Una giornata particolare (1977)'s comments

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Siskoid

Wow wow wow wow... A Special Day is special indeed. A delicate and elegant film about fascism's "accepted oppression" set in 1938 Italy, in fact on the day Hitler came to visit Rome. A national holiday, everyone races out to the parade, but our two leads have a reason to stay home. Sophia Loren is a shabby, tired housewife, one who accepts fascism's proposed values. Marcello Mastroianni is a gay subversive (but only really subversive for daring to exist) living across the courtyard in the same apartment complex. Both are playing against type, but they have such star power, it hardly matters, and though a romance would seem impossible from that precis, nevertheless something develops between them over the course of that one day. And throughout, the state propaganda blares out from the nasty concierge's radio, inescapable. One character is obviously oppressed, but so is the other, and the sad part is her realizing she is. Fascist values - which then as now must curtail the rights of women - once comforted her in her unhappy marriage, but after this one day's idyll, no longer. At the end, like the parroting myna bird that allowed for their meeting, they return to their cages. The acting is impeccable. The sepia-toned cinematography cheats us into thinking this is about the past. Great use of location. Wonderful on every level.

3 years 12 months ago

Nilofarish

Very good movie. Marcello Mastroianni is very good in this movie. And I always love to see a movie with the great Sophia Loren in it.

14 years ago

George Bailey

Amazing

12 years 5 months ago

boulderman

Very good, the acting, framing and dialogue in particular. Felt like a play. Enjoyed the neorealism and set/locations

3 years 3 months ago

MMDan

Comes out on Criterion 13 October 2015.

8 years 8 months ago

xianjiro

I've been debating. I really admire this film, but just can't bring myself to mark it as 'favorite'. I thought it both provocative and moving with magnificent performances by both Loren and Mastroianni, but it's sad and disturbing at the same time in its recognition of historic fact. I'm glad I saw it and will recommend it to anyone interested in the portrayal of homosexuality in cinema, but I don't imagine I'd purchase a copy or go to the effort of tracking it down a second time. For me, it's like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - once is all I need. Experience had. Emotions felt. Performances recognized.

9 years ago

Panunzio

Amazing film! Despite beginning with documentary footage of grand parades and spectacles surrounding the declaration of the alliance of Europe's two major fascist powers, the movie is really an excellent kammerspiel.

The interplay and chemistry between the two leads is amazing, and the characters individual back stories really shine against the political backdrop. Besides the performances, the real star of the show is the cinematography. The framing and camera movements are superb. A real treat!

2 years 7 months ago