While Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren may rate among the most visually appealing couples in cinematic history, the sad and profound beauty that they create here is far, far deeper than that of superficial appearance alone. Mastroianni is outstanding as Gabriele, a completely alienated and repressed gay man at the height of fascism's grip on Italian society during World War II. Loren plays Antonietta, an equally stifled housewife and mother of six who has been humiliated by her unfaithful and disrespectful husband. They live directly across from each other in a large apartment building in Rome, and they meet by chance when their neighbors depart to attend political rallies all over the city on Hitler's first visit to the Italian capital.Even as a tired, frumpy housewife who had been drained of life itself, Sophia radiates a quiet, subdued beauty that could only flow from her and no one else. Even the routine, mundane task of clearing off a kitchen table is captivating when Sophia Loren is doing it. What makes "A Special Day" so "special" is not only Sophia but Marcello in an Oscar nominated role and the superb direction by Ettore Scola. As the very intense, human relationship between two lost souls continues to develop through the "special day", the mechanized, military marches of Nazi Germany and the deafening roar of the adoring mobs in response to Hitler's public appearance assault the ears from the building caretaker's radio, providing a stark contrast of two opposing but powerful forces in the world, love and hate. As I listened to the steady, harsh brutality of the German marches and the enthusiastic reaction by the Italian multitude, I was even more startled by the alliance of these two nations, Germany and Italy, with cultural roots that seemed as far apart from one another as any two on the face of the earth. The unlikelihood of Gabriele's and Antonietta's unique friendship paled in comparison to the oddity of a pact between the likes of Italy and Germany, an alliance that was an indisputable fact of history, as difficult as that may be to believe.Although the film ends tragically, the beauty and strength of Gabriele's and Antonietta's complex relationship triumphs in its own, extraordinary way. Even in the darkness and the gloom, I was somehow left with a glimmer of hope for the pathetic, pitiful human race. I don't know exactly why.

A special film about a special day. After five minutes of archival footage of Hitler arriving in Italy to greet Mussolini, footage that makes it quite obvious where Chaplin got his inspiration from for The Great Dictator, the first shot immediately encapsulates the oppressive nature of fascism and includes a veiled criticism. There's a low angle shot of an apartment complex which blocks out all activities going on outside of it. Swastika flags and flags of Italy are being hung out in celebration of Hitler's visit to Italy and then, in what has to be moment of subtle criticism, a man takes out his trash and dumps it in a nearby container while someone else in the background hangs up a flag of Italy and Germany. The act of emptying a garbage bag is visually similar to hanging up a flag, so it seems like director Scola is comparing fascism to trash. A very nice touch and that's just the first shot.It is the day of the parade in celebration of Hitler's arrival in Italy, but what we see is the rundown apartment complex. We enter one of the apartments to see Antonietta (Sophia Loren) waking up and – in one long shot – proceeding to wake up her kids (all six of them). In a Neorealist manner, we see the family's morning routine, as Antonietta keeps bumping her head against the kitchen lamp, one of her sons draws a mustache on his face to appear more masculine in preparation for the parade, another son secretly smokes in the bathroom and, typically, the husband is revealed as the most juvenile of them all, as he's the last one to be woken up. Eventually, everyone except Antonietta leaves for the parade, while she's expected to take care of the house. The pet bird escapes, of course symbolizing her subconscious desire to escape, and lands near a man's window. She rings his doorbell and asks for help. Unbeknownst to her, the man, Gabriele (Marcello Mastroianni), is a homosexual who was recently fired at the radio station he worked at for his 'way of life' and his beliefs. In fact, her ringing the doorbell is what literally stops him from committing suicide. They catch the bird and briefly converse and eventually she leaves. Suddenly feeling inspired, he decides to pay her a visit, realizing it's about to be a special day. The rest of the film chronicles their ever developing relationship.In terms of its story, Giornata has a lot in common with David Lean's Brief Encounter. The major difference is obviously the role fascism plays in every aspect of this film. From the drab setting, to the fascist zeitgeist, to the overwhelming presence of masculine behavior, Giornata paints a world where fascism seems there to stay, a sense that's only bolstered by the nationalist anthems the janitor is playing full blast on her radio ad infinitum and ad nauseam. Indeed, one of the best things about the film is how the ever-present radio provides a harrowing backdrop to the tender relationship between the two leads. Don't make the mistake, however, of thinking this film is depressing. There are countless wonderful details in the depiction of Antonietta and Gabriele's relationship. When she notices part of her stockings is wet, she pulls it under her toes so he won't notice. When he's grinding coffee beans, she quickly retreats to the bathroom to apply some makeup; she grabs the lipstick, but realizing that would be way too obvious she leaves it and pulls one of her curls across her face and squeezes her cheeks to inject some color. All these little details bring out the Brief Encounter-esque character of the film and it's all the better for it.And let's not forget the performances with both actors being cast against type. Sophia Loren was of course a 20th century icon, incredibly famous, so for her to take on a role as down to earth as this was daring to say the least. Though I'm no Loren expert, when I think of her, the word that springs to mind is 'vibrant', the exact opposite of Antonietta who only laughs once in the entire film, wears no makeup and looks tired all the while having to display a subtle dissatisfaction with her life with Gabriele symbolizing the possibility of escape. The same goes for Mastroianni. Though a famous leading man (having worked repeatedly with Fellini), here he plays a homosexual in fascist Italy. Mastroianni elicits a lot of sympathy and, most importantly, doesn't overplay the gayness factor. He doesn't prance around or anything. It's far cry from the clichés that saturated early Hollywood films. Instead, Gabriele's little outbursts of joy, like him riding a wooden mini-scooter through Antonietta's apartment, symbolize his desire to break free of a restrictive fascist regime that doesn't want him. Bottom line is that if you like Brief Encounter and its subtle, human exploration of relationships, you will by definition like Una Giornata Particolare.

I watched this movie recently together with my sister who likes the performances of Sophia Loren. I'm a person who they call a Cultural Barbarian. I hate art in any kind of shape or form. Rambo is more my kind of movie, action, kills, blood, horror. If you recognize yourself in this avoid this movie like the plague. No one dies, no action, no nudity, nothing of the kind. Let me give you a résumé in a few sentences. It starts out with 5 minutes in black and white Nazi propaganda. Every Italian in a housing block attends a parade in honor of Hitler, except for a housewife, an anti fascist and a caretaker. The housewife who is cheated by her husband, meets the anti fascist. She falls in love with him, wants to make love to him, but the anti fascist is gay. Despite of this they make love with each other. At the end of the day, the housewife reads a book from her gay lover, and the guy himself is deported by agents. The end. You want an even shorter résumé? BORING... That short enough? The guy should have used his gun in the beginning of this movie and shoot himself, to save the audience from this atrocity. On a side note my sister loved this movie. Like I said, I'm a Cultural Barbarian...

While Rome goes mad celebrating Hitler's visit - uniforms, bands, parades - two outsiders stay home, in a large building, and wind up meeting. She is Sofia Loren, who is the wife of brutish public servant and mother of six children. He is Mastroianni, a radio speaker who's been fired because of his homosexuality. Both of them need company and understanding, both f them find it in each other.The movie covers a span of a few hours. The color are faded and everything takes place with a sound track of military marches and hysterical radio announcers. Strangely enough, the Nazi anthem - the Horst-Wessel-Lied - ends up becoming a romantic musical theme.Beautiful movie, excellent recreation of a special era in Italian history and a touching, sad story. Mastroianni is as good as we have come to expect and Sofia Loren does a superb job, very far away from her usual truck driver's pin-up, Neapolitan fishwife personas. Don't miss it.