Summary:
I must confess that I had the worst precautions against this film, fearing a maudlin or demagogic product. But I have come across a remarkable painting of its two protagonists, the octogenarian Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren) and the little Momo and a story about the meeting of two survivors and their helplessness, of two very beaten destinies, at the end and at the beginning of their lives.
Although the story sticks to a sober realism at times quite hard, it does not skimp on opportune touches of a very Italian humor by Rosa herself and genuinely moving moments where deep sadness, the irremediable, hope and consolation are mixed .
As Madame Rosa says: "when you lose hope, good things happen"
Review:
Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren) is a former Auschwitz surviving prostitute. In her home, Bari, she temporarily shelters the sons and daughters of sex workers and also cares for them while they work. One day, her doctor and her friend Dr. Coen (Renato Carpentieri) entrusts her with the care of Momo, a 12-year-old Senegalese orphan of whom she was her guardian (Ibrahima Gueye), with whom they will begin a conflictive coexistence. .
I must confess that I had the worst precautions against this film by Edoardo Ponti (Loren's son and the also legendary producer Carlo Ponti), fearing a corny or demagogic product. But it has surprised me for good.
The painting of the two protagonists is very successful, an octogenarian Madame Rosa carrying as she can certain traumas from her past and the growing ailments of age and a Momo unwilling to give up her freedom and a certain economic independence, based on sales work of drugs on the street for a local dealer.
From now on, the issue of African immigration to southern Italy is brought to the fore, as well as a very evident class gap when we see Momo and her clients. Like every child, Momo desperately needs male and female guardian figures to guide and nurture him.
Madame Rosa's encounter with Momo is that of two survivors and their helplessness, that of two fates that were hit hard at the end and at the beginning of life, and although the story sticks to a sober realism at times quite hard, it spares no opportune touches of a very Italian humor by Rosa herself and genuinely moving moments where deep sadness, the irremediable, hope and consolation are mixed.
Loren gives us a great character, totally anti-glamorous and lovable, while the little newcomer Gueye perfectly interprets that combination of disoriented child and small adult.
I must confess that I had the worst precautions against this film, fearing a maudlin or demagogic product. But I have come across a remarkable painting of its two protagonists, the octogenarian Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren) and the little Momo and a story about the meeting of two survivors and their helplessness, of two very beaten destinies, at the end and at the beginning of their lives.
Although the story sticks to a sober realism at times quite hard, it does not skimp on opportune touches of a very Italian humor by Rosa herself and genuinely moving moments where deep sadness, the irremediable, hope and consolation are mixed .
As Madame Rosa says: "when you lose hope, good things happen"
Review:
Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren) is a former Auschwitz surviving prostitute. In her home, Bari, she temporarily shelters the sons and daughters of sex workers and also cares for them while they work. One day, her doctor and her friend Dr. Coen (Renato Carpentieri) entrusts her with the care of Momo, a 12-year-old Senegalese orphan of whom she was her guardian (Ibrahima Gueye), with whom they will begin a conflictive coexistence. .
I must confess that I had the worst precautions against this film by Edoardo Ponti (Loren's son and the also legendary producer Carlo Ponti), fearing a corny or demagogic product. But it has surprised me for good.
The painting of the two protagonists is very successful, an octogenarian Madame Rosa carrying as she can certain traumas from her past and the growing ailments of age and a Momo unwilling to give up her freedom and a certain economic independence, based on sales work of drugs on the street for a local dealer.
From now on, the issue of African immigration to southern Italy is brought to the fore, as well as a very evident class gap when we see Momo and her clients. Like every child, Momo desperately needs male and female guardian figures to guide and nurture him.
Madame Rosa's encounter with Momo is that of two survivors and their helplessness, that of two fates that were hit hard at the end and at the beginning of life, and although the story sticks to a sober realism at times quite hard, it spares no opportune touches of a very Italian humor by Rosa herself and genuinely moving moments where deep sadness, the irremediable, hope and consolation are mixed.
Loren gives us a great character, totally anti-glamorous and lovable, while the little newcomer Gueye perfectly interprets that combination of disoriented child and small adult.