Antonio Magnano is 30 years old and living in Rome for the past ten years.The second world war is just about to begin. Although he is a lawyer, he does not work, because his rich parents in Catania pay for his life style. After a telephone call from his father in which he informs him that he knows of his love affair with a wife of a justice minister he tells him that he can't give him any more money. But Antonio still does not want to come home. After second phone call from his father in which he informs him that he can't pay for his apartment he agrees to come home. That same day he meets Julia Rosenberg, who is a refugee from Poland. She is a photographer and Antonio invites her to his apartment, but after a passionate kissing something changes in him and he can not continue. Julia invites him to come with her to London where her brother lives, but Antonio decides to return to Catania. When he arrives to Catania he finds that nothing is changed and that there are old rules he must obey. Unlike the first movie with Marcello Mastroianni the story about Beautiful Antonio is far more complexest. The story evolves around the fascism in Italy and how unwillingly Antonio is to be part of it. Cinematography is also very good, it is like you stepped out of a train and you are back in Italy just before the second world war. The stage is set for a very good story and everything looks believable. Nothing is left unexplained. Danielle Liotti does not play Antonio as just a womanizer but he gives his character a depth. In the scene where he speaks little English I suspect that unlike his character the actor knows it quite well. For me the best looking scene was the one when he meets Julia in Rome by the famous fountain Di Trevi a day before he returns for Catania. The soundtrack of the movie is simply wonderful!
