The Wide Blue Road (1957) La grande strada azzurra
The Wide Blue Road (1957)
DVDRip | MKV | 640x384 | x264 @ 1480 Kbps | 99 min | 1,20 Gb
Audio: Italiano AC3 2.0 @ 224 Kbps | Subs: English (embedded in MKV)
Genre: Drama, Romance
DVDRip | MKV | 640x384 | x264 @ 1480 Kbps | 99 min | 1,20 Gb
Audio: Italiano AC3 2.0 @ 224 Kbps | Subs: English (embedded in MKV)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Directors: Gillo Pontecorvo, Maleno Malenotti
Writers: Franco Solinas (novel), Ennio De Concini (screenplay)
Stars: Yves Montand, Alida Valli, Francisco Rabal
Squarciò, a fisherman, lives with his family on a small island off the Dalmatian coast of Italy. Like his fellow villagers, Squarciò struggles against harsh living conditions, a scarcity of fish in nearby waters and exploitation by the local wholesaler. But while the other fishermen continue to use nets, he goes out to the open sea to fish illegally with bombs. But Squarciò borrows money, loses his boat, and in a moment of supreme desperation, has to bomb directly off-shore, causing the hatred and rejection of his fellow fishermen. Trying to save his family, Squarciò and his young sons sail their new boat out beyond the local waters and bomb-fish again. But this time, the sea exacts a terrible toll…
Interesting, colorful and picturesque communist melodrama with a brilliant performance by Yves Montand as a dynamite fisherman trying to stay one step ahead of the law. Montand even does his own underwater swimming stunts as you can clearly see it's him swimming in the shots. I wouldn't say the photography's spectacular (the way "Bonjour Tristesse" shot on the French Riviera is spectacular) but it's certainly beautiful, though the colors seemed a little faded even in the restored print I saw. A little less overblown music would've been more to my taste, but I enjoyed the film nevertheless for what it was: "Old Man and the Sea" meets the "BicycleThief." The little blonde boy in the film is certainly very Bruno-like in his half-pint-acting-grown-up act, loudly gesturing and protecting his beautiful sister's (Federica Ranchi, ooffaaa!–giving Sophia Loren more than a good run for her money) 'honor' and everything! The film also contains the only shot I know of Montand giving 'the Italian arm salute' obscene gesture in front of his kids to the coast guard after he beats them to the punch during a very close-call; try to find someone flipping 'the finger' in an American Film of the period! Impossible. Pontecorvo was keeping it real way, way back before "Battle of Algiers" and "Burn!".
(click to enlarge)
The Wide Blue Road (1957) La grande strada azzurra
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