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Bellissima

Play trailer Poster for Bellissima 1951 1h 52m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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80% Tomatometer 5 Reviews 88% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A stage mother (Anna Magnani) enters her plain little girl (Tina Apicella) in a prettiest-child-in-Rome contest.

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Bellissima

Critics Reviews

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader 01/01/2000
Perhaps the most unjustly neglected of Luchino Visconti's early films is this hilarious 1951 comedy. Go to Full Review
Penelope Houston The Spectator 06/19/2018
It lacks the emotional validity needed for the denouement. Go to Full Review
Sean Axmaker Parallax View 04/25/2015
... this is about ruthless competition to break into show business with Anna Magnani as the working-class woman turned aggressive stage mother ... Go to Full Review
James Plath Movie Metropolis 04/29/2012
8/10
A great introduction to the work of Anna Magnani and Italian neorealist director Luchino Visconti. The dialogue overlaps and everyone speaks quickly, so in all honesty it's a challenge to watch in Italian with English subtitles. But it's also rewarding. Go to Full Review
TV Guide 08/28/2006
3/4
In addition to being a beautifully told story, Bellissima is the first honest self-portrait of the cinema. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Alain E @AlainE 12/19/2024 A fantastic early film of Luchino Visconti in the best neorealist tradition. An excellent restored copy with English subtitles is available free on YouTube. Reading other reviews you can see that there are many avenues of misunderstanding. A “professional “ thinks that this tragic film is a comedy. Some people who obviously never visited any country outside US except on a cruise, find it too loud. I am from Southern Europe and I can testify that Greeks, Italians, Spaniards are loud. The late Anna Magnani is superb. An ambitious poor woman sees a way to get out of her limited circumstances by enrolling her young daughter in a talent search in the Italian Hollywood (Cinecitta). She is willing to spend her savings in the process, but not to trade sexual favors with the lecherous agent she is in contact with. She comes very close to achieving her goal, but when she realizes how cruel these people are, she retreats and keeps her and her family’s dignity. Hilarious! Correct? See more Judith K 01/22/2024 Anna Magnani and the other actors in the film were all overacting to the max, often screaming and shouting. This is supposed to be an Italian neorealist film that is comic, but I didn't find it very funny because the script created characters who were mostly stereotypical Italian caricatures. I would not have finished the film but for the fact that I am taking an Italian class and it was the subject of a class discussion. See more Dani G 11/23/2023 Not bad... But too loud! Many screaming from all the characters and in almost every scene, very italian.... See more 09/26/2021 Os italianos tão temperamentais de sangue quente e com seu jeitinho, genuinamente brasileiro, são os europeus que mais se assemelham a nossa, sangue latino, mais que os portugueses, por vezes mais frios, aqui temos um belo exemplar de uma mãe "espertinha" e destemida, com vizinhos acalorados, e uma crítica a atuação e desgaste das crianças no mundo da arte... See more laurent b 07/29/2021 One of the most moving and vibrante portrait of a woman. A great film about all the dreams and illusions that creates cinema industry, but mainly a film about the love of a mother for her child. The film has kept a very good rythme, it is sometimes funny, but always very intelligent. A masterpiece. See more 02/27/2020 I'm currently in a Visconti phase: Rocco and His Brothers, The Leopard, Senso and now Bellissima. Out of all of them this is by far his weakest and by today's standards, completely inappropriate. Anna Mangani overacts all over the place as a pathetic stage mother who seems to care nothing for her 5 or 6 year old daughter who seems to be directed to either stare blankly forward, recite poem or cry. A lot of the scenes seem improvised but I'm not sure. The dialogue rambles on and on. I almost didn't finish it. See more Read all reviews
Bellissima

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Movie Info

Synopsis A stage mother (Anna Magnani) enters her plain little girl (Tina Apicella) in a prettiest-child-in-Rome contest.
Director
Luchino Visconti
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Runtime
1h 52m
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