VIAGGIO IN ITALIA directed by Roberto Rossellini (Italy, 1954)
George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman are Mr & Mrs Joyce who have embarked on a less than idyllic holiday in Naples. In this journey to Italy, Neapolitan love songs fill the air but fail to establish a romantic mood and end up being as annoying as the insects.
Mr Joyce describes the vacation as a business trip although he seems more interested in charming the local women than working.
This well-heeled couple are plainly unused to being alone together and spend most of this ‘quality time’ bickering and pointing out each other’s defects; he is selfish, she is sentimental etc, etc, etc.
While he’s off with his own cronies, she’s left to entertain herself. He’s like a suave ladies’ man who has either lost his skills as a womanizer or can’t be bothered to make the effort anymore. He picks up a local prostitute in his Rolls Royce but can’t bring himself to go through with the transaction. Continue reading
