Two Women (Original title: La Ciociara, literally translated as "The Woman from Ciociaria") is a 1960 Academy Award-winning Italian language film which tells the story of a woman trying to protect her teenaged daughter from the horrors of war. The film stars Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Eleonora Brown, Carlo Ninchi and Andrea Checchi and was directed by Vittorio De Sica. The film was adapted by De Sica and Cesare Zavattini from the novel of the same name written by Alberto Moravia.

Synopsis

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 native Ciociaria, a poor, mountainous region of Italy.

There, Cesira attracts the attention of a young local intellectual with communist sympathies, Michele (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 raped by Goumiers (Moroccan allied soldiers) serving in the French Army, and the daughter suffers a nervous 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 in 1988. It was adapted by Diana Gould, Lidia Ravera, Dino Risi and Bernardino Zapponi. It was directed by Risi and starred Loren, Robert Loggia, Leonardo Ferrantini, Dario Ghirardi and Sydney Penny.

External links

• La Ciociara at Internet Archive
• The complete film on-line at Google Video

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