored with her life. She's shallow in that way that beautiful young women can be when they don't have to exert much effort to move in social circles. However, she's also used by virtually everyone she meets, either for profit or pleasure, and Adriana is usually left alone and in the same place as where she started. Adriana's desire for change is also exhibited in her hairstyles - she sports more than a half dozen throughout the film.
Director Pietrangeli also makes the audience complicit in the exploitation of Adriana, with camera "ogling" like her much as her many suitors do. From what I've read, this film is also well-liked in Italy for the many mid-60's pop music hits heard on the soundtrack. Recommended.
This is more of a character study than a plot-driven narrative. It's also a critique on the exploitation of women. Sandrelli is very good as the beautiful Adriana, who's not so much ambitious as bored with her life. She's shallow in that way that beautiful young women can be when they don't have to exert much effort to move in social circles. However, she's also used by virtually everyone she meets, either for profit or pleasure, and Adriana is usually left alone and in the same place as where she started. Adriana's desire for change is also exhibited in her hairstyles - she sports more than a half dozen throughout the film.
Director Pietrangeli also makes the audience complicit in the exploitation of Adriana, with camera "ogling" like her much as her many suitors do. From what I've read, this film is also well-liked in Italy for the many mid-60's pop music hits heard on the soundtrack. Recommended.
Alas, poor Yorick!
rooprect19 May 2021
"She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Yesterday and tomorrow don't exist for her. Even living for today would mean too much planning, so she lives for the moment."
ADRIANA: "Is that what I'm like? Some sort of dimwit?"
"On the contrary, you may be the wisest of all."
The irony of this pivotal scene is that even this seemingly accurate observation of the character Andrianna barely scratches the surface. Ultimately nobody knows her well, not even the audience, until the final few minutes of the film when we realize we missed something all along. Then we go back and watch the film again and really get to know her.
"I knew her well" is a film from Italy's powerful cinematic renaissance of the 1960s alongside landmarks like Antonioni's "L'Avventura" ("The Adventure"), Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" ("The Easy Life"), and Risi's "Il Sorpasso" (coincidentally, "The Easy Life"). Of those 3 comparisons it's most similar to "Il Sorpasso" in the way it takes the form of a breezy, episodic comedy. In fact "I knew her well" is almost like a road movie itself, except that everything happens in the vicinity of Rome, and instead of the typical windblown convertible used in all road movies Adriana drives a comically tiny clown car. As with the other films, here we get the backdrop of Italy's postwar economic prosperity to immerse us in an almost surreal fantasy world where people seem to have no obligations other than having a good time. But as with all these great films, there's a haunting spectre of what may lie outside, or in this case, behind the carefree façade.
Adriana (played by the wonderfully expressive and cute as a button Stefania Sandrelli) is an aspiring actress with a cheerful disposition like a 1960s Italian Amélie. She's unstoppable and nothing seems to get her down. Even when she is jilted by a lover and left with a large hotel bill, she admires him for his ingenuity and ultimately laughs as she hopes he'll elude the police. As my opening quote implies, she doesn't seem to notice the humiliations though they happen to her every day. And in that respect, we the audience are lulled into an entertaining romp about the catastrophe of life even though in a parallel universe a Neorealist director like De Sica ("Bicycle Thieves") would make us feel the stab of each humiliation. But no, here we become Adriana. We quickly adopt the attitude that life is too short to dwell on the past, or the future, or anything. Right?
Don't expect a plot because this is mostly a series of vignettes over the course of a few days (? We can't be sure as events are deliberately fragmented) in Adriana's life. Around 20 vignettes in total--ok, 19, but I didn't want to seem like a nerd for counting--are presented to us, each full of its own magic. My favorite is a wonderful scene where she befriends a slow-witted but humorous boxer who has just suffered a humiliating defeat in the ring and jokes about his opponent being smart to pick a weak opponent. (See the parallel between him and Andrianna?)
Music plays significantly in this film as Adrianna spends most of her free time dancing, singing and listening to an old record player which she has to kick to make it work. As the music becomes more prominent, we realize that, if anything, the music is the key to "knowing her well". Don't miss the unforgettable final 10 min sequence featuring Gilbert Becaud's "Toi".
A perfectly written, perfectly shot, and perfectly titled film, "I knew her well" rings of the famous line in Hamlet where the prince finds the bones of his childhood pal, the court jester Yorick "of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy ... Now get you to my lady's chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick..."
ADRIANA: "Is that what I'm like? Some sort of dimwit?"
"On the contrary, you may be the wisest of all."
The irony of this pivotal scene is that even this seemingly accurate observation of the character Andrianna barely scratches the surface. Ultimately nobody knows her well, not even the audience, until the final few minutes of the film when we realize we missed something all along. Then we go back and watch the film again and really get to know her.
"I knew her well" is a film from Italy's powerful cinematic renaissance of the 1960s alongside landmarks like Antonioni's "L'Avventura" ("The Adventure"), Fellini's "La Dolce Vita" ("The Easy Life"), and Risi's "Il Sorpasso" (coincidentally, "The Easy Life"). Of those 3 comparisons it's most similar to "Il Sorpasso" in the way it takes the form of a breezy, episodic comedy. In fact "I knew her well" is almost like a road movie itself, except that everything happens in the vicinity of Rome, and instead of the typical windblown convertible used in all road movies Adriana drives a comically tiny clown car. As with the other films, here we get the backdrop of Italy's postwar economic prosperity to immerse us in an almost surreal fantasy world where people seem to have no obligations other than having a good time. But as with all these great films, there's a haunting spectre of what may lie outside, or in this case, behind the carefree façade.
Adriana (played by the wonderfully expressive and cute as a button Stefania Sandrelli) is an aspiring actress with a cheerful disposition like a 1960s Italian Amélie. She's unstoppable and nothing seems to get her down. Even when she is jilted by a lover and left with a large hotel bill, she admires him for his ingenuity and ultimately laughs as she hopes he'll elude the police. As my opening quote implies, she doesn't seem to notice the humiliations though they happen to her every day. And in that respect, we the audience are lulled into an entertaining romp about the catastrophe of life even though in a parallel universe a Neorealist director like De Sica ("Bicycle Thieves") would make us feel the stab of each humiliation. But no, here we become Adriana. We quickly adopt the attitude that life is too short to dwell on the past, or the future, or anything. Right?
Don't expect a plot because this is mostly a series of vignettes over the course of a few days (? We can't be sure as events are deliberately fragmented) in Adriana's life. Around 20 vignettes in total--ok, 19, but I didn't want to seem like a nerd for counting--are presented to us, each full of its own magic. My favorite is a wonderful scene where she befriends a slow-witted but humorous boxer who has just suffered a humiliating defeat in the ring and jokes about his opponent being smart to pick a weak opponent. (See the parallel between him and Andrianna?)
Music plays significantly in this film as Adrianna spends most of her free time dancing, singing and listening to an old record player which she has to kick to make it work. As the music becomes more prominent, we realize that, if anything, the music is the key to "knowing her well". Don't miss the unforgettable final 10 min sequence featuring Gilbert Becaud's "Toi".
A perfectly written, perfectly shot, and perfectly titled film, "I knew her well" rings of the famous line in Hamlet where the prince finds the bones of his childhood pal, the court jester Yorick "of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy ... Now get you to my lady's chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick..."
Masterpiece
RodrigAndrisan24 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Not much happens in this film. Everything relies on the charm of actors, their presence fills the screen, it electrifies: Stefania Sandrelli (a sexy-angel, perhaps the most sensual angel-woman that the 7th art offered), Ugo Tognazzi, Enrico Maria Salerno and Nino Manfredi (all three have no need of words to make a big role in a film), and Jean-Claude Brialy, Mario Adorf, Franco Fabrizi and a very young Franco Nero in a small role, unique. 60's music, Sergio Endrigo, Mina, Ornella Vanoni, Peppino Di Capri, Gilbert Becaud, contribute greatly to achieving a distressing atmosphere, which will eventually lead the heroine(Stefania Sandrelli) to suicide. Sad but you can watch it again and again and again.
Stefania SANDRELLI as a Playgirl in Rome
ZeddaZogenau16 December 2023
Psychogram of a playgirl: La dolce vita and the dark side
Italy in the 1960s: The economic miracle is booming, the film industry of the Roman Cinecitta beckons with its promises. What can a poor country girl like Adriana (outstanding: Stefania Sandrelli) do to counter this? Only her youth and beauty! In jumpy episodes, Adriana's life is told about her attempts to gain a foothold in the glamor world of the film. Of course, this doesn't work out as Adriana hoped. Especially if, like Adriana - inspired by the spirit of the times - you are overly trusting and open-hearted. People are what they are. A girl like Adriana is quickly taken advantage of, but of course she also plays a part in it. Or maybe not?
This remarkable film was directed by Antonio Pietrangeli in an Italian-German co-production. GOLDEN GLOBE winner (The Girl Rosemarie) and OSCAR candidate (The Glass Cell) Luggi Waldleitner co-produced through his Roxy Film. This means that German starlets like Joachim Fuchsberger (as a writer), Karin Dor (as a neighbor who advises an abortion) and Robert Hoffmann (as the handsome son of an industrialist) are also there. EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nominee Mario Adorf impresses as the lovable boxer Emilio, whom the all-too-deluded Adriana lets go too quickly. Because there are other men: Jean Claude Brialy (as an unscrupulous toyboy), Nino Manfredi (as an unscrupulous advertising hein), Enrico Maria Salerno (as a successful actor) and Ugo Tognazzi (as an unsuccessful actor). They are all part of Adriana's personal passion path in the illusory world of the glitter industry. But one thing remains constant: In the underground car park of Adriana's apartment block, the young Italo (great supporting role for the future "Django" and GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Franco Nero) always does his loyal service as a mechanic, covered in oil but incredibly sexy. The shy, gorgeous boy has had an admiring eye on the sophisticated Adriana for a long time. He can hardly believe his luck when the much desired beauty actually pleases him one evening in his workshop. The likeable Italo could be a new beginning for Adriana. Or have the temptations of the glittering world already captivated the beautiful Adriana too much? We will see...
A really good Italian classic that has been unfairly forgotten! The very young Stefania Sandrelli (*1946) gives a first-class performance. It is not surprising that this exceptional actress had a long career (Golden Lion (h.c.) 2005). Wonderful Italian hits from Mina and others add a lot to the atmosphere of the film. Absolute recommendation!!!
Italy in the 1960s: The economic miracle is booming, the film industry of the Roman Cinecitta beckons with its promises. What can a poor country girl like Adriana (outstanding: Stefania Sandrelli) do to counter this? Only her youth and beauty! In jumpy episodes, Adriana's life is told about her attempts to gain a foothold in the glamor world of the film. Of course, this doesn't work out as Adriana hoped. Especially if, like Adriana - inspired by the spirit of the times - you are overly trusting and open-hearted. People are what they are. A girl like Adriana is quickly taken advantage of, but of course she also plays a part in it. Or maybe not?
This remarkable film was directed by Antonio Pietrangeli in an Italian-German co-production. GOLDEN GLOBE winner (The Girl Rosemarie) and OSCAR candidate (The Glass Cell) Luggi Waldleitner co-produced through his Roxy Film. This means that German starlets like Joachim Fuchsberger (as a writer), Karin Dor (as a neighbor who advises an abortion) and Robert Hoffmann (as the handsome son of an industrialist) are also there. EUROPEAN FILM AWARD nominee Mario Adorf impresses as the lovable boxer Emilio, whom the all-too-deluded Adriana lets go too quickly. Because there are other men: Jean Claude Brialy (as an unscrupulous toyboy), Nino Manfredi (as an unscrupulous advertising hein), Enrico Maria Salerno (as a successful actor) and Ugo Tognazzi (as an unsuccessful actor). They are all part of Adriana's personal passion path in the illusory world of the glitter industry. But one thing remains constant: In the underground car park of Adriana's apartment block, the young Italo (great supporting role for the future "Django" and GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Franco Nero) always does his loyal service as a mechanic, covered in oil but incredibly sexy. The shy, gorgeous boy has had an admiring eye on the sophisticated Adriana for a long time. He can hardly believe his luck when the much desired beauty actually pleases him one evening in his workshop. The likeable Italo could be a new beginning for Adriana. Or have the temptations of the glittering world already captivated the beautiful Adriana too much? We will see...
A really good Italian classic that has been unfairly forgotten! The very young Stefania Sandrelli (*1946) gives a first-class performance. It is not surprising that this exceptional actress had a long career (Golden Lion (h.c.) 2005). Wonderful Italian hits from Mina and others add a lot to the atmosphere of the film. Absolute recommendation!!!
Languid Handling of Sensational Subject Matter
richardchatten15 August 2019
Director Antonio Pietrangeli handles traditionally lurid & tragic subject matter in a curiously detatched and episodic fashion devoid of the incisive elegance brought by Fellini to superficially similar content in 'La Dolce Vita'; although his excessive use of zooms and pans does rather tend to undermine cameraman Armando Nannuzzi's otherwise attractive visuals and vivid use of Rome locations.
A remarkable number of familiar faces (often considerably younger than we're used to seeing them) flit in and out of the action to uncertain purpose, and much of the film seems a pretext for various splashy party sequences in which desperation habitually seethes just below the surface; paving the way for a drama queen exit for heroine Stefania Sandrelli she scarcely seems to merit.
A remarkable number of familiar faces (often considerably younger than we're used to seeing them) flit in and out of the action to uncertain purpose, and much of the film seems a pretext for various splashy party sequences in which desperation habitually seethes just below the surface; paving the way for a drama queen exit for heroine Stefania Sandrelli she scarcely seems to merit.
Fellini, but without the fun
bob99811 June 2016
The Criterion release has been prepared with the loving care we've become accustomed to from this company; if only the film had been more deserving of this fine treatment. It's sub-Fellini: you wait for a scene to develop with a certain verve, excitement--and you're so often let down by the plodding approach of Pietrangeli. This man was no master, take my word for it. The scene between Baggini, Roberto and Cianfanna, meant to be so humiliating for Baggini, comes off, but barely. There's a limpness and a rushed quality in the handling that is surprising in a veteran film maker.
I do enjoy Sandrelli in everything she does but I reserve my praise for her work in The Conformist, where she worked for a master, Bertolucci. As Baggini, Ugo Tognazzi is his usual superb self.
I do enjoy Sandrelli in everything she does but I reserve my praise for her work in The Conformist, where she worked for a master, Bertolucci. As Baggini, Ugo Tognazzi is his usual superb self.
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