Being happily caught by surprise with how much a friend had enjoyed the Richard Burton and Sophia Loren adaptation of Brief Encounter,I began to search franticly round Amazon UK,for any similar movies,in the hope of finding one that would be a suitable Christmas present.Originally expecting to find nothing but the various DVD versions of the original David Lean film,I was shocked to discover,that Burton and Loren had actually appeared in a second movie together,which led to me deciding to have another brief encounter with Loren and Burton.
The plot:
Attending the reading of their father's will,each member of the Braggi family is completely satisfied with everything that their dad has kindly left them.Suddenly,the solicitor mentions the now that the property and money has been dealt with,he has one final item that was left in the will (a letter),that his sons Antonio and Cesare must follow the orders of.
Paying a visit to the Mauro family, (who have been friends with the Braggi's for decades) Cesare tells their daughter Adrianna De Mauro,that the last request left by his father was for Adrianna to get married to his youngest son Antonio.Initially angered over the idea of going with Antonion,due to having always had a secret attraction between herself and Cesare,Cesare quickly decides to hold his emotions,and tells Adrianna that they must put their feelings for each other aside,in order to do what is best for their families.
Years later:
Despite initially being extremely uncomfortable around Antonio,Adrianna soon finds herself warming to Antonio's easy charm,which leads to both of them settling down and having a child.One day deciding to take his car around some country roads,Antonio ends up driving off a cliff and dies.As Cesare and Adrianna both grieve over the death of their husband/brother,they both start to find feelings returning that they had attempted to hide into the past.
View on the film:
After being bitterly disappointed by the cold performances of Sophia Loren and Richard Burton in Brief Encounter,I was thrilled to discover,that director Vittorio De Sica (who sadly died shortly after making the film) was impressively able to break the cold shoulder by giving the film a warming atmosphere,with Loren (who had worked with Sica in the past) and Burton showing Adrianna and Cesare to be two social intelligent people,who relies that they have to show their attraction for each other in subtle ways,in order not to anger each others families.
Although the screenplay by Diego Fabbri,Massimo Franciosa and Luisa Montagnana (based on a novel by Luigi Pirandello) does fall into some melodrama traps,such as giving a character a "movie illness" that just happens to kick in whenever a dramatic moment is needed in the film,Sica is thankfully able to cover over most of the melodramatic holes that appear in the screenplay,by shooting with stylish long distance shoots,that along with allowing the stunning locations to be fully displayed,is also used to show the audience,how despite being so close to each other,Adrianna and Cesare have to do everything they can,to keep their emotions at a far distance from each other.
The plot:
Attending the reading of their father's will,each member of the Braggi family is completely satisfied with everything that their dad has kindly left them.Suddenly,the solicitor mentions the now that the property and money has been dealt with,he has one final item that was left in the will (a letter),that his sons Antonio and Cesare must follow the orders of.
Paying a visit to the Mauro family, (who have been friends with the Braggi's for decades) Cesare tells their daughter Adrianna De Mauro,that the last request left by his father was for Adrianna to get married to his youngest son Antonio.Initially angered over the idea of going with Antonion,due to having always had a secret attraction between herself and Cesare,Cesare quickly decides to hold his emotions,and tells Adrianna that they must put their feelings for each other aside,in order to do what is best for their families.
Years later:
Despite initially being extremely uncomfortable around Antonio,Adrianna soon finds herself warming to Antonio's easy charm,which leads to both of them settling down and having a child.One day deciding to take his car around some country roads,Antonio ends up driving off a cliff and dies.As Cesare and Adrianna both grieve over the death of their husband/brother,they both start to find feelings returning that they had attempted to hide into the past.
View on the film:
After being bitterly disappointed by the cold performances of Sophia Loren and Richard Burton in Brief Encounter,I was thrilled to discover,that director Vittorio De Sica (who sadly died shortly after making the film) was impressively able to break the cold shoulder by giving the film a warming atmosphere,with Loren (who had worked with Sica in the past) and Burton showing Adrianna and Cesare to be two social intelligent people,who relies that they have to show their attraction for each other in subtle ways,in order not to anger each others families.
Although the screenplay by Diego Fabbri,Massimo Franciosa and Luisa Montagnana (based on a novel by Luigi Pirandello) does fall into some melodrama traps,such as giving a character a "movie illness" that just happens to kick in whenever a dramatic moment is needed in the film,Sica is thankfully able to cover over most of the melodramatic holes that appear in the screenplay,by shooting with stylish long distance shoots,that along with allowing the stunning locations to be fully displayed,is also used to show the audience,how despite being so close to each other,Adrianna and Cesare have to do everything they can,to keep their emotions at a far distance from each other.