Η Αγάπη

Filipe Furtado3.5

L'Amore isn't really a film, but an excuse to release in theatres two shorts Rossellini did as showcases for Anna Magnani. That said, both are pretty good. The Human Voice is just a desperate Magnani on the phone for 30 minutes and the way she and Rossellini sustain the dramatic intensity is impressive. The Miracle has a larger canvas and remains among Fellini's scripts for Rossellini the one that displays his imagination the most. The relationship between Magnani and the landscape suggests Stromboli. Overall, those two shorts are a triumph for Magnani and a fascinating look at Rossellini starting to sketch some the ideas that would come to fore in his Bergman movies.

maneleeo3.5

"L'Amore" translates as "The Love", and the most surprising thing about this film is how much it lacks of love. The brilliant Anna Magnani plays the protagonist in two tales. These stories are, in my understanding, distinct from one another. Although the protagonist is the same actress in both stories, she is not the same character.The first story reminds me of a play. The woman is speaking on the telephone. We never see who is on the other side, we do not know what the man is saying, the only thing we know is that she is suffering. Because of the absence of Amore.The second story is the most interesting one. Federico Fellini even plays a part himself. He plays this bearded man who doesn't say a thing. He doesn't have to, Nannina, a very devout woman does all the taking as she is certain that this man is Saint Joseph. He gets her drunk and later, he disappears. She believes this is a miracle. Some months later, she faints in the middle of the street and people discover she is pregnant. She is ridiculed by everyone else.She is certain that this is a miracle, but everyone else knows it is not. There is not a single person that shows any compassion towards her. In their eyes, she is just a woman who was not careful and got pregnant. We know this is not true, but we are just the audience, there is not much we can do. We can only reflect on these situations.The cinematography is really good, I loved many images from the second story. The second story was co-written by Fellini and it shows. I think both of these stories would work really well as feature-lenght films.

tess e4.5

what heartbreak will do to a mf for real actually though this was both sick and sickening and i think women are incredible