60 years for Two women
On December 22, 1960 in Milan (Italy) the premiere of the war drama "La ciociara (Two women)" by Vittorio De Sica took place.
The film "La ciociara (Two women)" is based on the novel of the same name by the outstanding Italian writer Alberto Moravia. Known for his anti-fascist views, which he did not hide even during the years of the Mussolinian dictatorship and the subsequent period of the occupation of Italy by Nazi Germany, Alberto Moravia, being put on the wanted list by the occupying authorities, was forced into hiding in a remote Italian village. The impressions acquired during this period formed the basis for the novel "La ciociara", published in 1957.
By the way, we have already written about another anti-fascist novel by Alberto Moravia, which was also filmed. This is the film "Il conformista (The Conformist)" directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.
Soon after the publication of "La ciociara", Carlo Ponti and accompanied with his friend and colleague - film producer Marcello Girozi acquired the rights to film the novel for $ 100,000. Moreover, even then Carlo Ponti knew that his common-law wife Sophia Loren would play the main role in the future film adaptation of the novel.
At that time, in the late 50s, Carlo Ponti and Sophia Loren lived and worked in the United States (more details here). Ponti had a contract with the Paramount film company to create 6 films, which were to be directed by George Cukor. And, of course, Sophia Loren should have starred in. One of the films of the total creative community was already in production - "Heller in Pink Tights".
Anna Magnani ("Rome, Open City") was supposed to play the main role of Cesira in the future film based on the novel Moravia, and Sophia Loren was planned for the role of Rosetta, the daughter of Cesira. However, Magnani, having learned that she was invited to play the role of the mother, whose daughter will be played by 25-year-old Sophia Loren, categorically refused the role. Although Magnani was already 50 years old at the time, she felt that her 25-year-old "daughter" would "grow old" her. This is what, it turns out, actresses are guided by when choosing roles.
However, Magnani can be understood: being in the frame with a 25-year-old sex bomb, which portrays your daughter, is probably not very comfortable.
In short, Anna Magnani refused to participate in the film. And without Magnani Cukor did not want to direct the film. As a result, the creative union Ponti - Cukor - Paramount fell apart. Carlo Ponti was forced to look for another director and another film company.
Vittorio De Sica was appointed director of the future film, and two French film companies - Cocinor and Les Films Marceau, as well as the newly created Italian film company Compagnia Cinematografica Champion, agreed to finance and produce the film. French film companies stipulated that one of the main roles in the film should be played by the then rising star of French cinema - Jean-Paul Belmondo, who had just finished filming in Jean-Luc Godard's film "À bout de souffle (Breathless)".
Well, Sophia Loren presented her claims to the main female role of Cesira. Despite the fact that she, 25, was to play the role of the mother of the girl, who was 13 years old in the novel, no one objected to this decision. True, for the role of 13-year-old Rosetta was selected an actress - Eleanor Brown, who at that time was barely 11 years old. Well, so that the slight difference in the age of mother and daughter is not so striking.
Five months after the premiere, "La ciociara (Two women)" was presented at the Cannes International Film Festival, where it received a Palme d'Or nomination. The jury of the film festival, chaired by French writer Jean Gionot, awarded the main prize to two films at once. But "La ciociara (Two women)" was not among them. The Palme d'Or was awarded to Henri Colpi's film "Une aussi longue absence (The Long Absence)" and Luis Buñuel's "Viridiana". By the way, the outstanding Soviet film director Sergei Yutkevich was the deputy chairman of that jury.
But the award for Best Actress was awarded to Sophia Loren. Needless to say, the Italian David di Donatello Prize in 1961 also went to Sophia Loren for her role in this film.
In 1962, the film "Chochara" nevertheless received its prize - Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. And Sophia Loren, to her two main awards already received, also added the British BAFTA and Oscar awards. Moreover, she was the first in Oscar history to receive this award for her role in a non-English language.
I don’t remember if this film was shown in Soviet cinemas. I fully admit that I simply could not pay attention to the posters, because I read Alberto Moravia's novel while still a schoolboy and, knowing the plot, I could simply not react to the familiar title. When, already somewhere in the 2000s, I saw this film, I noted for myself that the book made a much stronger impression on me. However, this is understandable. First, youthful impressions are always sharper and deeper than those of adulthood. And, secondly, very rarely screen adaptations surpass their literary originals in terms of impact.
СModern moviegoers have highly appreciated Vittorio De Sica's film "La ciociara (Two women)". 66% of IMDB and Kinopoisk users gave this film ratings from 8 to 10. Taking into account this indicator and the above, the rating of the film "La ciociara (Two women)" according to FilmGourmand's version was 8.446, making it 344th in the Golden Thousand.
