The first fifteen minutes or so of this film consists of a mini-documentary setting the scene as Adolf Hitler makes the train journey from Germany to meet with King Vittorio Emanuele III and Benito Mussolini in Rome to seal this friendship pact in 1938. The extensive archive footage is overlaid with a propagandist style of commentary that would have entirely fitted the cinema screenings at the time extolling the might of the Italian Empire and their new, invincible, allies. It's a grand celebration in Rome that the family of "Antonietta" (Sophia Loren) are to attend. Her husband "Emanuele" (John Vernon) takes their six children to the party whilst she remains at home attending to her chores. It's while they are away that she encounters her neighbour "Gabriele" (Marcello Mastroianni). Until recently he was an announcer on state radio but no longer. An intense few hours, and a mynah bird with a mind of it's own, sees us introduced in more depth to both characters and to discover why he is no longer on air, not at the parade and why she is less than contented with her drudge of a life. It's the intensity of the hour or so we spend in this couple's company that challenges many stereotypes of expected and tolerable behaviour in the 1930s - and not just in Italy either. The scripting is poignant and delivered sometimes calmly and then as if all hell were breaking lose - and Loren is on great form exploding the exasperation of "Antonietta" all over their apartment. The conclusion is to be expected - on just about every front - but as the audio continually reminds us of what the rest of the population are up to, the intimate story of these two, flawed, people is well told.
