A self-reflective movie where fiction intersects reality. Lucia Bosè was indeed a pastry shop clerk when she was discovered, very young, by the Italian movie industry. In this intense portrait of a young actress chosen for her stunning looks she has a conflictual relationship with a domineering husband producer, a diplomat gigolo, a clueless mother. Her interpretation is in accordance with Antonioni's 'less is more'. No turgid over-acting, no melodrama: narrative lines are straight and narrow, there is air and space around Antonioni's frames. Once she decides to advocate for her ambition to become a better actress and an independent woman, she finds herself short of firepower, will and skills to achieve an immediate gratifying result. The path to stardom (and to adulthood) is more complex and hard, and Antonioni does not offer an immediate redemption, but neither rules it out. Lucia Bosè married a Toreador a few years later, and never achieved her full potential as an actress, with the possible exception of Daniel Schmidt's Violanta and a brief part in Fellini's Satyricon, small gems in her unremarkable later career. She reminds me of Louise Brooks, both in her appearance and in the short season of her movie career: La Signora senza Camelie and Cronaca di un Amore are great masterpieces of the 1950's, and a sad reminder of what could have been had these two stunning actresses continued their cinematic careers with competent Directors.
Review of The Lady Without Camelias
