Adua and Her Friends

When a brothel closes because of new laws, four of the prostitutes decide to go into business running a restaurant. They discover they cannot escape their past.

European films (particularly French and Italian) seem to have some strange preoccupation with brothels and prostitution, often glamorizing it. Here is more of that, with these four ladies coming across as fiercely independent. Not impossible, but probably not the most common sort of folks who worked the trade.

What makes this film interesting, at least historically, is that it was made in response to an actual law that shut down brothels. And, indeed, it does raise that question: where are prostitutes to go? They have an unusual skill set, odd references... and respectability is limited.

Very fine, gloriously black and white, very well acted drama involving four girls who decide to pool their resources and run a restaurant together when their brothel is closed down. There are so many moments where this could easily have become sentimental and doesn't and is much to the director's credit that this looks so good throughout. The jazz soundtrack is a great help as are the snatches or 'real life' - the steam trains rushing below car dealer Mastroianni's window, the fine moment in the main street when he passes off Signoret's failing car to another whilst slipping her into one more. But the best of all such sequences is the final shot upon the cobblestoned street in the pouring rain and without a cloying close-up, we all know exactly what the facial expression is. As I say all the acting is good but Signoret particularly puts in another excellent performance where she ranges from sexy to sad and energetic to dejected, but perhaps best of all her verbal onslaught upon 'the landlord'.

Anybody who saw this film upon it's original British release under the title 'Hungry for Love' would have suffered a grievous disappointment to discover that behind the provocative title there actually lay an ambling bittersweet anecdote showcasing the ripe charms of Simone Signoret as an earth mother presiding over a quartet of tarts with hearts who in the Italian way are more concerned with preparing food than making love.

The characters smoke so much - to the extent that Signoret inquires of a youthful Marcello of his constant renewal of cigarettes "Is it to save matches?" - it should carry a health warning. Piero Piccioni provides the proceedings with a busy jazz score, while Armando Nannuzi's mobile photography glides gracefully through both the palatial interiors and the surrounding landscape.

Antonio Pietrangelli's ADUA E LE COMPAGNE (ADUA AND HER FRIENDS) is a slice of Italian neo-realist film-making.

Legal brothels have just been banned, and now four professional girls must find a new occupation. Adua (Simone Signoret, Room at the Top, Ship of Fools), Milly (Gina Rovere, Life is Beautiful, and Best Actress winner for this film at the Avellino Neorealism Film Festival), Lolita (Sandra Milo, Juliet of the Spirits, nominated for Best Supporting Actress for this film by Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists), and Marilina (Emmanuelle Riva, Hiroshima Mon Amour) create a restaurant with the plan to make an illicit brothel of the upstairs rooms.

When obstacles prevent opening their restaurant, they turn to Dr. Ercoli (Claudio Gora), a local "fixer" who'll make the license happen, but only for a price. They carry on, but know the past will eventually come knocking. With a restaurant that's slowly becoming successful, and the attentions of car salesman Piero (Marcello Mastroianni), Adua and the girls adjust to their new lives. One starts a new romance; another reconnects with her young son.

If you are looking for titillation in a story about four prostitutes, you need to look elsewhere, as this film, with some stirring jazz, focuses on the characters in transition.

What a perfect piece of Italian neorealism this is. I am seriously wondering why it is not included in all of the usual lists with I ladri di biciclette, Umberto D, Roma Citta Aperta, etc. A gripping story about the life of prostitutes and how they struggle to survive against all the odds. Also a story about classism and hypocrisy, more generally. Simone Signoret is excellent as always, but so is Emanuelle Riva. Plus Marcello Mastroianni plays the consummate cad. All in all, extremely well done with a gripping story and a searing look at politics and classism in Italy.

Highly recommended.