Strangely absent from many Italian DVD stores, this Neorealist film, Stazione Termini (or, the American title, Indiscretions of an American Wife) with an American cast, is a delightfully intriguing and compelling film that, in many ways, signals an end to the era of neorealism, culminating in film that has taken this style and taking it as far as it can now possibly go (for one thing, the use of professional actors -- Montgomery Clift and Jennifer Jones -- seems an antithesis of neorealism but, when coupled with the use of the "everyman" local of Termini Station as well as the "regular joes" that the characters deal with throughout the film, it seems to work).
As Mary Forbes, played by Jennifer Jones, wanders through Termini Station, she is clearly wrought with guilt with having cheated on her husband, and De Sica throws at the viewer powerful symbolism and subtle clues that reinforce the complex plot of the story that the viewer learns about as the story unfolds.
Mary Forbes (known as Maria by Montgomery Clift's character, Giovanni Doria) has gone to Rome to visit her sister, leaving her husband (who she describes as unable to find his socks in the morning and somewhat incapable in domestic matters) and her young daughter, Caroline, back in Philadelphia. While it is unknown how long Mary has been in Rome, you get the impression through interactions with her nephew and through her own remarks that is has at least been some weeks. While in Rome, Mary has met the professor, Giovanni Dorio, and the two have seemingly embarked on a passionate affair, which Mary's sister and nephew seem unaware.
As the movie opens, Mary is seen heading to Giovanni's apartment to tell him that she can no longer see him. She struggles at the door, her hand poised over the buzzer. Does she hesitate because she doesn't know her feelings? I would argue that she hesitates because she is unsure of her own resolve in saying no to the dashing Italian. In a panic, she flees the building. This opening scene (sadly cut out of the American cut of the film) sets the stage for Mary's torment and indecision. As she tries to get to the station, you feel at first that fate doesn't want her to leave Giovanni in this cruel way, but then, fortuitously, being unable to hail a cab on her own (as she speaks no Italian), the Termini station bus rocks up to her very location.
Mary then arrives at the station and decides that she must leave Rome. If her own resolve cannot save her marriage, then perhaps a distance of thousands of miles will. She decides to phone her nephew. As she waits for the phone, a gentleman, seeing her impatience, offers her the phone, even giving her the change to pay for the call. This clumsy man continuously drops his apples, nervous at Mary Jones's obviously beauty and refinement. He is interested in her, but, because of her anxiety and narrow focus on getting her nephew, Paul, to deliver her things, clearly a symbol of Eve and demonstrating Mary's lack of resolve in coping with the consequences of her adulterous actions.
The film is also beautifully mastered in the way that the story unfolds not only with the two main characters and the nephew, Paul, but also with the interludes and sidebars that Mary Forbes and the rest of the cast have with the other passengers in the station. One of the most notable encounters is when Mary Forbes helps the sick pregnant woman, her three children and her husband. The woman begs Mary to help her, and Mary encourages the woman's husband to go to the First Aid station for aid. This is a reminder to Mary about her own filial obligations to her own daughter back in America. As the woman recovers, she says to Mary "I pray to the Madonna for you," reminding Mary that she too can still be a good wife. As Mary leaves with Paul, the woman's husband tells Mary what a good wife his wife has been to him and to his family, and Mary finally realizes what she must do.
After having slapped Mary brutally in Termini Station (this is one of the best scenes in the film -- the way in which De Sica makes the slap reverberate throughout the station, diverting the attention of everyone to Mary and even summoning her nephew, Paul, back to her aid), Mary and Paul take refuge in a waiting area. Mary tells Paul to go home, and Mary waits for her train. Giovanni finally finds her on the opposite side of the station and begins to run towards her. Giovanni, fixated on reaching her, fails to see an oncoming train. As everyone on the tracks shouts to him to stop, he continues running towards her, barely avoiding being hit.
Mary's resolve has one again been dispatched, and she falls for her Italian lover, almost despondent at almost having lost him. The two then retreat to an abandoned train car but are caught when one of the station's workers spots them entering. He summons the police who arrest the two for indecent public behavior. Barely avoiding any serious charges, the commissioner finds it in his heart to let the two go, as long as Mary will leave Rome. It is at this point in the film that both Mary and Giovanni realize that their love can go no further. Mary is escorted onto the train by Giovanni, and their tearful good-bye is interrupted when the train, which begins to leave, forces Giovanni to escape the train. He jumps from the train and slightly injures himself. But this physical injury cannot make up for the emotional injury that has been caused by Mary's departure from Rome.
The film ends with Giovanni walking pathetically out of the station, still surrounded by the bustling and passengers in the station. The camera keeps him in view, not as the main scene itself, but only as just another passenger. The marvel in this film is how De Sica focuses the drama on these two lovers but does it in a way that does not shut out the environment in which the action takes place.
Sadly, there are two versions of the movie: the original by De Sica and the badly edited and soulless American version. The Criterion edition of the film includes both versions. I've seen this movie on TV several times, and the Italian version is one I've always seen. My review is of the highly superior Italian version because it stays close to artistic intent of the film, whereas the American version was created because of the movie's original poor response.
This film is certainly worth watching to see the neorealist artistry at work. While the story at time seems mundane, it's a movie that must be watched attentively and carefully in order to capture the moving and emotional nature of the story that is presented to us not only by the acting and dialogue of the main characters but also with the subtle symbolism and neorealist effects of De Sica.
If you want to learn more about De Sica and Neorealist cinema, here are some sources worth consulting:
- Snyder, Stephen, and Howard Curle. Vittorio De Sica: Contemporary Perspectives. Toronto Italian studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2000.
- Cardullo, Bert. Vittorio De Sica: Actor, Director, Auteur. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2009.
- Wagstaff, Christopher. Italian Neorealist Cinema: An Aesthetic Approach. Toronto Italian studies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007.
- Moscati, Italo. Vittorio De Sica vitalità, passione e talento in un'Italia dolceamara. Roma: Ediesse, 2004.
- De Santi, Gualtiero. Vittorio De Sica. Il Castoro cinema, 213. Milano: Il castoro, 2003.
- De Sica, Vittorio. La porta del cielo: memorie 1901-1952. La memoria e l'immagine, 12. Cava de' Tirreni [Salerno]: Avagliano, 2004.
There is also more information here from TCM:
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