Review of Adua e Le Compagne

Introduction

This Italian neo-realist tale of four ex-hookers has all the right ingredients for a truly compelling movie. Two icons of European cinema, Simone Signoret and Marcello Mastroianni, Director Antonio Pietrangeli`s amazing screenplay and masterful Direction, some wonderful cinematography and, not least, an evocative score from Jazz musician Pietro Piccioni, much sought after as an OST on vinyl.

With their Roman bordello being forced to close, Adua (played masterfully by Simone Signoret) and three companions leave town for the rural life, taking on the rental of a giant outhouse. Their plan is to set up a restaurant as a front for a new brothel which would be all of their own making, free from controlling pimps or Madames. It`s not long before their past catches up with them and deals are struck with ex-clients to smooth the path of licensing the restaurant. The restaurant becomes a great success (without the need of selling `extra services`) and the four girls each find a richness in their lives hitherto never fully experienced. Adua meets a charming car salesman, Peitro, played with great aplomb by Marcello Mastroianni, and life starts looking good. But the past is never far behind and the glowing, growing optimism is destined to be destroyed. In an ending that would never make a Hollywood financed movie, the girls put on a feisty display of rebellious girl power, but to no avail.

In a style that swiftly went out of vogue in the optimistic 1960`s, the film was clearly intent on exposing the dreadful hypocrisies that were a feature of a male-dominated Italy of the period and it makes no attempt to pull it`s punches.

Video

16:9 A beautifully restored print carefully mastered to DVD. Top marks for a job well done!

Audio

This Dolby Digital soundtrack, presented here (as you`d expect) in Mono, is a little bit top-ended. Natural boom sound has been used even on wide-shots and very little post-audio dubbing has been added. This is all typical of a non-Hollywood film of this vintage and will do nothing to spoil your enjoyment - but it won`t be a white-knuckle ride test run for your new home entertainment speakers either!

Features

English sub-titles on or off. Standard chapter menu. Director and cast biographies (of the scrolling text variety), and some next to pointless production stills.

Conclusion

This gritty, stylish movie deservedly won several key accolades on its release in 1961. Dealing with socially sensitive issues with both sympathy and intelligence, it includes some incredible on-screen performances. Simone Signoret`s portrayal of Adua is tough, sassy yet believable, and her performance is matched by the sheer wit and style of Marcello Mastroianni`s. Carefully shot in stark contrast monochrome, the film oozes style - without ever diluting it`s neo-realist punch. There`s a common misapprehension that foreign movie releases with sub-titles are all under funded art-house movies. Here`s all the evidence you need to shoot that mis-guided theory down in flames. Whilst a non-Italian speaker like myself may have to concentrate a little harder to keep up with the sub-titled dialogue, this is a tremendous movie, and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the Italian equivalent of the British `kitchen-sink` genre of the late 1950`s. This certainly gives even the more important moments of that genre a fair run for its money. Recommended!