Valerio Zurlini
La ragazza con la valigia

LA RECENSIONE

 The story of this pleasant film begins with a handsome fellow walking with a beautiful girl, who at a certain point, tired of her, deceitfully leaves her practically in the middle of the street: from there unfold the splendid images that the director offers us, imbued with poetry and feelings that he manages to paint in a light and gentle way, while highlighting the class differences still present in early 1960s Italian society, leading to a bitter ending.

Zurlini manages above all to mix a certain irony with a certain despair, which reminded me of some protagonists of Almodovar's films. In fact, the protagonist, a splendid Claudia Cardinale, still dubbed (but this time rightly so) by Adriana Asti, encounters quite a few situations, although with her simplicity, with her being naive, she seems to bring them upon herself while simultaneously making us smile, as the director, thanks to the magnificent performance of Jacques Perrin, shows us all the tenderness and sweetness and strength of the passion of first love in a boy barely older than an adolescent.

The beauty of this film lies precisely in these insights into the characters' inner lives, in the continuous dialogue of glances, silences, and nuances highlighted by the chiaroscuro that the director often uses on the faces of the two protagonists.

The music is itself a part of the film; in fact, some scenes speak only through images and the underlying music, with songs like "Il nostro concerto" by Bindi, "Impazzivo per te" by Celentano, or "Il cielo in una stanza" by Paoli, further enhancing the atmosphere and painted lyricism.