A Special Day (1977)

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 (screenplay), Ettore Scola (screenplay)

Stars:

Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, John Vernon

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sophia Loren	...	Antonietta Taberi
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Gabriele
John Vernon	...	Emanuele Taberi
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

Storyline

It's the late 1930's Rome. It's a national holiday in Italy today for the first state visit of Adolf Hitler to the country. The occasion is being marked by a lavish parade with both Hitler and Benito Mussolini to celebrate their political friendship/alliance in the name of fascism. Most of the Roman populace will attend the parade to celebrate with their leader. Two that will not be are the following. Antonietta Taberi, who would have liked to have gone to the parade, has to stay at home to attend to her domestic chores in duty to her husband Emanuele and their six children, all who have gone to the parade without her. Gabriele is a former announcer on Italian Public Radio. Despite living in the same apartment complex (Gabriele only for the last two months) with their apartment windows facing each other across the courtyard, Antonietta and Gabriele meet for the first time today in Antonietta's need to access his apartment to retrieve her escaped myna bird. Their encounter is important...

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Plot Keywords:

homosexual | neighbor | housewife | italian fascism | homosexuality | 

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Taglines:

A special film about two special people.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marcello Mastroianni's character, Gabriele, is partially based on Nunzio Filogamo, an Italian radio broadcaster and presenter. During the 1930s, Filogamo was persecuted by the Fascist regime for his homosexuality, but he was so popular with the Italian people that the government couldn't fire him or deport him. Instead, Filogamo was required to carry a medical card stating that he was not a homosexual (as Gabriele mentions he is required to do in the film).

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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".

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Quotes

Arnaldo Taberi: [singing] Those Serbs would grab Dalmatia but we won't let that pass, If they try to take it we'll kick 'em in the ass...
Antonietta: You and your filthy language!
Arnaldo Taberi: It's the patriotic song we learned for the parade.
Antonietta: It's still vulgar.

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Connections

Featured in Marcello Mastroianni: I Remember (1997)

User Reviews

A beautiful movie

'Una Giornata Particolare' is a movie that has a title that sounds so familiar I thought I had seen it more than once. Now that I finally I have seen it, I am very glad. This is one of the better Italian movies I know, with one of the most wonderful performances by Marcello Mastroianni, who stars in other masterpieces such as 'La Dolce Vita' and '8 1/2', both from the great Federico Fellini. Directed by Ettore Scola, this is a movie that takes the time to introduce the characters and slowly develops a story on a special day, the day Adolf Hitler visited Rome.

Marcello Mastroianni plays Gabriele, the neighbor of Antonietta (Sophia Loren). She is a member of Mussolini's party, pretty fanatic in her thoughts, and he is a member no more. The reason for that I will not reveal. On the day every person from their building, including her husband and children, is out to see Hitler, they are still in the building. Antonietta's bird escapes and flies to Gabriele's apartment, and this is how the two meet. Right before Antonietta went to Gabriele he thought of killing himself, again for reasons I will not reveal. How the story develops from here I will not reveal, but it is what happens between the two that makes this such a special day, not the fact that Hitler is in Rome.

Like I said, Mastroianni has a wonderful performance. You see he is a man who desperately wants someone around him, although at first we don't know why. May be he likes Antonietta, may be he is in love with her, may be there are other reasons. Antonietta feels what we feel. What does this man want from her? She likes the attention anyway. We see how she does her hair to look attractive for the man. Loren plays the scenes very good as well. We understand her questions, although we can't be sure what her intentions are. The moments where we find out both their secrets, if that is what you can call it, is a great moment. How the story develops from there is even more interesting, but I don't want to spoil it for you. This is a movie you should see. Great performances and a beautiful cinematography, and the message it gives us still stands today.

Details

Country:

Italy Canada

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

October 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Special Day

Filming Locations:

Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Compagnia Cinematografica Champion, Canafox Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1