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A Special Day

Original title: Una giornata particolare
  • 1977
  • Approved
  • 1h 43m
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
17K
YOUR RATING
A Special Day (1977)
Italian cinema's most iconic screen couple, Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni - here cast against glamorous type - deliver the finest and most nuanced performances of their career in this rarely seen masterpiece finally presented, restored and remastered in 4K - with striking desaturated colours - as originally created by its multi-awarded director Ettore Scola.
On this special day in 1938, all of fascist Rome has been mustered to a parade for Hitler visiting Mussolini. Loren's working-class housewife, Antonietta, left alone to her chores, meets the only other person left in their block, Gabriele (Mastroianni), a persecuted homosexual radio announcer. The two, who are poles apart, forge an unexpectedly close friendship that will change their perceptions of love, politics and life itself...
Play trailer1:16
1 Video
79 Photos
Drama

Two neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.Two neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.Two neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.

  • Director
    • Ettore Scola
  • Writers
    • Ruggero Maccari
    • Ettore Scola
    • Maurizio Costanzo
  • Stars
    • Sophia Loren
    • Marcello Mastroianni
    • John Vernon
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    8.1/10
    17K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Ettore Scola
    • Writers
      • Ruggero Maccari
      • Ettore Scola
      • Maurizio Costanzo
    • Stars
      • Sophia Loren
      • Marcello Mastroianni
      • John Vernon
    • 67User reviews
    • 47Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 2 Oscars
      • 13 wins & 5 nominations total

    Videos1

    A Special Day trailer
    Trailer 1:16
    A Special Day trailer

    Photos79

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    + 75
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    Top cast15

    Edit
    Sophia Loren
    Sophia Loren
    • Antonietta Taberi
    Marcello Mastroianni
    Marcello Mastroianni
    • Gabriele
    John Vernon
    John Vernon
    • Emanuele Taberi
    Françoise Berd
    Françoise Berd
    • Concierge
    Patrizia Basso
    • Romana Taberi
    Tiziano De Persio
    • Arnaldo Taberi
    Maurizio Di Paolantonio
    • Fabio Taberi
    Antonio Garibaldi
    • Littorio Taberi
    Vittorio Guerrieri
    • Umberto Taberi
    Alessandra Mussolini
    • Maria Luisa Taberi
    Nicole Magny
    • Officer's Daughter
    Galeazzo Ciano
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Adolf Hitler
    Adolf Hitler
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    King Victor Emmanuel III
    King Victor Emmanuel III
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    Benito Mussolini
    Benito Mussolini
    • Self
    • (archive footage)
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Ettore Scola
    • Writers
      • Ruggero Maccari
      • Ettore Scola
      • Maurizio Costanzo
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews67

    8.117.2K
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    Featured reviews

    9damien-16

    as close as cinema can get to a Greek tragedy

    This film has great acting, great photography and a very strong story line that really makes you think about who you are, how you define yourself, how you fit in, whether you accept to play a role or break free... There already are excellent comments dealing with these aspects. I want to comment on the formal setting of the film. Basically, it's two people on a roof. There is unity of place and time, with 2 protagonists, and the radio acting as the choir. Many directors have turned Greek tragedies into film, many directors have filmed contemporary stories as if they were a Greek tragedy, but no director, in my opinion, has succeeded as admirably as Ettore Scola in approaching the purity and force of the great Greek tragedies both in story line and formal setting. A masterpiece.
    10wobelix

    Astonishing, Bewildering, Fabulous

    Ettore Scola, one of the most refined and grand directors we worldly citizens have, is not yet available on DVD... (it's summer 2001 right now....) Mysteries to goggle the mind.

    This grand classic returned to the theaters in my home-town thanks to a Sophia Loren - summer-retrospective, and to see it again on the big screen after all these years of viewing it on a video-tape ... it is a true gift.

    To avoid a critique but nonetheless try to prove a point: i took my reluctant younger brother with me to see this film. He never saw the film before and "doesn't like those Italian Oldies..." Like all the others in the theater he was intrigued by this wonder. Even during the end-titles the theater remained completely silent.

    This SPECIAL DAY is truly special. A wonder of refinement. And a big loss if you haven't seen it (yet)...
    9JoaoPovoaMarinheiro

    A Wonderful Tale About Love And Humanity

    First of all for this movie I just have one word: 'wow'. This is probably, one of the best movies that touched me, from it's story to it's performances, so wonderfully played by Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. I was very impressed with this last one, because he really brought depth to the character, as it was a very hard role. Still, the two of them formed a pair, that surprised me, from the beginning until the end, showing in the way, a friendship filled with love, that develops during the entire day, settled in the movie. The story takes some time to roll, as the introduction of the characters is long, but finally we are compensated with a wonderful tale about love and humanity. If you have the chance, see it, because it's a movie that will stay in your mind for many time. Simply amazing - 9/10.
    10johannes-skarin

    Beautiful film about being human

    I too was quite astonished to see how few people had voted on this film, and just HAD to write something about it, although my comments are quite similar to those written already.

    I like many things about the film. The superb acting between Mastroianni & Loren. The way the film is narrated: Humanity and love slowly developing between these two outsiders, and contrasted to the simultaneously & continuously ongoing inhumane marching pace of the fascist radio announcer (who happens to be a colleague of Mastroianni's part)and the adherents "going to and coming from the show". To me this is a very fine film about what it is to be human. Maybe some of you would argue that the anti-fascist "message" is too clearly delivered, but to me this didn't destroy the film in any way. My vote is 10/10.
    7Bunuel1976

    A SPECIAL DAY (Ettore Scola, 1977) ***

    I had intended to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Marcello Mastroianni's passing with numerous unwatched films of his that I own on VHS; however, given my ongoing light-hearted Christmas marathon, I had to make do with just this one! As it happens, it features one of his best performances - and he was justly Oscar-nominated for it (with the film itself being likewise honored). This was also one of 14 collaborations with that other most widely-recognized star to emerge from Italy, Sophia Loren; both, incidentally, are playing against type here - she as an unglamorous housewife and he a homosexual!

    By the way, the film's title has a double meaning: the leading characters are brought together on the historic day in which Hitler came to Italy to meet Mussolini (the event itself being shown in lengthy archive footage), but it more specifically refers to the stars' 'brief encounter' in which they share moments of friendship, revelation and, briefly, passion - though each knows that a return to their normal existence is inevitable, which leads to the film's abrupt bittersweet ending. This is virtually a two-hander (with all other characters - save for the nosy concierge of the apartment block in which the story takes place in its entirety - which include Loren's gruff and fervently patriotic husband, surprisingly played by John Vernon, appear only at the beginning and closing sequences); still, the cramped setting doesn't deter director Scola (for the record, this is the 7th film of his that I've watched and own 3 more on VHS) and cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis, so that the result - though essentially low-key - is far from stagy: the camera is allowed to prowl the various sections of the large building, observing the proceedings intimately or dispassionately as the situation requires, but always keenly.

    The narrative, of course, depends entirely on the performances of the two stars for it to be convincing, and they both deliver (their on-screen chemistry is quite incomparable); it's interesting, however, that while Loren walked away with the prizes in their home turf, it's Mastroianni's moving yet unsentimental outsider (the film, somewhat dubiously, does seem to equate his sexual deviance with Anti-Fascism!) who generally impressed international audiences!

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Sophia Loren's younger sister Maria Scicolone was married to Benito Mussolini's son Romano Mussolini from 1962 to 1971. Maria and Romano's daughter Alessandra Mussolini plays Maria Luisa, one of the daughters of her aunt's (Sophia Loren) character Antonietta.
    • Goofs
      Hitler's address, heard in the background, is not from his visit to Rome but from the 1934 Nuremberg Party Meeting, more particularly from his address to the German Youth on the third day. He's heard summoning them to be "strong and peaceful", "courageous and peace-loving".
    • Quotes

      Gabriele: We always end up conforming to what others think, even when they're wrong.

    • Connections
      Edited into Marcello, una vita dolce (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      Horst Wessel Lied
      Composed by Horst Wessel

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    FAQ16

    • How long is A Special Day?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 1977 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Italy
      • Canada
    • Language
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Izuzetan dan
    • Filming locations
      • Viale XXI Aprile, Rome, Lazio, Italy(building's exteriors)
    • Production companies
      • Compagnia Cinematografica Champion
      • Canafox Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 43 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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