I Knew Her Well

This film is an elongated character study. The first hour drags, and I almost stopped watching. It picks up speed after that, but don't expect something uplifting.

Country girl moves to the "big city" to live an independent life and to pursue ambitions of succeeding in the entertainment industry. The IMDb summary already clues you in to the outcome. Ultimately, this movie relies upon the way it transpires; sadly, the ending offers more confusion than insight.

Don't be fooled by the reviews: it's not a masterpiece. Sorry, but it's not. It is definitely, however, and excellent example of what it means to flesh out a leading character. If it were made today, it would be a textbook example of the hidden manifestations of mental health issues.

This movie is very well know in Italy and certainly not a "hidden" masterpiece. Stefania Sandrelli gives a star-making performance as Adriana, the silly country girl who tries to navigate waters much too deep and dangerous for her intellectual level.

Adriana is rather ignorant and shallow, but pretty, outgoing and sensual and tries to climb the ladder of success "helped" by several men. Along the way, she has lots of flirts with despicable guys, among which one with Dario. The two spend a weekend at the beach and then Dario leaves her with the bill to pay, for which Adriana must use a bracelet Dario gave her.

This episode underlines not only Adriana's naivety, but also her lack of self-respect. After having been informed by the police that Dario is a gigolo and a thief and the bracelet he gave her stolen, she laughs and takes his defence.

The despicable male characters include famous actor Roberto and "talent scout" Cianfanna. It's most depressing to see the level of moral bankruptcy shared by all the show-biz characters. Only a boxer and a mechanic lack the cynicism of those working in the entertainment industry.

Adriana herself is just a pretty face with an empty head, devoid of self-awareness and pursuing a vague idea of 'success". She listens non-stop to silly pop music, loves dancing and doesn't mind having casual sex, but cannot even make a career out of prostitution, lacking the necessary cunning.

Unrooted from her country background, without any stable relations, without even the awareness of her loneliness, Adriana is just one of the million youngsters pursuing a sterile rebellion without a cause, which eventually will lead to her demise.

There is a scene from I Knew Her Well between Adriana (Stefania Sandrelli) and The Writer (Joachim Fuchsberger) that says a lot about the film:

The Writer: "Trouble is, she likes everything. She's always happy. She desires nothing, envies no one, is curious about nothing. You can't surprise her. She doesn't notice the humiliations, though they happen to her every day. It all rolls off her back like some waterproof material. Zero ambition. No moral code. Not even a whore's love of money. Yesterday and tomorrow don't exist for her. Even living for today would mean too much planning, so she lives for the moment. Sunbathing, listening to records, and dancing are her sole activities. The rest of the time she's mercurial and capricious, always needing brief new encounters with anyone at all... just never with herself."

Adriana: "I'm Milena, right? Is that what I'm like? Some sort of dimwit?"

The Writer: "On the contrary. You may be the wisest of all."

I couldn't encapsulate the brilliance of this incredibly well directed character essay any better.

Italian drama from director Antonio Pietrangeli. Stefania Sandrelli stars as a young woman working in a seaside beauty salon with dreams of becoming a movie star. Her efforts in that direction have mixed results.

This is more of a character study than a plot-driven narrative. It's also a critique on the exploitation of women. Sandrelli is very good as the beautiful Adriana, who's not so much ambitious as bored with her life. She's shallow in that way that beautiful young women can be when they don't have to exert much effort to move in social circles. However, she's also used by virtually everyone she meets, either for profit or pleasure, and Adriana is usually left alone and in the same place as where she started. Adriana's desire for change is also exhibited in her hairstyles - she sports more than a half dozen throughout the film.

Director Pietrangeli also makes the audience complicit in the exploitation of Adriana, with camera "ogling" like her much as her many suitors do. From what I've read, this film is also well-liked in Italy for the many mid-60's pop music hits heard on the soundtrack. Recommended.

Kind of a smaller version of La Dolce Vita with a female lead, this slice of 1960s Roman life is great in its own right. Stefania Sandrelli (probably best remembered as the woman who shared a sexy dance with Dominque Sanda in The Conformist) plays an aspiring actress and model who spends her nights partying her ass off and her mornings alone. The plot is pretty simple and pretty predictable, but director Pietrangeli shoots the film in a very experiential style - it feels like you're partying alongside Sandrelli, and it's just a really wonderful experience. Sandrelli herself is outstanding. It's a character that could come off as a cliché, but she plays her so knowingly and passionately. It's very, very easy to fall in love. The film is stuffed full of wonderful '60s pop songs (the only ones I recognized were by Millie Small, a Jamaican ska artist best known for her hit "My Boy Lollipop"), tremendous clothes and hairdos, and that crisp 1960s black and white. A must-see for anyone who loves the Italian films of this era.