From 1945 to roughly 1957, Anna Magnani was revered internationally as one of the greatest dramatic actresses of her day. This film, L'Amore (1948), directed by her erstwhile lover, Roberto Rossellini, was designed expressly to showcase her amazing talent. It clearly succeeds in doing so.

Historical Background: Although it is Luchino Visconti who should be credited with first conceiving neo-realism with his film Ossessione (1942), by 1947, Roberto Rossellini (1906-1977) had milked the idea so effectively that he had made a name for both himself and the movement, all around the world. During World War II, Rossellini had found himself working for the government-controlled film industry directing propaganda pieces for the Fascist government. One of those films, The White Ship (1941), had begun as a documentary project, but ended up a fictional piece, using amateur actors. The mixing of documentary and fictional elements and use of nonprofessional performers were to become hallmarks of neo-realism, so Rossellini had inadvertently gained admission to the club. Rossellini also established friendships, during the war years, with writer/director Federico Fellini and actor Aldo Fabrizi, during the filming of A Pilot Returns (1942) and The Man of the Cross (1943).

Shortly before the liberation of Rome in 1943, Rossellini began shooting footage of the Nazi-occupation and the Italian resistance. That footage found its purpose when in 1945, he directed the first of his films in the neo-realistic style, Open City, teaming with Fellini (who wrote the script) and Fabrizi (who played one of the leads). Rossellini followed that triumph with Paisan (1946) and Germany, Year Zero (1947), completing is neo-realistic trilogy. While making Open City, Rossellini had taken up with his star actress, Anna Magnani, and the two became lovers. By the end of 1947, Rossellini was confident enough in both his own reputation and the box-office appeal of his lover to move away from the neo-realist movement to make a film which, as the opening credits state, would be an "homage to the art of Anna Magnani." The result was L'Amore.

L'Amore was composed of two short independent segments, both designed as vehicles for displaying Magnani's considerable talent. The first segment was entitled "The Human Voice" and the second "The Miracle." The Vatican denounced the latter segment as "a sacrilegious blasphemy." When the film was scheduled for screening in New York City, Cardinal Francis Spellman led a protest by religious leaders that culminated in the film board of New York suppressing the film before it was ever screened. That censorship was challenged in court and the case ultimately reached the Supreme Court of the United States. There, in a landmark decision, the Judges ruled that films are "a significant medium for the communication of ideas," thus extending First Amendment protections to cinematic expression. Obviously, that decision didn't rout the forces of censorship once and for all, but it certainly strengthened the hand of filmmakers. The New York Film Critics' Circle made clear their views in relation to censorship by picking this film as the Best Foreign Film in 1950.

Today, film collectors in America can find "The Miracle" segment of L'Amore in three different forms, though none of the three are easily located. One form, the original one, is illustrated by the product image that accompanies this review and pairs "The Miracle" with "The Human Voice" under the title L'Amore. One can also find "The Miracle" as a short film by itself (listed in the Epinions database as Miracle). Then, thirdly, "The Miracle" was once packaged by foreign film importer Joseph Burstyn on a video cassette entitled The Ways of Love, in combination with short films by Jean Renoir (A Day in the Country (1946)) and Marcel Pagnol (Jofroi (1933)).

Magnani's place of privilege in Rossellini's life was not to last much longer after the making of this film. Rossellini would soon begin a scandalous affair with Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, a relationship that spawned a volatile marriage and six films, of which only Stromboli (1949) is considered better than mediocre.

The Story: Neither segment of L'Amore provides a lot of plot, but both provide plenty of drama. "The Human Voice" is an adaptation of a one-act play by Jean Cocteau. There is only a single character – a woman, in anguish in her bedroom, who receives a call from her husband who has left her, presumably for another woman. What we hear and watch is basically one end of an extended telephone conversation, during which the woman vacillates between love and pain, clinging and letting go, gratitude and resentment, and self-possession and nervous breakdown.

In "The Miracle", Magnani plays Nanni, a simple-minded shepherdess, who believes that she has met Saint Joseph when a handsome vagabond (Federico Fellini) comes wandering through the meadow where she tends her flock. He plies her with wine and takes advantage of her after she passes out. Later, when she becomes pregnant, she continues to imagine that her child is divine and the son of the saintly apparition. She is mocked and scorned by the villagers but undertakes a kind of spiritual ascent to a vacant monastery atop a mountain, where she gives birth to her child.

Themes: "The Human Voice" is about the agonies of real love while "The Miracle" is about delusional and spiteful aspects of religiosity contrasted with the grace of genuine if naïve faith. I can't begin to fathom why "The Miracle" would be seen as sacrilegious. It would make no difference to me if it were, but it strikes me as downright reverential and transcendent.

Production Values: The screenplay for the "The Human Voice" was adapted by Rossellini himself from Cocteau's play. "The Miracle" was co-scripted with Fellini and one can see, here, an early indication of Fellini's preoccupation with religious symbols and paraphernalia. Both segments are fully intended as vehicles for Magnani's powerfully affecting dramatic performances. She is a woman of great emotional depth. The camerawork by Robert Julliard and Aldo Tonti is straightforward, resting for long periods of time in close-ups of Magnani's face in various stages of agony and ecstasy. There is also some fine landscape shots in the second segment. The lambs and goats virtually function as characters in the story. The print quality is pretty good for an old VHS tape not having the benefit of restoration. Renzo Rossellini, whose musical scores have not always impressed me, provided some beautifully lyrical music on this occasion.

During the liberation of Rome, Anna Magnani was popular with American servicemen, singing bawdy numbers in racy revues. She made such an impression with her appearance in Open City (1946) that the U.S. National Board of Review named her the Best Foreign Actress for that year. Although she lacked the glamour and beauty of the Hollywood divas of the day, her earthy qualities and dramatic talent soon established her as a major star, especially in Italy. De Sica called her Italy's finest actress and she ultimately won an Academy Award and New York Film Critics' Award as Best Actress, for The Rose Tattoo (1955). She got a second Oscar nomination two years later for Wild Is the Wind (1957). Magnani is very nearly the whole show in both segments of L'Amore. She is the only on-screen character in "The Human Voice." Although Fellini "costars" in "The Miracle," his is a non-speaking role (and his one and only acting credit). I've seen Magnani's performances in Open City (1945), The Golden Coach (1952), and Mamma Roma (1962), but, in my opinion, her powerful performances in both segments of L'Amore represent the finest work of her career.

Bottom-Line: "The Miracle" is the better of the two segments, with the advantage of a richer script, with Fellini's involvement. It's intriguing to get a good long look at Fellini as a young man during his performance as the stranger mistaken for Saint Joseph. Clearly, however, the main reason to see this film is to see an intense actress at the height of her powers delivering two powerfully emotional performances. These have to rank among the greatest bravura performances for an actress ever committed to celluloid. If you've got a taste for Italian melodramatic emotionality, you won't find better performances anywhere. L'Amore is in Italian with English subtitles.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age