Two Women (1961)

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A unique film about the ravages of World War II, told specifically from the point of view of an Italian woman and her young daughter.The woman is Sophia Loren, and she won the first ever Oscar given for a foreign language performance in this film. She plays Cesira, a spitfire who is blithely indifferent to Italy's role in the war until the horrors of it hit home in deeply personal ways when she and her daughter leave bomb-addled Rome to trek across the Italian countryside to wait out the fighting. Most WWII films are told from the point of view of the men in combat or the women who wait at home patiently for them, letting their commitment to the cause be their solace. Few films are told from the point of view of women on the wrong side of the conflict (as we've been taught) who don't much care who wins or loses as long as their lives are left untouched. One would be justified in thinking that Loren's character is either selfish or naive, or both, but one would have to be inhuman not to feel compassion for what happens to her and her daughter.Loren was known as nothing but a sex kitten at the time of this film's release, and director Vittorio De Sica uses this to his advantage. Her Cesira is a woman who's used to being alluring to men and isn't above wielding her sexuality when it might work to her advantage. But Loren goes far beyond sex kitten in this film, to something nuanced and ultimately heartbreaking.Grade: A

At twenty-five Sophia Loren was not supposed to be an Actress, she was supposed to be another Sylvano Mangano (another 'sex symbol' who turned out to be a fine actress) or Anita Ekberg but lo and behold she unleashes a powerful, moving and ultimately Oscar-winning performance, the first ever Best Actress gong for an actress in a foreign film (Simone Signoret beat her to it by a couple of years but she was a French actress appearing in a British film). Although she is playing down her sultry siren image both her beauty and sensuality shine through her 'ordinary' housewife persona and if anything her towering performance tends to unbalance a mostly ho-hum cast with, of course, the exception of Eleanora Brown playing her daughter. There's not a lot that's new or that CAN be new about the 'war is hell' story but nevertheless Loren keeps us engrossed.

This is Vittorio De Sica's last great movie. And it really is good.Sophia Loren and her angelic twelve-year-old daughter, Eleanora Brown, run a small shop in Rome during the German occupation. A nearby explosion from an Allied bomb turns the place into a shambles and Loren decides to take her daughter and live with distant relatives in a small country town.Life isn't a bed of roses there either, but it's better than Rome, with only the occasional handful of retreating German soldiers to deal with. The Germans are not shown as simply evil monsters. Earlier, before the deposing of Mussolini, a train load of soldiers is seen cheerfully whistling at Loren and chanting a song, just as any soldiers would do. Later, when the road is rougher, the Germans become more determined and forceful, again as most soldiers would, since their lives are at stake.Then the Allies liberate southern Italy and the pressure on the citizens if relieved. The refugees in the small town, bid one another good-bye and leave. Loren and Brown begin their trek back to Rome to rebuild the store, but it's not as easy as it seems. The Americans whistle at Loren too. Who wouldn't? She's stunningly beautiful. She has the large expressive eyes of a lovable but wary cow. And her big boobs wobble with every movement she makes. The Moroccans who are fighting alongside the Americans are even more demonstrative -- too much so. They trap Loren and her daughter in a wrecked, abandoned church and gang rape both of them in a scene that will chill any viewer down to the bone.As inured to harsh treatment as she is, Loren recovers consciousness and rushes to her daughter, sobbing and trying to wipe away the virginal blood from Brown's thighs. They continue trying to reach Rome, their pleas ignored by Americans who think Loren is crazy. It's impossible to know what is happening in Eleanora Brown's mind. She stares into space and barely speaks. Yet, when they're picked up by a loud and affable truck driver, Brown begins to flirt with him.During this scene, the camera is aimed through open the window on the passenger's side, where Loren is sitting, slumping with fatigue. Her head sags against the door in a close up and we can see every crack and wrinkle on her lips, and the tears forming behind her heavy lids. It's a tragic moment. Loren pulls it off and De Sica gets it on film. She gives a marvelous performance. She won an Oscar for it, not that it matters.What a splendid movie. When it was finished, after the necessary cathartic moment, I found myself thinking not only of Italian refugees but of all refugees of all wars. You're not likely to forget it quickly.

Sophia Loren is truly memorable in her Oscar winning performance of 1961.She portrays a mother trying to help her child survive World War 11 in Italy.Unable to put up with the bombings in Rome, she decides to flee with her daughter to the countryside. There she will meet adventure after adventure.A widow, who had been married to a much older man, she had a lover whose only wish is that a bomb should fall on his wife so that he could be free to marry Loren.During her adventure, she meets Michele, solemnly played by Jean-Paul Belmondo. A man who had one time thought of becoming a priest, he lusts for her before tragedy ensues.The molestation scenes are adeptly depicted. This was also an unfortunate part of war.A memorable film made better by Loren's captivating performance. A gem of a film.