A very special film about a very special day. As Hitler arrives in Rome to meet with Mussolini, a defeated housewife and an ex-radio announcer who is being removed to internal exile for being homosexual (and thereby unsuitable to represent the voice of Fascist masculinity) come together for a few hours that will change their lives. Ettore Scola casts Matroianni and Loren against character and delves into the narrow spaces of day to day life under Fascism. The actors, the architecture, the apparently simple structure of the film, and the incisive use of sound to emphasize the oppressive omnipresence of Fascism go to make this film a classic. Scola's film brings History and history face to face both to testify about a past moment of Italian hisotry and to suggest that contemporary viewers consider how we might allow Power to insinuate itself into, and control, our lives. Unfortunately, even though a restored version was re-released in 2005, and the film was the subject of a conference and a book, it remains hard to find on VHS or DVD. What is around is of poor quality and usually dubbed. There seems to be no version in Italian with English subtitles. I found a DVD of good quality in Italy, in Italian with Greek subtitles. While it is unfortunate that most versions are English dubbed, I believe that it is the actors themselves dubbing their own voices.
Special Day's director, Ettore Scola, much like De Sica before him, isolates what might be considered to be insignificant, mundane moments and lives to make his point in this film. Comment on how Scola represents Fascism as an ideology that insinuates itself into everyday lives, even ones removed from its main events. And, reflect on how the staging of A Special Day contrasts History to story (or "history from below"). Two pages due on Tuesday May 23rd.
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