ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Lucas Versantvoort A special film about a special day. After five minutes of archival footage of Hitler arriving in Italy to greet Mussolini, footage that makes it quite obvious where Chaplin got his inspiration from for The Great Dictator, the first shot immediately encapsulates the oppressive nature of fascism and includes a veiled criticism. There's a low angle shot of an apartment complex which blocks out all activities going on outside of it. Swastika flags and flags of Italy are being hung out in celebration of Hitler's visit to Italy and then, in what has to be moment of subtle criticism, a man takes out his trash and dumps it in a nearby container while someone else in the background hangs up a flag of Italy and Germany. The act of emptying a garbage bag is visually similar to hanging up a flag, so it seems like director Scola is comparing fascism to trash. A very nice touch and that's just the first shot.It is the day of the parade in celebration of Hitler's arrival in Italy, but what we see is the rundown apartment complex. We enter one of the apartments to see Antonietta (Sophia Loren) waking up and – in one long shot – proceeding to wake up her kids (all six of them). In a Neorealist manner, we see the family's morning routine, as Antonietta keeps bumping her head against the kitchen lamp, one of her sons draws a mustache on his face to appear more masculine in preparation for the parade, another son secretly smokes in the bathroom and, typically, the husband is revealed as the most juvenile of them all, as he's the last one to be woken up. Eventually, everyone except Antonietta leaves for the parade, while she's expected to take care of the house. The pet bird escapes, of course symbolizing her subconscious desire to escape, and lands near a man's window. She rings his doorbell and asks for help. Unbeknownst to her, the man, Gabriele (Marcello Mastroianni), is a homosexual who was recently fired at the radio station he worked at for his 'way of life' and his beliefs. In fact, her ringing the doorbell is what literally stops him from committing suicide. They catch the bird and briefly converse and eventually she leaves. Suddenly feeling inspired, he decides to pay her a visit, realizing it's about to be a special day. The rest of the film chronicles their ever developing relationship.In terms of its story, Giornata has a lot in common with David Lean's Brief Encounter. The major difference is obviously the role fascism plays in every aspect of this film. From the drab setting, to the fascist zeitgeist, to the overwhelming presence of masculine behavior, Giornata paints a world where fascism seems there to stay, a sense that's only bolstered by the nationalist anthems the janitor is playing full blast on her radio ad infinitum and ad nauseam. Indeed, one of the best things about the film is how the ever-present radio provides a harrowing backdrop to the tender relationship between the two leads. Don't make the mistake, however, of thinking this film is depressing. There are countless wonderful details in the depiction of Antonietta and Gabriele's relationship. When she notices part of her stockings is wet, she pulls it under her toes so he won't notice. When he's grinding coffee beans, she quickly retreats to the bathroom to apply some makeup; she grabs the lipstick, but realizing that would be way too obvious she leaves it and pulls one of her curls across her face and squeezes her cheeks to inject some color. All these little details bring out the Brief Encounter-esque character of the film and it's all the better for it.And let's not forget the performances with both actors being cast against type. Sophia Loren was of course a 20th century icon, incredibly famous, so for her to take on a role as down to earth as this was daring to say the least. Though I'm no Loren expert, when I think of her, the word that springs to mind is 'vibrant', the exact opposite of Antonietta who only laughs once in the entire film, wears no makeup and looks tired all the while having to display a subtle dissatisfaction with her life with Gabriele symbolizing the possibility of escape. The same goes for Mastroianni. Though a famous leading man (having worked repeatedly with Fellini), here he plays a homosexual in fascist Italy. Mastroianni elicits a lot of sympathy and, most importantly, doesn't overplay the gayness factor. He doesn't prance around or anything. It's far cry from the clichés that saturated early Hollywood films. Instead, Gabriele's little outbursts of joy, like him riding a wooden mini-scooter through Antonietta's apartment, symbolize his desire to break free of a restrictive fascist regime that doesn't want him. Bottom line is that if you like Brief Encounter and its subtle, human exploration of relationships, you will by definition like Una Giornata Particolare.

philkuttner I just saw this movie on a grainy DVD in a dubbed version--I believe Sophia dubbed her own English. Even so, this film blew me away . . . slowly. The near-constant background noise of radio announcers burbling on and on about the glories of fascist Italy and Nazi Germany over martial music created a sonic claustrophobia that matched the visual sense of restriction in the apartment complex. I knew beforehand that Mastroianni was cast as a gay man; I was not prepared for the delicacy and refinement he brought to his portrayal. And Loren's character was full of surprises--we first see her as an exhausted, exploited wife and mother. It's a shock to see her face light up when she recalls her encounter with Mussolini. Loren as a fascist! How these two connect in such a human, simple way is breathtaking. Each is imprisoned in their own fashion at the end, and yet there is a hint that each has found a fragile new sense of freedom. But Scola does not deny the tragedy of these characters' destinies. Very moving. I hope to see it in the original Italian some day.

JoaoPovoaMarinheiro First of all for this movie I just have one word: 'wow'. This is probably, one of the best movies that touched me, from it's story to it's performances, so wonderfully played by Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. I was very impressed with this last one, because he really brought depth to the character, as it was a very hard role. Still, the two of them formed a pair, that surprised me, from the beginning until the end, showing in the way, a friendship filled with love, that develops during the entire day, settled in the movie. The story takes some time to roll, as the introduction of the characters is long, but finally we are compensated with a wonderful tale about love and humanity. If you have the chance, see it, because it's a movie that will stay in your mind for many time. Simply amazing - 9/10.

MARIO GAUCI I had intended to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Marcello Mastroianni's passing with numerous unwatched films of his that I own on VHS; however, given my ongoing light-hearted Christmas marathon, I had to make do with just this one! As it happens, it features one of his best performances - and he was justly Oscar-nominated for it (with the film itself being likewise honored). This was also one of 14 collaborations with that other most widely-recognized star to emerge from Italy, Sophia Loren; both, incidentally, are playing against type here - she as an unglamorous housewife and he a homosexual! By the way, the film's title has a double meaning: the leading characters are brought together on the historic day in which Hitler came to Italy to meet Mussolini (the event itself being shown in lengthy archive footage), but it more specifically refers to the stars' 'brief encounter' in which they share moments of friendship, revelation and, briefly, passion - though each knows that a return to their normal existence is inevitable, which leads to the film's abrupt bittersweet ending. This is virtually a two-hander (with all other characters - save for the nosy concierge of the apartment block in which the story takes place in its entirety - which include Loren's gruff and fervently patriotic husband, surprisingly played by John Vernon, appear only at the beginning and closing sequences); still, the cramped setting doesn't deter director Scola (for the record, this is the 7th film of his that I've watched and own 3 more on VHS) and cinematographer Pasqualino De Santis, so that the result - though essentially low-key - is far from stagy: the camera is allowed to prowl the various sections of the large building, observing the proceedings intimately or dispassionately as the situation requires, but always keenly.The narrative, of course, depends entirely on the performances of the two stars for it to be convincing, and they both deliver (their on-screen chemistry is quite incomparable); it's interesting, however, that while Loren walked away with the prizes in their home turf, it's Mastroianni's moving yet unsentimental outsider (the film, somewhat dubiously, does seem to equate his sexual deviance with Anti-Fascism!) who generally impressed international audiences!