The Lady Without Camelias (1953)
"La signora senza camelie" (original title)

A new starlet is discovered and has ups and downs in Italian films.

Director:

Michelangelo Antonioni

Writers:

Michelangelo Antonioni (story), Michelangelo Antonioni (screenplay),

Stars:

Lucia Bosé, Gino Cervi, Andrea Checchi

Cast

Cast overview:
Lucia Bosé	...	Clara Manni
Gino Cervi	...	Ercole
Andrea Checchi	...	Gianni Franchi
Ivan Desny	...	Nardo Rusconi
Monica Clay	...	Simonetta
Alain Cuny	...	Lodi
Anna Carena	...	Clara's mother
Enrico Glori	...	Director
Laura Tiberti
Oscar Andriani
Gisella Sofio
Elio Steiner
Luisa Rivelli
Nino Dal Fabbro

Storyline

A new starlet is discovered and has ups and downs in Italian films.

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Plot Keywords:

american dream | filmmaking | producer | showbiz | filmmaking | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Lady Without Camelias

Filming Locations:

Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Produzioni Domenico Forges Davanzati, Ente Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche (ENIC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Clara Manni: Getting married to Gianni was like getting married in a film.

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Connections

Referenced in Love in the City (1953)

User Reviews

Ignorance of desire

If this was a Hollywood film, starring a Rita Hayworth, it would be one of the famous ones. I don't like to use this line of thought but I find it apt here. The story is classic tragedy and the payoff in the end, the parting shot especially, overpowers like Sunset Blvd. It's only a footnote in the scheme of things then because we find it in the filmography of this particular director, a titan of cinema equaled only by a select few.

In an early scene here we get a marvellous sketch of how movies create their icons. The producer and director fuss over the young movie starlet in a rehearsal, telling her what to wear, how to move and kiss, how to exude sex appeal. The girl allows herself to be swept up in this, ostensibly because the promise of being a face in the crowd is alluring.

A few instances after rehearsing a scene where she makes out in a bed, we see her getting kissed by the man who pressingly courts her. Antonioni gives us a masterstroke here, framing the couple against a blank canvas, projected upon it we see the shadows of movie lights and a grip setting them up. Like the rehearsal scene that preceedes it, this too is a fabrication, orchestrated for a camera and audience.

A lot of the rest is melodrama, competent if sometimes iffy. It may seem outrageous by our standards that a girl will concede to marriage the way Carla does here, but perhaps it reflects the times. The marriage is overbearingly hopeless though, a picture of sadness.

When the film assumes power again for me, is when we see this young girl, shaped as a person by the movies, be broken by them. The scene builds up to a harrowing climax, with faceless crowds of extras waiting their roll call in a Cinecitta backlot, garish movie sets of sword-and-sandal flicks, the hubbub of movie people. Carla loses herself in this furore, once again allowing herself to be swept up.

The overwhelming sadness of the finale is not simply that she acquiesces to too much because, though weak-willed, she's not a ditz. She's quietly spirited but unsure, a fragile, delicate thing thrown in with the lions, having been torn by two men who used her for their desires. It's that Antonioni leaves her there, to a cruel, loveless fate, and she deserves better.