Under the Sign of Venus

Italy, 1955 | 96 minutes | Italian | Hebrew subtitles

Sophia Loren plays Agnese, a beautiful young woman who attracts men even though she prefers to avoid relationships with them. Franca Valeri plays her unattractive cousin, who is דווקא looking for a partner. Risi wrote the screenplay together with Cesare Zavattini, one of the godfathers of neorealism, but Risi’s direction is ironic and free-spirited, and the performances he draws from his stars (Loren, De Sica, Alberto Sordi) turned Under the Sign of Venus into his first commercial hit, one that takes sharp aim at Italian chauvinism. This is a magnificent classic, demonstrating Risi’s ability to maintain the right distance from his characters: a combination of empathy and ridicule that manages to elicit a smile while also stirring the emotions.