Nella Città l'Inferno (1959)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 98 minuten
Alternative title: De Hel in de Stad
Country:
Italy / France
Directed by: Renato Castellani
Stars: Anna Magnani, Giulietta Masina and Myriam Bru
IMDb score:
7,1 (642)
Releasedate: 29 January 1959
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Nella Città l'Inferno plot
Lina (Giulietta Masina) is wrongly accused of theft and ends up in a women's prison. There she gets some lessons in crime from her cellmate Egle (Anna Magnani). The prostitutes, murderers and thieves have no positive influence on the innocent Lina.
Actors and actresses
Egle
Lina
Vittorina
Marietta Mugnari
Assunta
Sister Giuseppina
Signora Luisa
Ida Maroni
Maresciallo del carcere
Piero
Reviews & comments
renske
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- 1105 messages
- 926 votes
Saw it tonight at 't Hoogt, so on the big screen. And it was no disappointment. Especially thanks once again to the magnificent Anna Magnani, of whom my movie buddy and I are becoming big fans. But Giulietta Masina is also very good. Her dialect shifts from a (naive girl) northern Veneto accent to an open Roman accent, a nice detail. Magnani speaks unadulterated Roman again and shows all facets of her acting. Her disillusionment with herself reminded me of Bellissima, which I saw last week.
This role was less obsessive and somewhat sadder. Her voice is unforgettable, too. I read on IMDb that Magnani is sometimes called 'the most real of all actresses'. I can understand that designation. If anyone's acting is rooted in life, it is her. It is so realistic that everything she does seems improvised. It pulsates with life; you cannot help but be fascinated and admired by it.
The ending of the film is horrible. That Masina returns is sort of predictable... and yet, it is a bitter pill to swallow. That doesn't take away from the fact that we also had a good laugh. By the way, the film has a curious narrative dip at the moment Masina leaves prison for the first time.
Translated from Dutch · View original
maxcomthrilla
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- 15587 messages
- 2879 votes
Anna Magnani and Giulietta Masina play fine roles, but unfortunately, their possibilities are somewhat limited. I read that the director gave the two Italian film divas so much leeway to exploit their eccentric appearances in the form of expressing emotions. The body language does indeed work, but it could have been much better developed. The femme fatale could have been a bit more assertive, as could the shy lamb. Well, such a role is, of course, nothing new for Masina.
As for the story, it's actually nothing special. A decent moral, but some characters change their minds way too easily. So, a nice movie, nothing more. 3*
Translated from Dutch · View original
starbright boy (moderator films)
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- 22648 messages
- 5262 votes
The only film Anna Magnani and Giulietta Masina made together. And that is quite remarkable for two of the absolute powerhouses of Italian cinema. A women's prison film from an earlier era than the films that were made in large numbers in the 70s and were primarily sensational. This film is somewhat like that too, but it is mainly Anna Magnani who steals the show as a woman who has seen it all, and Masina as a naive woman giving some lessons in real life and subsequently being shocked when she loses her innocence. The prison is also primarily one with many women in the same very austere cell. Run by, how could it be otherwise in old Italy, nuns. Magnani is naturally not very subtle in her acting—she rarely is—but it is very satisfying.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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