Well, what do you know: I didn't shy away from another adaptation of a Tennessee Williams play. Perhaps its Academy nomination for Best Picture told me to give it a try.
In small-town Mississippi, immigrant seamstress Serafina (Anna Magnani) copes especially poorly for three years following sudden widowhood and miscarriage. After hearing a rumor of late husband Rosario's infidelity, she has a public breakdown. Trucker Alvaro (Burt Lancaster) takes her home, and the two gradually fall in love. But Serafina still has enough pride to worry about people learning of them, especially her teen daughter, Rosa (Marisa Pavan), whose budding relationship with a sailor (Ben Cooper) has been met with strict maternal suspicion.
How badly does Serafina cope? She barely leaves the house. She stops trying to look kempt. When she has company, she pays little attention except to scold them if they talk about men. She has trouble meeting deadlines for ordered clothes. She almost prevents Rosa from attending her high school graduation, for reasons that aren't abundantly clear -- something about not respecting the institution? Nor does she respect the institution of the Catholic Church anymore. Oh, she still prays, but she insists on cremation, can no longer stand to go inside the church building, and tries to coerce a priest to break the Seal of Confession.
I don't want to be too hard on Serafina. She does have to deal with some pretty despicable behavior by others. The paramour (Virginia Grey), who shares Rosario's titular chest tattoo, isn't the least bit sorry. Neighbors get awfully nosy and judgmental. The customer who breaks the adultery news is deliberately ungentle about it. Rosario dies resisting arrest during a smuggling operation. And yes, I'd say the police used undue force.
Thankfully, things get a lot less miserable once Serafina discovers Alvaro. Not that he's fully innocent himself, but this is where the basis on a play really shines: They have fine conversations to build upon, whether they're enjoying each other or working out differences.
In the end, TRT is about as uplifting as Williams gets. And to my mind, it doesn't sacrifice any credibility to get there, apart from asking us to accept Lancaster as Italian. It may not get the most kudos, but it should satisfy someone who's iffy on darker dramas.
No comments:
Post a Comment