Girl with a Suitcase (1961) La ragazza con la valigia (original title)

Director:

Valerio Zurlini

Writers:

Leonardo Benvenuti (story) and
Piero De Bernardi (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

11 September 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

Lorenzo, who's 16 and born to a wealthy family in Parma, tries to make things right toward a showgirl...

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Claudia Cardinale	...	Aida Zepponi
Jacques Perrin	...	Lorenzo Fainardi
Luciana Angiolillo	...	Aunt of Lorenzo
Renato Baldini	...	Francia
Riccardo Garrone	...	Romolo
Elsa Albani	...	Lucia
Corrado Pani	...	Marcello Fainardi
Gian Maria Volonté	...	Piero Benotti
Romolo Valli	...	Don Pietro Introna
Enzo Garinei	...	Pino
Ciccio Barbi	...	Crosia
Nadia Bianchi	...	Nuccia
Angela Portaluri
Edda Soligo	...	Teacher

Directed by
Valerio Zurlini

Writing credits
Leonardo Benvenuti		(story and screenplay) (as Leo Benvenuti) and
Piero De Bernardi		(story and screenplay) and
Enrico Medioli		(story and screenplay) and
Giuseppe Patroni Griffi		(story and screenplay) and
Valerio Zurlini		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Charles Delac	....	producer
Maurizio Lodi-Fè	....	producer

Cinematography by
Tino Santoni

Film Editing by
Mario Serandrei

Production Design by
Flavio Mogherini

Costume Design by
Gaia Romanini

Makeup Department
Giovanni Ranieri	....	makeup artist
Vasco Reggiani	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Mario Maffei	....	assistant director
Piero Schivazappa	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Enzo Silvestri	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Enrico Cignitti	....	camera operator
Danilo Desideri	....	assistant camera
Lorenzo Papi	....	still photographer

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gaia Romanini	....	costumer

Music Department
Mario Gangi	....	soloist: Chitarra (as M. Gangi)
Mario Nascimbene	....	music supervisor
Bruno Nicolai	....	soloist: Clavicembalo (as B. Nicolai)

Other crew
Adriana Asti	....	voice dubbing: Claudia Cardinale
Antonio Guadagnino	....	production secretary
Tina Marchetti Clerici	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Titanus
• Société Générale de Cinématographie (S.G.C.) (co-production)

Distributors

• Ellis Films (1961) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Aquarius TV (2004) (Greece) (TV)
• Koch Vision (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Aquarius TV (2005) (Greece) (DVD)
• Compagnie Française de Distribution Cinématographique (CFDC) (1962) (France) (theatrical)
• NoShame Films (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"La ragazza con la valigia" - Italy (original title)

Runtime:

121 min | USA:96 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Company:

Titanus

Trivia:

Italian censorship visa # 33890 delivered on 18-1-1961.

Soundtrack:

Folle banderuola

lost souls caught up in the existential angst

Zurlini introduces a familiar theme, a futile relationship with an older woman and a younger man, perfected in his later film `Violent Summer,' but here Aida, Claudia Cardinale, plays a nighclub singer who is jilted in the opening moments of the film and spends the rest of the film searching for a way out of the stereotypical relationship of a beautiful woman using, and being used by men, a dependent and unhealthy relationship. When Marcello, a cad who lives in a lavish estate, tells his 16 year old younger Lorenzo, Jacques Perrin, to get rid of the girl, the younger brother's interest turns from bewilderment to unbridled obsession, as the high-strung, free-spirited girl surprisingly is flattered by his attention and by her belief that he has money, contrasting the obvious class distinction between the two, he lives in a statue-filled estate with his family, she lives alone out of a suitcase in a hotel room. The adults in the film are overly stern and heartless, represented by the familiar Zurlini statues which can be seen throughout his entire body of work; this lifelessness is contrasted against the passion of youth. The relationship comes to a screeching halt with the intervention of the family priest who questions Aida's motives with such a young and impressionable boy, urging her to move on. This is a brilliant scene where they speak in what appears to be a museum construction area, broken statues lie about with other scattered debris as the priest tries to reconstruct the spiritual direction of the young lovers, urging them to go their separate ways. This leads Aida into the arms of another conniving man who attempts to seduce her with plenty of money and alcohol, but Lorenzo arrives, refuses to butt out, gets his butt kicked by the older man, which leads to this extraordinarily long, beautifully evolving scene on the beach where the two lovers are caught up in the mysteries of their own futility, a kind of existential despair, surrounded by the wonderment of nature. This film constantly shifts the focus on who is the victim and who is to blame, in the end there are no answers, just a continuous search.