Leonard Maltin's Rating :
Should be :
IMDB Rating : 7.1
Rotten Tomatoes Rating : 84%
Leonard says in his review: "Rambling dreariness with refugee Bergman marrying fisherman Vitale; even an erupting volcano doesn't help this plodding film..."
Robert Rossellini's 1950 neo-realist film, leaves behind war torn Europe for island of Stromboli.
Karin (Ingrid Bergman) is a war refugee from Lithuania, who had taken up with an invading officer, and now marries Antonio to escape an internment camp. They go to the island of Stromboli and Antonio picks up his life as a fisherman, but Karin, the outsider, doesn't seem to fit in.
Antonio works really hard on the boats but the locals see Karin flirting with a young man and he becomes miserable. Karin is further isolated by the locals, particularly by the women.
There are some great documentary style scenes of the fishing boats working together to net tuna. On the sea the villagers all work together. When the volcano starts erupting everyone heads for their boats and follow the priest as he leads them in prayer.
Karin feels trapped and decides she must get away. Antonio locks her up but she escapes and heads for the other side of the island past the volcano she fears so badly.
It was pretty brave of Rossellini to make a movie where the main character was so unsympathetic. But Rossellini was interested in making honest movies that portrayed reality. Not everyone is a hero, not everyone finds romance, not everyone is a sympathetic character. Sometimes reality is not pretty, sometimes there are no happy endings.
A really interesting movie from the great master.
Ingrid Bergman
Words by Woody Guthrie, Music by Billy Bragg
Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman,
Let´s go make a picture
On the island of Stromboli, Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman, you´re so perty,
You´d make any mountain quiver
You´d make my fire fly from the crater
Ingrid Bergman
This old mountain it´s been waiting
All ist life for you to work it
For your hand to touch the hardrock,
Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman
If you´ll walk across my camera,
I will flash the world your story,
I will pay you more than money, Ingrid Bergman
Not by pennies dimes nor quarters,
But with happy sons and daughters,
And they´ll sing around Stromboli,
Ingrid Bergman
No comments:
Post a Comment