Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Keira Brennan The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Walter Sloane Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

lasttimeisaw A Rossellini-Bergman Neo-realism drama takes place in the post-war Rome, Italy. Bergman plays Irene, an elegant socialite, the wife of a wealthy capitalist George Girard (Knox, in his cold, unimpressionable and unpleasant patina), together they have a young son Michele (Franchina), who feels constantly neglected by his parents, especially Irene, with whom he has spent the dreadful bombing days in England during WWII. Thus, on the occasion of one of the regular dinner gatherings hosted at home, Michele impulsively attempts a suicidal jump to grab his parents's attention, only later passes away from a blood clot.Irene lapses into guilt and depression after the bereavement, she grows apart from George, who insists they should shake off the mourning period together. With the help of a close friend Andrea Casatti (Giannini), Irene is introduced for the first time to the hardships of the poverty-stricken living in "the other side of Rome", which has eluded her thus far. In her conscience-driven commitment, Irene throws herself in helping out those who are in urgent need: defraying the medicine expense of a deprived family to save a young boy's life; finding a job and standing in for a poor but spirited woman (Masina), who has six children to tend (three are her own kids, the rest are orphans); taking care of an ailing prostitute Ines (Pellati) in her last days. She transforms herself into a modern-day saint.But a saint always invites persecution in an unjust world, George, holding his own grudge and gnawing jealousy (he accuses Irene of having an affair with Andrea) against her, cannot stand her constant absence in the household and refuses to take her side with respect to her newly occupied activities. When she conducts a misdemeanour to help a young criminal to evade arrest, George and his lawyer conspire to put her in a mental institution, thinking that a spell of solitude is what she needs the most to resume her social and familial duty as a wife of an important businessman. Irene doesn't defy the ungrounded internment, instead, it strengthens her unerring advocacy of a pure conception of altruism, an act superior of any religious beliefs or political slants. In the final stage of the film, she regains her peace and abides by her conviction in front the review board, who then collectively decides that she should be locked up there permanently, only those who have been aided by her affectionately call her their patron saint, her martyrdom is aptly consummated.Bergman's performance is faultless, albeit the fact that her dialog was completely dubbed in post- production, it is a performance demands immeasurable investment from a thespian's emotional gamut (most of the time, those heart-rending moments are obtrusively intensified by Renzo Rossellini's highfalutin score), persistently expressive and emotive, her saintly appearance has taken shape through all the ordeal she experiences or witnesses, only Bergman can succeed in eliciting such powerful empathy without telegraphing an air of contrivance, Irene Girard is one of the absolute highlights in her prestigious career.In the end of the day, what can new audience say about the central story? Is Irene's self-inflicted sacrifice is a truly commendable virtue? Or, in a more pragmatic stance, her incarceration basically blocks herself from practicing the noble cause to assist the impoverished, she might acquire the tranquility she particularly yearns for after the loss of her son, yet, if that is the case, it contradicts the whole concept of her irreproachable devotion of altruism, the vestige of selfishness betrays from her final gesture, it seems, in order to find the ultimate peace in herself, she barters it with the actual good deeds she would have done if she chooses to accept her old role as a stopgap. With her wealth and wisdom, there are many ways she can continue her philanthropic endeavour, if she really puts her mind into it. That's the divide between then and now, a lofty, masochistic crucifixion is not fashionable and favourable any more, especially there is a more sensible alternative one can choose, pragmatism prevails in today's standpoint.

brujavu This film should make you think. As children (and even as adults), we are constantly being told to love our fellow man, that the least among us is the greatest in God's eye, that faith without acts is worthless, etc. But try to put these principles into practice, and you will be considered eccentric at best, and a lunatic at worst. When you try to live according to the values that everyone else around you is paying lip service to, you will find out what their real values are. How can your duty to your fellow man, your sense of wanting to ease the suffering of the sick, wounded or lonely, ever compete with your social obligations or your spouse's selfish needs for your company and perhaps even your servitude, even if he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and would do well to join you in your efforts to help those less fortunate than yourself? Perhaps you can get support from your local clergyman? Don't count on it. He will be the first to sign the papers committing you to an insane asylum. You're better off living the high life and just quietly making a weekly contribution to his collection box! One of the most provocative movies of the 20th century.

JLRMovieReviews Ingrid Bergman stars in this film made with her director husband Roberto Rossellini about a well-off wife and mother who finds out how to really make a difference after tragedy strikes her family.It does tend to get a little melodramatic, but, unlike some films that feel like two different halves, this manages to become something else in the second half without forcing it too much. Also, the writing and dialogue is very intelligent and moving, most of the time. A few lines may you feel like you're being preached at and it sometimes feels like the movie's trying too hard to be self-important for its own good. But overall, this has to be one of Ingrid Bergman's better foreign films she made with Rossellini.Oh, and how did her husband manage to get her in there anyway? Just because she left him didn't make her crazy. Where she ultimately winds up may seem ridiculous and a little extreme to some viewers, but her great acting, as usual, and strong convictions makes the movie end on a high note, allowing the viewer see the bitter irony of life and sacrifice.

Edgar Soberon Torchia After filming stories about the resistance of the Italian people during the Fascist and Nazi regimes, and the story of a German child against the barren landscape of Berlin after the war, Roberto Rossellini made a movie about Francis of Assisi and started a love and work relationship with actress Ingrid Bergman. In his evolution to works like 'The Rise To Power of Louis XIV', he made a series of melodramas with Bergman, of which 'Stromboli' and 'Voyage To Italy' are always considered the most important. Add to that list this fine drama, in which bourgeois housewife Irene suffers a transformation when confronted with the misery of those who had not been benefited with the European 'economic miracle.' Considered a saint by those she helped (Giulietta Masina included), Rossellini makes quite obvious that Irene reached that state by detouring from the usual roads she took as the wife of a prominent industrialist (Alexander Knox.) Not only has she a Marxist cousin –who curiously does not preach his philosophy, but gives Irene advise whenever she talks about the misery she is discovering- but she also ventures into the slums, helps a single mother, a prostitute and a thief. The final section of the movie reminded me of 'María de mi corazón', a latter film written by Gabriel García Márquez, based on a real story. As in 'María…' there is neither opportunity nor chance to explain clearly what she's going through to husband or authorities, leading her to a dead end of desperation. Only sainthood will save her from the dehumanization around her.