- Two Women
"Two Women" (Original title: "La Ciociara", literally translated as "The Woman from
Ciociaria ") is a 1960Academy Award -winningItalian language film which tells the story of a woman trying to protect her teenaged daughter from the horrors of war. The film starsSophia Loren ,Jean-Paul Belmondo ,Eleonora Brown ,Carlo Ninchi andAndrea Checchi and was directed byVittorio De Sica .The film was adapted by De Sica and
Cesare Zavattini from the novel of the same name written byAlberto Moravia .ynopsis
The story centers on a mother, Cesira (Loren), a widowed Roman shopkeeper, and Rosetta (Brown), her devoutly religious teenage daughter, during
World War II . Amid Allied bombing of Rome, Cesira and her daughter flee south to her nativeCiociaria , a poor, mountainous region of Italy.There, Cesira attracts the attention of a young local intellectual with
communist sympathies, Michele (Jean-Paul Belmondo ). However, Michele is eventually taken prisoner by a company of German soldiers, who hope to use him as a guide to the mountainous terrain. Later Cesira learns that he has been found dead.For months, the two women await the arrival of the Allied forces. But liberation brings unexpected tragedy. On their way home, the pair are
rape d byGoumier s (Moroccan allied soldiers) serving in theFrench Army , and the daughter suffers anervous breakdown .Awards
The film won the
Academy Award for Best Actress (Sophia Loren). It was the first time an actress won an acting award for a non-English speaking role.Remakes
"La Ciociara" was remade for
television in1988 . It was adapted byDiana Gould ,Lidia Ravera ,Dino Risi andBernardino Zapponi . It was directed by Risi and starred Loren,Robert Loggia ,Leonardo Ferrantini ,Dario Ghirardi andSydney Penny .External links
*imdb title|id=0054749|title=Two Women
* [http://www.archive.org/details/LaCiociaraTwoWomen1 La Ciociara] atInternet Archive
* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2998958434573915467 The complete film (dubbed into English) on-line] atGoogle Video
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