Italian filmmaker Valerio Zurlini’s spellbinding
wartime romantic tragedy Estate Violenta
and its immediate follow-up Girl with a
Suitcase make a great double bill. Though there are major departures
between the two, they also share the basic storyline of a guy falling for,
against societal conventions, with an older woman. The guy here is Lorenzo
(Jacques Perrin), a 16-year old boy belonging to a wealthy family. When his
elder brother Marcello ditches his girlfriend with callous irresponsibility, he
meets Aida (Claudia Cardinale), who is homeless and penniless on account of
having left her job as a singer and fled with Marcello. Though Lorenzo’s initial
intent was to lend a sympathetic shoulder to her, almost immediately he gets
enamoured with the ravishingly beautiful and melancholic lady, and before long
he is head over heels in love with her. Though Aida becomes aware of the young
lad’s growing feelings for her, displayed not just by the enormous attention he
starts giving her (at the risk of getting into bad books with his stern
aunt-cum-guardian) but also by the surreptitiously arranged money he starts showering
on her, she continues to keep him at an arm’s length. Though, unlike the
earlier film, this was largely devoid of political subtexts and consequent
undercurrents, the bittersweet relation that the lonely Lorenzo develops with
the equally lonely Aida managed to be both uplifting and tragic. Gorgeously
shot in B/W and comprising of a lovely score (two more traits it shared with
the earlier film), the fluid narrative, the non-intrusive and non-judgemental treatment,
and matured performances by the two leads, made this a memorable depiction of
first love and first heartbreak.
Director: Valerio Zurlini
Genre: Drama/Romance
Language: Italian
Country: Italy
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