La signora senza camelie [The Lady Without Camelias] (1953)

(On Cable TV, April 2022) I repeat myself, but here goes: Italian neorealism boo; Italian expressionism yay. (Or, in other words: Early Fellini zzzz, later Fellini woo-hoo.) Given that prejudice, The Lady Without Camelias had a hill to climb before I started enjoying myself… but it did. Sort of. While it’s clearly a work of mimetic realism (sigh), it does have the added appeal of taking place in the early-1950s Italian cinema industry, offering a passing glimpse at filmmakers while showing the various problems of a beautiful woman trying to build a career as an actress. Writer-director Michelangelo Antonioni does have an undeniable asset in Lucia Bosé, as she plays a young woman swept up in the movie business for her looks, but having to deal with the vagaries of producers trying to mould her into something specific, men vying for her affection and the passing of time and hype. Anyone curious about getting a glimpse of Cinecitta before the Hollywood-on-the-Tiber era will get at least one good panning shot of the studio. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get enthusiastic about much of the rest of the film, which treads more familiar grounds. Still, the meta-movie aspect of The Lady Without Camelias is undeniable, and distinguishes the film from its contemporaries.