Reviews & Ratings for
...and the Wild Wild Women More at IMDbPro »Nella città l'inferno (original title)

37 out of 38 people found the following review useful:
A "Chicago" Italian Style, 15 March 2004

Author: marcosaguado from Los Angeles, USA

Giulietta Masina turns upside down her usual waif and Anna Magnani is simply fantastic in this, entertaining, bitter, masterful "dramedy". If the Roxie Hart story could become a musical (Chicago) "Nella città l'inferno" should become an opera. The simple, vulnerable Masina, unjustly accused and convicted, falls under the wing of seasoned inmate Magnani. The scenes between this two actresses - with Magnani dominating, gloriously - are so beautifully drawn that it should be a must for film scholars. Unfortunately not available even on Italian home video.

Keep an eye for retrospectives of Masina or Magnani or if in Italy on TV very, very late at night.

Update! March 2007 It's out in DVD but without English subtitles! Incredible but true.

13 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Finally On DVD, 10 March 2007

Author: bethlambert117 from United States

I've been waiting for ages to have a DVD of this film to show everybody in England and the US but, guess what? It doesn't have English subtitles, in fact, no subtitles at all. How can it possibly be? Who's the myopic creature behind this move? Only Italian speaking audiences will be able to enjoy it, missing the golden opportunity to make the film known around the world. The film in itself is a gem and contains one of Anna Magnani greatest performances and that's saying something. She's funny, brutal, a force of nature. The film, by the great Renato Castellani maintains an energy that it's simply contagious. Maybe somebody behind this release wakes up and does something about it to make it accessible to an international audience.

14 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Haunting Visit to Woman's Prison in 1950s Rome, 29 May 2004

Author: thursdays from Cleveland, Ohio

I first saw this cinematic gem in a German dub version at age 10. Years later I can appreciate the stellar performances by the 2 legendary Italian actresses Anna Magnani and Julieta Masina. The story begins with Masina's arrival in jail, innocently convicted. The young, shattered woman is immediately befriended by the experienced criminal Magnanni. Several intriguing characters are introduced and side-plots spun out. Masina eventually is exhaunorated, but returns "for a visit", with shocking results.

This film, like other Italian Post-War masterpieces ("La Strada", "The Biscycle Thief") focuses on the lingering poverty, a direct result of a "lost war", and the deep gaps between the haves and the have nots. The "little guy" in that place and time had very few laughs, as the better-off will exploit the desperate. A fascinating score and beautiful black & white cinematography make this one of the supreme foreign film classics. I highly recommend this film.*****

11 out of 14 people found the following review useful:
Women's prison., 13 August 2001
Author: Gerald A. DeLuca (italiangerry@gmail.com) from United States

This film received only a minor release in the United States in a shortened and dubbed version and was shown intact only at some touring museum series many years later. That is a shame considering the stature of the two leading performers, Anna Magnani and Giulietta Masina, both of them great ladies of the Italian cinema. Their performances are riveting. NELLA CITTA' L'INFERNO is about an innocent housewife (Masina) who is falsely convicted of theft and is sent to a women's prison in Rome. There she is tutored in the ways of crime by her expert cell-mate (Magnani) and must live amid a company of prostitutes, murderers, and thieves. Their effect on her is not a positive one. Renato Castellani directed this lively piece, and Roman comedian-actor Alberto Sordi has a small role in it.

4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Women behind bars in 1950s Italy, 2 June 2005

Author: mdm-11 from United States

This film pairs two of Italy's greatest character actresses, Julietta Masina and Anna Magnani. Masina is the naive 26 year old who is one of several "new comers" to women's prison. The new arrivals cry their hearts out to the women already doing their time. Magnani plays the hardened "regular", who keeps coming back.

The film takes a closer look at several of these women. Somehow all of their "crimes" are directly related to the dire poverty from which they are desperate to escape. Whether selling merchandise without paying the proper taxes, or sending an infant on a river ride in a basket (which sinks and drowns the child), none of these women committed crimes out of greed or malice. The Masina character is eventually exonerated and leaves before serving out her full sentence.

The ending (which I will not spoil) drives home the "message". Women in prison may act rough and tough, but they were all innocent once. Those who break the cycle and escape the life of small-time delinquency, are few. Their triumph over adversity is the hope for everyone else. One character, who has found her hope in a new love, said it best. "Now I know, that when I get out of here, I will never come back". To cling to this hope for a better tomorrow was on the minds of many people during 1950s Italy. Always look for a brighter tomorrow!

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Jailhouse rocks, 27 September 2008
Author: dbdumonteil

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

La Magnani makes you feel her presence in a way that is so immediate,so essential and so relevant that you can't turn your mind and your eyes from what she is playing.I have always thought she was the best of all Italian actresses in history.Pairing her with Giuletta Masina is cause for celebration.Their performances take the movie out on a level of stratospheric intensity that simply rises above what is finally a derivative screenplay: women in jail is a hackneyed subject.

Masina's character is particularly interesting: during the cast and credits ,she is a pure heroine ,a victim of fate who enters a world she fears ;the story shows how a life in jail can turn a vapid virgin into a self-assured bitch."I owe everything to you" she tells a desperate Magnani who behind her crudeness hid a sensitiveness which explodes in the last sequences .If you like great actresses,this movie was made for you.

Add another review

Related Links