This week, I watched the film, Voyage to Italy, also known as Journey to Italy. The movie, I believe, is an unconventional film. I consider this movie as a documentary in which the director, Roberto Rossellini, wants to convey his passion for making films and Italy. The movie tells a story about a couple, Alex and Katherine Joyce. They have inherited a big house from “Uncle Homer” so that they have to go to Italy by driving a car to sell this house.
The whole movie pays attention to describe the middle-class couple’s trip to Italy and their changing relationship. Through their traveling, we can see the real environment where people lived after World War II. During their journey, they found they have trouble getting along with each other, and they went to different places in Italy without the company of each other. Fortunately, they made up at last. They reckoned that they need mutual tolerance and understanding. However, I don’t think it is a happy ending, and I feel gloomy from the whole movie. I can see the spirit of all Europeans living after World War II. The majority of them tended to bury their head in the sand, and fit into the world, rather than transforming Europe to a better place.
I have read some critical articles about this film. Opinions vary from one author to another. In Martin’s interview video, he thought highly about this movie. He said, “The movie is full of intimate personal details,” and also gave some movie clips to prove his view. After watching the movie clip he chose, I agree with him that Rossellini did an excellent job in dealing with details. Martin also pointed out that neo-realist movement in World War II had an impact on the film. I do some research on the Internet, and I found that Rossellini is the representative of neorealism. No wonder that he conveyed thoughts about neorealism in Voyage to Italy. That is to say; if I could put this movie in the background of that time, I can understand the theme of the film. The director wanted to tell us the Italian suffering of war and hard life, and he condemns the social injustice. He wanted to urge people at that time to seek real life, rather than escaping from reality.
In a journalistic resource of this film, Revisiting a Rossellini Classic to Find Resonances of Today, written by A. O. Scott, he mentioned the movie failed to hit the headline when it came out. The film flopped at the box office, raking in a small amount of money. When the film first came out, there were many suspicious voices around it. The audience at that time found it difficult to accept the ideas conveyed by the movie because they have suffered a lot from the war. At the same time, Scott analyzed the reason why the film failed. From his words, we can find the director’s love affairs have a terrible influence on the movie. The scandal blurred people’s focus on the film itself. That is to say, the surrounding things about the movie usually distract the audience’s attention.
The academic resources, 16-Voyage to Italy (1953), focused more on plots and shortcomings of the movie. I find the main difference between the journalistic resource and the academic one is that the former contains footnotes and references, but the later often lacks those elements. What’s more, the former is more precise. The author of 16-Voyage to Italy (1953) believed that the director focused more on the relationship between two leading actors and neglect the society they lived. I don’t quite agree with him on this point. I prefer to think the director made the couple as a microcosm of that time, reflecting the features of that era.
I watch Voyage to Italy after reading those critical reviews related to this film. The resources I read help me understand the movie well. Besides enjoying the landscape in Italy, I realize the World War II do has a destructive influence on Italians. People at that time failed to enjoy this movie because they haven’t recovered from the terrible war. People living in a later time can think calmly about the topics in this movie. Then, reviews about the movie become to turn bullish on the film. In short, war could harm people, but time could cure them.
The most touched plot in this movie is when Alex and Katherine were in Pompeii. They went to see a plaster cast of a couple newly discovered in this city. The dead couple embraced with each other. The couple alive was shocked at the scene. Katherine even began to cry, walking away from the site. Alex followed her, walked down steps, and had a talk with her at a staircase. They became to know that everything is so small and fragile when disasters come. There is a slight chance that lover could die together, which allowed them to cherish time, life, and people they loved. I believe it is one of the essential opinions the director wanted to convey. It made me realize the importance of time and love. I will cherish my family and not waste time on the trivial thing.
In conclusion, I’m happy to watch this movie, not only for its beautiful landscape in Italy but also for its profound connotation.
List of sources
Martin Scorsese on the Films of Roberto Rossellini
Revisiting a Rossellini Classic to Find Resonances of Today
A digitized version of an article from The Times’ print archive
It’s interesting that this film flopped in the box office at first. It seems to have a lot of elements including romance and cultural aspects. Your resource by A.O. Scott indicates that the movie might have failed because of the director’s affair scandals, but even so this film has stood the test of time. I learned that this movie is much more than just a love story, and it focuses on the life of the people in Italy after losing World War II.
This movie seems to have a little of everything, romance, pain, and adventure so i am a little surprised that you felt a little gloomy after watching it. You did a great job explaining why you felt gloomy and because of that i feel a little less inclined to watch this movie as i am a sucker for a happy ending! i hope one day to watch this movie and hoping that i will be happy with the ending
Hello Hui-Zhong,
I really enjoyed your review. I think I have to agree with you that this film came at a time too early for people to enjoy. The wounds from WWII most certainly seemed to have influenced this movie’s initial release.
As you point out though, it is a classic. I really admired your comment, “Then, reviews about the movie become to turn bullish on the film. In short, war could harm people, but time could cure them.” I think it describes the healing that occurred long after this film was released which was followed by a great appreciation for it.
After watching and reviewing this movie I reached similar conclusions such as the unconventional tone to the movie. I agree the happy ending didn’t really feel all that satisfying. In my opinion the pair were better off separated. You connected the movie towards the post WWII Europe which applies to the gloomy undertones in the film. Your sources are very clean and something I can condense in my own writing.
Hi HUI-ZHONG,
I especially like what you said: “war can hurt people, but time can heal them. Lovers are less likely to die together, which makes them value time, life and loved ones. Hope that time can take away the pain, bring people away from the origin of the sadness, life will continue to move forward, with love and hope to heal the injured. You think something around the movie will attract people’s attention. I have learned some new ideas from it. Should the audience pay more attention to the movie itself rather than the director’s life when they are enjoying the movie? I really appreciate the way you mentioned in your article. After watching a film, you go to the Internet to look up the relevant history and understand the film based on the historical background at that time. I think it is very necessary.
Hui Zhong,
I recently read Connor’s post about this same film and am pleased to see you also commented in Rossellini’s affair with Ingrid. I really liked the comment from Revisiting a Rossellini Classic to Find Resonances of Today, written by A. O. Scott. This provided a neat fact about the film when it came out. I personally like the fact that the affair happened and that the general public knew about it. Regardless of the negative impacts it gave the film, it also provided a unique aspect that a lot of films of that time did not have at all.