Journey to Italy

“It’s hard to convey the emotional pull at the end of this picture, because in order to experience it, you really have to see the whole movie first.”—Martin Scorsese

Roberto Rossellini’s Journey to Italy was unsuccessful on first release but over the years has gradually become one of the most influential and acclaimed films of European cinema. A British businessman (George Sanders) and his wife (Ingrid Bergman) travel to Naples for family matters and find that, after eight years of marriage, they have little to say to each other. During their time in Italy, they drift further and further apart (against the backdrop of the relics and ruins of European history) until the film builds to a miraculous finale in Pompei. (97 mins., DCP)