Europe '51 (1952) User Reviews

Beautiful Bergman, good acting, odd film

[adrianovasconcelos · 7/10 · 8 August 2019]

EUROPA 51 is an odd film. Irene (Bergman) is the wife and mother in a rich family, in affluent surroundings. Hers seems a perfect world, but she is too self-centered to realize that her son needs attention and love.

EUROPA 51 reflects the situation in Europe in 1951, six years after the end of WW II. Work is scarce. poverty is rife, the impersonality of industry is overwhelming society, but against this general background some personal problems stick out: Irene focuses on being an adroit host and having her house spotlessly clean; her husband wrongly fears that she is cheating on him with a journalist; and their son feels ignored and throws himself down a staircase, with fatal consequences.

Irene feels very guilty about losing her son, moves away from home, and descends into the underworld of poverty, helping people in the process. This is where a memorable performance surfaces, by Giuletta Masina, the wife of famous Italian director Federico Fellini, who injects life into the whole movie, in contrast with Irene's increasingly quiet soul.

The fact that her own husband and circle of friends see her as approaching madness reflects the tragedy that tends to pursue the individual who dares to show feelings and concerns in relation to his/her fellow neighbor. In this case, Irene helps a number of people, takes genuine interest in their predicaments, but her reward is questionable: she sees her husband leave her behind the bars of a psychiatric ward, feeling intolerably lonely, but common people see her as a saint.

Ultimately, it is a film in equal measure wise and wayward. Perhaps I cannot avoid looking at it with 21st Century eyes, and I lack knowledge about the mindset of Italian society in the early 1950s. Still, I had a problem attaching credibility to this film.

That said, Bergman was never more physically stunning than in this film, and her acting is first class.

Director Rossellini shows steely determination driving forward this unusual film. Photography is quite good. Script is generally competent. Acting by Bergman and Masina is excellent, the rest of the cast, Knox included, does not shine so much.

The film's main flaw is that it is overlong by some 20 minutes, but any Rossellini-Bergman collaboration deserves attentive watching.

not Rossellini/Bergman best, but hard to ignore its pure heart

[Quinoa1984 · 8/10 · 11 November 2014]

Europa 51 has a big heart, this much is clear. It's a story where Rossellini and his collaborators want to pose a basic question: what does someone have to do, like literally do with their own hands and wills and TIME, actually taking time and energy out of their days, to make a difference for people? The question may be surrounded by an, arguably, heavy-handed set-up, where Ingrid Bergman plays an ambassador's wife in Italy, and their son, a bit of a spoiled mama's boy (or, no, maybe he's just the sensitive sort, you pick, but either way not dubbed particularly well), dies accidentally. Bergman's Irene can't stand herself for what has happened - all her time being a dilettante and not spending enough time with her son made this happen - and she can barely go on.

Someone, a friend who has Communist ties, tries to convince her that perhaps it's time to make a change amid this time of Societal Upheaval (in caps) as political sides are being more sharply drawn. She sees how people suffer, and a day at a factory basically makes her completely light-headed (a montage of images, if memory serves, makes this clear). She wants to help. Maybe if she puts her energies to positive use, to help others, she can... what, find some solace? Alleviate her guilt? Or that now she can't be a mother to her son - and there's not much effort between her and her husband to find love again - so why not be a Mother to others? It's a little more difficult than that, of course, which is the riding factor of conflict in the narrative.

Bergman plays this character with all of the beats just right. Early on in those first scenes with her and her son you might wonder whether the writing isn't totally clear - IS she being a bad mother, or is he just whining, or is it a little 'much' determining either, who knows - but she plays it just right, this woman in her life who has it all and doesn't have to worry about much. This includes hearing conversations about class struggles (this before she sees them first hand) and can barely comprehend it. How Bergman channels grief is even better, showing us a face that has the life totally drained out, and she is always *listening* as an actress too to what's around her, and is a strong listener which is key. Ironic then that many of these, almost all of them, are speaking Italian and are dubbed over - this includes Giuletta Masina, who plays a local housewife.

Not all of the writing is superb here, at least for me. It's surprisingly melodramatic in its last quarter as Irene is looked at as being completely crazy (possibly, borderline, criminal) in how she's helping these people, which includes keeping one man evading prosecution in her home. I have to wonder if this story could work today, though a filmmaker like Scorsese, one of Rossellini's disciples, sort of made his version with Bringing Out the Dead - a protagonist who is haunted by death and wants to make a difference. It is a very hard thing to be saintly, or just be a decent person when there are many, many indecent things and people that go about in this world, certainly in this context post-war, post-fascist-cum-Communist Italy.

There's a lot to digest here, even if some of it may come off as dated or simplistic. But, once again as with Stromboli, the combination of a director with a clear, very moral message, and an actress giving it her ALL (and it's a case where Bergman does give one of her best performances from this period, even if the film isn't), that you can watch it and be wrapped up in this woman's drama.

Ingrid Bergman creates an astonishing character!

[ECLIPSE1977 · 10/10 · 2 March 2005]

I suppose that when "Europa '51" was going to be filmed there was a great professional mutual understanding between Rossellini (the director) and Ingrid Bergman (main actress). It's really astonishing the way Ingrid Bergman's face changes throughout the movie. She really looks like a "human God" (specially towards the end) just by looking at her expressions. If you have the opportunity of watching "Europa '51" twice, you will notice that her character in the beginning of the story, where Irene Girard (Ingrid Bergman) is the mother of a well-off family, is totally different from the last shots. I also like how Irene contrasts with the way of living of the poor children and working-women. Although Rossellini's movie is a bit lengthy, bearing in mind it was made in Italy in 1952, many events occur with short scenes perfectly connected obtaining a gorgeous dynamism as a whole. I'm almost sure that my favorite scene is the same as the majority of the people who watched "Europa '51". I refer to the moving ending of the story. I also like how the camera moves around capturing the contrast of expressions between the sick patients and Irene. I encourage everybody to watch this masterpiece, even twice!

Modern sainthood

[EdgarST · 10/10 · 2 May 2004]

After filming stories about the resistance of the Italian people during the Fascist and Nazi regimes, and the story of a German child against the barren landscape of Berlin after the war, Roberto Rossellini made a movie about Francis of Assisi and started a love and work relationship with actress Ingrid Bergman. In his evolution to works like 'The Rise To Power of Louis XIV', he made a series of melodramas with Bergman, of which 'Stromboli' and 'Voyage To Italy' are always considered the most important. Add to that list this fine drama, in which bourgeois housewife Irene suffers a transformation when confronted with the misery of those who had not been benefited with the European 'economic miracle.' Considered a saint by those she helped (Giulietta Masina included), Rossellini makes quite obvious that Irene reached that state by detouring from the usual roads she took as the wife of a prominent industrialist (Alexander Knox.) Not only has she a Marxist cousin –who curiously does not preach his philosophy, but gives Irene advise whenever she talks about the misery she is discovering- but she also ventures into the slums, helps a single mother, a prostitute and a thief. The final section of the movie reminded me of 'María de mi corazón', a latter film written by Gabriel García Márquez, based on a real story. As in 'María…' there is neither opportunity nor chance to explain clearly what she's going through to husband or authorities, leading her to a dead end of desperation. Only sainthood will save her from the dehumanization around her.

Ingrid Bergman at one of her bests

[jrgirones · 7/10 · 8 May 2001]

Ingrid Bergman highlights in this compelling melodrama about a burgeois mother who becomes aware of the unfortunate social classes after the loss of a son. The film goes a step further and can also be read as the social portrait of the European status quo after the Great War. Some dialogs may appear evident and simplistic as far as ideology is concerned, but the impressive conclusion and the characteristic Rossellini's style makes it one of the most interesting films of his director and a valuable document about psychological war consequences which hasn't loose relevance.

The most Christian movie ever.

[dbdumonteil · 10/10 · 30 August 2001]

"Europa 51" may be the best of all the Bergman/Rosselini collaborations of the fifties,outshining such works as "Viaggio in Italia" or "Stromboli,terra de dio". There are two worlds in this god almighty universe:the one in which time is only a quiet river,and the one in which time is killing you.Irène (Bergman)belongs to the former one.Masina's character and Inès,the prostitute to the wrong side of town. When her son committed suicide,Irène was chatting,exchanging trivialities with her posh guests.Eaten with remorse,she realizes her taste for society life took the best of her and now it's too late!

One of her friends opens the gates of a then-unknown world for her:factories where men sweat ,streets where whores roam,slums where mothers strive to feed thir starving children.The man is a Marxist,and he tells Irene about a brand new world where justice and solidarity will be the golden rule.

However,Irene cannot subscribe to this ideology:"This world is not mine because it does not include Michel"-her late son".Beyond that point,the movie turns Christian;Marxist materialism cannot satisfy a desperate woman whose spiritual longing is intense.So she takes altruism to new limits,forgetting all about herself,becoming some kind of Mother Theresa.Christian,too Christian...Her family begins to think she 's lost her mind,and they locked her up in an insane asylum.

Is the ending optimistic or pessimistic?I would opt for the first epithet:behind her bars,Irène can see her new friends come and worship her as a saint.She's lost her wealth,but Michel's death was the beginning of an end for her.Through this redemption,she knows that now,this unfortunate boy forgave her

This is one of Bergman's unfairly forgotten performances.It is accessible and should appeal to a very large public.

Wanted to like it more

[counterrevolutionary · 7/10 · 15 March 2007]

It's a bit melodramatic, but up until Irene's final conversation with Cassatti the Commie, *Europa '51* is a very interesting film, first about a pampered rich woman's reaction to her son's death, then about the difference between windy Marxist propaganda and real compassion.

However, at that point, Rossellini's original idea takes over: He wanted to make a film about what would happen if a truly saintly person ever showed up in the modern world. And he had a very good idea of what would happen--or at least a very insistent one. The people here obviously behave the way they do solely to make the point Rossellini wants to make, even when their behavior doesn't seem very plausible. In defter hands, such manipulation can work. Here, though, you can see the tracks Rossellini has rather clumsily laid down to move the story where he wants it to go.

Powerful and emotional in all the right ways

[blott2319-1 · 9/10 · 12 February 2021]

At first I wasn't sure what the point was of Europa '51. It's a movie that sneaks up on you because the early scenes are not at all about the same thing as everything that comes after. I kept thinking this was going to be a family drama, or some kind of political drama, but I was wrong. I quite like the development of this plot, because it shows how traumatic events can help shape our lives, and change who we are. At the start of this film I didn't care all that much for Ingrid Bergman's character, and I was a bit frustrated at the prospect of following her for the full runtime of this movie. Little did I realize, there were big changes on the way, and that transition impacted me even more because I saw the emotional journey of this character from where she began to where it all ended. I loved the arc of her story, and I was surprised how relevant it seems to the life we all lead every single day.

I think the most impactful thing to me in Europa '51 is that the story made me introspective. I always applaud any film that can get me to the point where I'm contemplating the way I live my own life. The movie shows how our world can be a dark and cynical place, but it also shows the power of love within all that darkness. I was emotional in the climax, not only because I was touched by the way the protagonist had come to view her place in the world, but also because of the way others reacted to her views. It's interesting to see a film tackle this major question of morality without taking it down a religious path. Instead it shows how even those in organized religion can be resistant to the very love and kindness that they preach. Needless to say, I was energized by Europa '51, and found it to be a powerful film that I'd love to explore more and will probably quote to others in the future.

Deeply moving

[zetes · 9/10 · 19 June 2012]

The second of Ingrid Bergman's collaborations with Ingrid Bergman. Bergman plays a bourgeois woman whose son passes away. She blames herself, and starts looking for a way to rectify her guilt. She finds the answer in her newfound social conscience. Her life of luxury now seems horrid to her when there are so many suffering, and she dedicates her life to others. Meanwhile, her husband (Alexander Knox) doesn't understand it, and, after a particularly long absence when Bergman stays away to nurse a dying prostitute, he and the rest of her family decide to intervene. This is a powerful film about true charity, and it questions the motives of the bourgeois version of charity. This could very well be Ingrid Bergman's best performance. I thought it did underline its themes a bit too explicitly in its final act, and the very final scene went about three steps too far, as I see it. Giulietta Masina co-stars as a poor woman with six children whom Bergman befriends. I might be wrong, but it didn't sound like it was her voice (at least the voice we know from Fellini's films) dubbing this character.

She cares for others...therefore she must be insane!

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 31 August 2021]

"Europa '51" is one of the most unique films I have seen and for that reason alone, it's well worth seeing.

The story begins oddly. A couple have a son they describe as 'unusually sensitive'. In reality, he clearly is mentally ill as he ends up killing himself even though he is a young boy. While very rare, such things do occur and not surprisingly it radically impacts on his parents. The father becomes more stoic and distant and the mother (Ingrid Bergman) begins to notice the plight of the poor and begins spending more and more time with them helping them with their problems. After a while, the wife is home less and less (possibly in response to her aloof husband) and he assumes she must be insane and acts accordingly.

The mother's reaction to grief and guilt about her son's death is the driving force in this film. But it's also interesting how doctors, priests and the police react to the lady's philanthropy. Overall, a tough film to describe but well acted and never dull.

By the way, the mother of six in the film (Giulietta Masina) was the real life wife of the famed Italian director, Fellini. Here she is quite good in this supporting role.

Maybe a good movie underneath

[maple-2 · 6/10 · 25 May 2002]

I saw the Americanized dubbed and drastically cut version of this movie that seemed like it was made for television, complete with abrupt stops where they wanted to insert commercials. The story seemed interesting, but could not develop any nuance in only 108 minutes. Ingrid Bergman seemed a bit too overtly overwhelmed in this story after she started to see poverty in visiting the slums. The one shining performance even in the truncated time came from Giulietta Masina. In this shortened version, I could not tell if the music was original or added for melodramatic effect by the television censors. All and all not a very satisfying film, though the original might have been quite moving.

For Bergman fans only.

[amazon-14326 · 7/10 · 29 April 2022]

Not even a gorgeous Ingrid Bergman playing a modern day saint can elevate this melodrama above mediocrity. Watched it in English because of Bergman and Knox. For Bergman fans only.

Quite heavy stuff, for early '50's standards.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 9 March 2012]

Dramas have always been around, ever since the earliest days of film and throughout the decades they have kept on changing and evolving, basically just like every other movie genre. This movie however seems unlike any other movie from around the same time period really. It's more bold and daring with its themes and therefore also truly original to watch as well.

The movie truly surprised me with some of its themes and events. Some of these elements might still be considered to be shocking and controversial in movies now days.

And its strange but it's often strangely compelling to watch the downfall and disintegration of another human being, or in this case, a character on film. And this movie pretty much chronicles the slowly deteriorating live of a married upper-class woman. Just when you think things can't get any worse for her, it does get worse but without ever getting melodramatic by the way, which is, I believe, the movie its biggest accomplishment.

It's a more realistic and humane told movie, that gets you truly involved with all of its events and drama. It simply is one fine and also effective Italian drama, in that regard, by director Roberto Rossellini.

Like often, Rossellini casted his then wife Ingrid Bergman, for the lead role. She was a good female lead, for movies of this sort. She could be strong and confident but yet also at the same time still with a very vulnerable and emotional undertone to it. Just as was required for her role in this movie, which was the second collaboration between her and Rossellini.

A must-see for the Roberto Rossellini fans and for the lovers of the more old fashioned and very straightforward kind of dramas.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Even the Likes of Bergman and Massina Can't Rescue This Turkey from the Mack Truck

[frankwiener · 2/10 · 5 January 2022]

Having read several glowing reviews of this film, I am not sure that I just watched the same movie. Did the enraptured authors see the same, disastrously dubbed version that I did or something else?

At least three post-World War II Italian films are among my all-time favorites, including De Sica's "Umberto D" and "Bicycle Thieves" and Fellini's "La Strada", which starred his amazing spouse, Giulietta Masina, who happens to appear here in the most bizarre cinematic circumstances.

Whatever director Rosselini wanted to accomplish here was totally destroyed by some of the worst English dubbing that I have ever witnessed in more than seven decades of movie viewing. Did Ms. Masina realize how mutilated her role would be when it was recited in pure Brooklynese by one of the bimbos "hosted" in "The Apartment" rented by Jack Lemmon? In fact, all of the Italian actors, which were most of them, spoke in the horribly dubbed English words of mechanical, robotic voices that very offensively rendered totally ludicrous a very serious movie on a very compelling subject. That, by itself, is very sad and very annoying.

As to the plot, why did guilt-ridden Irene (Bergman) agree to her transfer to an insane asylum? That, by itself, seriously weakened her character. While she was free of police custody and apparently a foreign citizen, she should have fled from her totally obtuse husband and from the entire country. True, this essential act would have eliminated the film from its existence, but would that have been a bad thing? Alexander Knox as the totally unsympathetic husband appeared in nearly 100 films over a span of more than 50 years and surely deserved much more than this awful role, which will never influence my high opinion of him.

Disastrous English dubbing, poor character development, overwrought, melodramatic dialogue, and tedious discourse of political and religious nature aside, what was the resolution in the end? Not that there needs to be a resolution to every story, but the entire presentation seemed pointless to me. Who did Irene help? Herself? Anyone else? What did she accomplish for the dying prostitute? When I suffered from a near fatal case of pneumonia, I barely had the energy to open my mouth, let alone shriek, seemingly without end, about the thieves in my awful neighborhood. At the time, the whereabouts of my wallet was the last thing on my exhausted, fever-ridden mind.

In honor of the much valued talent of Ingrid Bergman and Giulietta Masina, I gave this an extra star.

A grieving mother finds solace in service

[jsinoz-js · 24 September 2014]

Do you remember when film featured up close photography, colorless images allowing character interaction to be the foreground, and spoken dialogs with noticeable pauses? Do you remember the last time a film haunted you? Correct… it simply flashed to mind without your invitation! If you can touch any of these viewing memories, this film may be worthy of 108 minutes.

Europe '51 is directed by Roberto Rossellini, and stars the stunning master of nuanced emotion, Ingrid Bergman. The 1952 film is set in Rome, post WWII, and features wonderful set designs to distinguish the comfortable life and the dire struggles known to the rest of us.

As Irene, Bergman undergoes a metamorphosis that will beckon the dark experience of an unexpected loss of a beloved, and the consequential deep fall into emptiness. Irene is first introduced to us as the consummate hostess with a natural grace and instinctive flair for entertaining. She ignores the voice of her only son repeatedly to fulfill her social obligations. Bonded by their time of closeness under the threat of air raids, Irene is no longer burdened to protect and comfort her son in the present post-war calm.

Her 10 year old son, Michele, takes his life after repeated, failed attempts to gain his mother's affection and attention. Irene is paralyzed by the loss, and her husband, George, accommodates her every wish until he comes to think she is having a love affair. The grieving mother finds solace in service to those in need, and her family is bewildered. Her long absences from home, loss of interest in social engagements, and avoidance of her husband leave her family troubled.

Irene is transitioning spiritually as a means to heal her loss. She is introduced to a family in need of assistance, and she finds great joy in acts of compassion. Irene assists this family to secure treatment for their sickly son, she then befriends a single mother of six dependents, and tirelessly administers care to a young, isolated prostitute whose life is yielding quickly to tuberculosis. Irene's deeds are in conflict with her social position, and neither her husband nor her mother can compel her return to them. Irene has become a passionate, driven arm of charity in service to her community. She can not return to the life she knew prior to the loss of her young, beloved son. Her family can not understand the sweeping changes Irene has internalized. They confine her to a mental institution. She accepts this placement, and silently radiates a saintly mercy as she encounters the helplessness of the other patients.

Fortunately, Rossellini allows you to script your own ending as you look upon Irene from behind the confinement of cell bars at the mental institution. She has been visited by her family, and the family of the sickly boy she assisted. After your viewing, it would be good to hear from you.

"Why did you leave your husband?"

[theognis-80821 · 6/10 · 11 December 2021]

The burning question obsessing film fans in 1951 is asked directly by the police detective in this awkward, heavy-handed message picture. In a plot, strained in service to its themes, a wealthy woman who's lost her son assuages her grief in service to the poor portrayed by a movie star who has descended from the sound stages of Hollywood to the streets, slums and factories of Rome. Some scenes seem contrived to display Ingrid Bergman's talent, while others shamelessly exploit her personal problems. This film should be part of a double feature with "The Purple Rose of Cairo," a conservative reply to neorealism.

europa 51

[mossgrymk · 7/10 · 28 December 2021]

With the notable exception of the crappy dubbing...you haven't lived until you've heard Giulietta Messina talk like Judy Holliday...I liked the first two thirds of this film about a mother trying to find some purpose to her life following the death of her son, for which she is more than partially responsible. I like the way director and co writer Roberto Rossellini avoids overly demonizing the bourgeoisie or enobling the lower/working classes. Both groups sound rather banal and offer little comfort to Ingrid Bergman's tortured, guilty mom. And through Bergman's usual powerful performance you feel how she is trapped in her misery with no clear path to redemption. Socialism? Religion? Altruism? None seem to offer an expiation for her sin of neglect toward her son that caused him physically and fatally to harm himself. So far, so searingly and bleakly good. But then, in the third act, things proceed to fall apart but not in an artistically satisfying way as, following the rather operatic death of a street walker, Bergman is suddenly and unconvincingly involved in an attempted armed robbery and then goes to jail for abetting the robber and then somehow ends up in a prison psychiatric hospital and we've gone from gripping neo realism (i.e. The great scene at the factory which is a chilling version of "Modern Times") to an Italian version of "The Snake Pit" meets "Caged"... with poor dubbing. My advice to the viewer: Bail on this thing when the hooker checks out. B minus.

My rating: 9

[kekca · 9/10 · 30 July 2013]

Film that addresses not so familiar to us theme from the film world, in a way that probably will not be seen again, ever. The level of criticism towards humanity, even more to its "elite" backgrounds is really high. Even the most ordinary people can be seen through this critical look.

The theme, I think, is the theme of humanism. How different people deal with it. Whether human are the rich who think only of themselves or the poor whose environment stimulates them to live away from what the education understand as normal or like the people confronted with nothingness of Albert Camus? Interestingly, the normal, healthy society answers this question. It diagnoses the anomaly and puts it in quarantine. Footing her mental illness, surpassing even the religious world view.

Such is probably the Europe in 1951 - a little child that tried twice to get the attention of his mother in a rather extreme way.

Film deserves to be seen.

http://vihrenmitevmovies.blogspot.com/

Hardly a review.

[noahgibbobaker · 7/10 · 3 June 2021]

I like this era of Rossellini; he finished revolutionising cinema, then exclusively made boldly thematic, emotional character dramas for a time.

Fraught With Emotions

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 9 November 2022]

This is a moral film which takes place in a Europe that is trying to find itself after the war. People are still living one day to the next and poverty is everywhere. Enter Bergman's character who has it all. She is a rich woman who has lost a connection with the harsh world outside her doors. When her son dies she begins to try to atone for her indifference. What we have are a series of ventures, dealing with the great war stricken people. She becomes a saint to them. Some find her a bit too much with a surplus of emotion, but look at what she sees as she finds her way. Her husband, unfortunately, lets unjustified jealousy rule his decisions. She is placed in an institution because of her great love of her fellow humans. She is so loved but that doesn't always cut it. If we look ahead to Fellini, we see the decadence that exists as a result of the thinking of the rich.

Mother/son theme gets soggy treatment...another interesting failure...

[Doylenf · 4/10 · 29 August 2006]

Poor Ingrid suffered and suffered once she went off to Italy, tired of the Hollywood glamor treatment. First it was suffering the torments of a volcanic island in STROMBOLI, an arty failure that would have killed the career of a less resilient actress. And now it's EUROPA 51, another tedious exercise in soggy sentiment.

Nor does the story do much for Alexander KNOX, in another thankless role as her long-suffering husband who tries to comfort her after the suicidal death of their young son. At least this one has better production values and a more coherent script than STROMBOLI.

Bergman is still attractive here, but moving toward a more matronly appearance as a rich society woman. She's never able to cope over the sudden loss of her son, despite attempts by a kindly male friend. "Sometimes I think I'm going out of my mind," she tells her husband. A portentous statement in a film that is totally without humor or grace, but it does give us a sense of where the story is going.

Bergman is soon motivated to help the poor in post-war Rome, but being a social worker with poor children doesn't improve her emotional health and from thereon the plot takes a turn for the worse.

The film's overall effect is that it's not sufficiently interesting to make into a project for a major star like Bergman. The film loses pace midway through the story as Bergman becomes more and more distraught and her husband suspects that she's two-timing him. The story goes downhill from there after she nurses a street-walker through her terminal illness. The final thread of plot has her husband needing to place her for observation in a mental asylum.

Ingrid suffers nobly through it all (over-compensating for the loss of her son) but it's no use. Not one of her best flicks, to put it mildly.

Trivia note: If she wanted neo-realism with mental illness, she might have been better off accepting the lead in THE SNAKE PIT when it was offered to her by director Anatole Litvak!! It would have done more for her career than EUROPA 51.

Summing up: Another bleak indiscretion of Rossellini and Bergman.

We Saved the Euros for this?

[ArtVandelayImporterExporter · 2/10 · 3 January 2022]

I have to seriously question why we saved Europe from the short guy with the moustache. Because a liberated Europe meant Bergman in Italy making terrible movies full of leftist drivel like this, instead of being in Hollywood.

Bergman is as beautiful as ever but she runs around in those early scenes like she's hopped up on goofballs. When she's not emoting.

And the dubbing. This must have been shot in Italian, except maybe for Bergman and her husband. There are scenes where the actors are barely moving their lips but the dubbing contains about a half-page of dialogue. Check out the scene about 40 minutes in where her crusading journalist/communist subverise pal tells his copy editor some story details and gives him about a 45-word anti-capitalist headline. Then urges Bergman to join the "class struggle."

But never mind the Marxist propaganda. What did that ginger sn2t-nose die of, exactly? A fractured hip? Didn't they have 20th century medicine in Italy in 1951?