About
Two Women

A powerful movie and quite a performance from Sophia Loren who received the Oscar for it (the first time awarded to an actor in a foreign film.) A Mother manages to protect her daughter through most of WWII until their trip home to Rome at the end where they are attacked by soldiers. Good Italian directors can nail Italian culture in a way that is rare among American directors with our culture. This movie is a great example. Proud people but cowardly too as in the scene where nobody will agree to show German soldiers how to retreat through the mountains so they choose a young man, the son of one in the group, and he is killed. There is some great outdoor photography in this with obvious care for the tones in the black and white.