Voyage in Italy

Sensitive and yet actually quite cruel. Two people who loved each other got married, and now they are looking for a way to be together - or to separate - on a trip through Italy. The amazing cast worked perfectly, and Sanders and Bergman are a captivating duo who make you believe in this seemingly ordinary journey at first sight. But you believe in their emotions even more, which are truly real. (12/01/2014)

The ebb and flow in the marital relationship of two characters - supplemented by the overlooked third character, the Italian people - expressed in a rather non-plot concept through precisely sensed interactions between the two English spouses and Italian culture, people, and of course, between each other. The joint arrival in Italy, the early internal and external separation where each then follows a different but essentially similar path (the husband gets rid of his cynicism and "English" seriousness = coldness, while the wife gets rid of her numbing romanticism), until they finally reunite in an embrace amidst the lazy, etc., but lively Italian procession. This ending (which was supposed to be more ambiguous according to Rossellini, although I also perceive it more as a "happy ending") is preceded by a series of scenes in which this ending is naturally prepared for us. Unfortunately, due to the brevity of the film, these "explanatory" scenes quickly follow one after another, and therefore I didn't always have a subtle existential feeling from the film, as I felt that they "only" fit into the scheme. In this regard, Antonioni is a few years ahead. (03/13/2014)