Lucas Versantvoort 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.

JoaoPovoaMarinheiro First of all for this movie I just have one word: 'wow'. This is probably, one of the best movies that touched me, from it's story to it's performances, so wonderfully played by Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. I was very impressed with this last one, because he really brought depth to the character, as it was a very hard role. Still, the two of them formed a pair, that surprised me, from the beginning until the end, showing in the way, a friendship filled with love, that develops during the entire day, settled in the movie. The story takes some time to roll, as the introduction of the characters is long, but finally we are compensated with a wonderful tale about love and humanity. If you have the chance, see it, because it's a movie that will stay in your mind for many time. Simply amazing - 9/10.

Bo Schreurs 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...

greenylennon Ettore Scola is one of the most important Italian directors. My parents and I watched together "C'eravamo tanto amati" on a summer night: we liked it, but we didn't love it as we loved "A special day". I believe Ettore Scola is pretty underrated: we often forget to remember him, maybe because his latest films were disappointing. And so, yesterday night, my mum and I sat on our sofa to enjoy this masterpiece. Writing, direction, cinematography, score and production design were sober and accurate, but the thing I liked the most was the chemistry between Loren and Mastroianni. They're both excellent actors and play the main roles of Antonietta and Gabriele. Antonietta is an housewife: married with a fanatic Fascist, she has six children but her husband wants to have another child to get a prize for the huge families. Gabriele is simply an Anti-Fascist. They spend together a special day, that special day of 1938 when Hitler came to Rome visiting Mussolini. I don't want to spoil anymore about the plot: go looking for this film!