Sunflower (1970)

An Italian woman conducts a desperate search for her husband, a soldier considered missing in action in Russia during WWII.

Director:

Vittorio De Sica

Writers:

Tonino Guerra (story and screenplay) (as Antonio Guerra), Cesare Zavattini (story and screenplay)

Stars:

Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Lyudmila Saveleva

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sophia Loren	...	Giovanna
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Antonio
Lyudmila Saveleva	...	Mascia (as Ljudmila Saveljeva)
Galina Andreeva	...	Valentina Ivanovna - the Soviet official
Anna Carena	...	La madre di Antonio
Nadya Serednichenko	...	La contadina russa (as Nadja Cerednicenko)
Germano Longo	...	Ettore
Glauco Onorato	...	Il reduce
Silvano Tranquilli	...	L'operaio italiano
Marisa Traversi	...	La donna alla stazione
Gunars Cilinskis	...	Il funzionario russo (as Gunnar Zilinskij)
Giorgio Basso
Gianni Bortolotti
Umberto Di Grazia
Giuliano Girardi

Storyline

At the end of World War II, Giovanna, a war bride living near Milan refuses to accept that her husband, Antonio, missing on the Russian front, is dead. There's a flashback to their brief courtship near her hometown of Naples, his 12-day leave to marry her, ruses to keep from deployment, and the ultimate farewell. Some years after the war, still with no word from Antonio, Giovanna goes to Russia to find him, starting in the town near the winter battle when he disappeared. Armed with his photograph, what will she find?

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Plot Keywords:

russia | soldier | russian front | flashback | eastern front | 

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Taglines:

A love story that spans two tempestuous decades in a motion picture of extraordinary power and enchantment!

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

Italy France Soviet Union USA

Language:

Italian English Russian

Release Date:

24 September 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sunflower

Filming Locations:

Bereguardo, Pavia, Lombardia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnia Cinematografica Champion, Les Films Concordia, Mosfilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min 98 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the 'Bloomsbury Foreign Film Guide', this was the first Italian film to be filmed mostly in Poltava, Ukraine.

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Goofs

Mascia tells Giovanna that when she found Antonio, he was hurt so badly that he had forgotten everything, including his own name. If that's true, then how did Mascia know his name was Antonio?

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Connections

Featured in Passione: Episode #1.1 (2010)

User Reviews

a delicate poem

meeting between two great actors and an impressive director. images from Italy and picture of Russia in the air of Cold War.a basic story about a couple, a war and a choice. a travel and the form of truth. beautiful music and force of unspoken words. that is all. or only gentle performance of Ludmila Savelieva. a great film. not for cast or dramatic slices, for the force of emotions or for the sunflower as vegetable testimonies about a tragedy. but only for its virtue to be a seed. a seed of questions and answers. an exercise of empathy. a sad love story in which love is more than feeling. a poem but just a very special poem. mixture of pure joy, shadows of war, a miracle and a search, it is homage to a sacrifice generation and reflection of deep need of sense in a chaotic world. nothing pink, nothing cold. only picture of a man, a young Russian woman who speaks Italian, a charming Sophia Loren and same Mastroianni. but the essence is possession of public.