BILLYBOY-10 This is Interminable and bogged. It's a typical story of a marriage, after eight years, is headed for the lawyers. Maybe the marriage would have lasted if they had children..maybe not. Maybe it would have lasted if she had'nt married a cad in the first place....probably. In any event, the ending is corny and in-between are some nice sights of Napoli and surroundings, but without those beatiful distractions, this would have been just another dreary melodrama. Sorry.

Roger Burke The opening sequence sets the tone: a middle-aged English couple - wealthy, well-groomed, withdrawn, in an expensive Bentley (Bertone designed, no less) cabriolet; he's slouched in the passenger seat, asleep; she's driving, looking tired and ill-tempered. They're traveling to Naples to sell a house a deceased rich uncle, Homer, had bequeathed to his nephew, Alex (Sanders), who is accompanied by his wife, Katherine (Bergman). After we learn about the house sale, they fall silent, staring ahead. The rest of this exquisitely filmed story heightens the distance and lack of communication which forms the essential thematic core of an obviously failing - or already failed - marriage. Not only do they rarely talk, but they are both strangers in a strange land and ignorant of the Italian language - a master stroke by Rossellini, in my opinion, which further emphasizes their mutual alienation; but which also, ironically, forces them to acknowledge each other against their will. Alex pays only perfunctory notice of his wife when the occasion demands, Katherine finds fault in his obvious lack of interest; they converse in banalities mostly, except when she reminisces about the past - which annoys him; she likes to sees the sights, he says he's bored but ogles the local talent constantly; she does the touristy thing, alone, at museums, art galleries, volcanic sites etc, he goes to the Isle of Capri for more ... sights; she takes walks with a female friend, he goes out alone bar crawling and contemplates a prostitute....You get the picture: two people who might have been in love long ago, but are now searching, wondering, maybe even hoping their barren lives - there are no children, by mutual choice - can live again with just each other. Bergman and Sanders are perfect for the roles, and on camera all the time, either alone, with each other or in a group of friends or family. Camera work includes some obligatory scenic views - the black and white filming is suitably, wonderfully nostalgic - but most of the time, Rossellini uses medium to extreme close-ups to show every glance, frown, grimace, distaste, dislike, frustration, fear, anger, puzzlement etc on the faces of the tortured antagonists; and with barely the occasional ghost of a false smile, from one or the other. The dialogue is crisp, cutting and sometimes crushing as they dissect each others' accusations, inferences and inadequacies. The acting is so fine, so exact, it can be unsettling to see perhaps for some viewers. Overall, it seems the lack of communication and honesty is at the root of their remote relationship; or does their mutual remoteness simply amplify their failure to connect? Should they divorce? Should they keep trying? Those answers come at the end of their visit - together for the only time on an outing - to some archaeological ruins at Pompeii where she becomes overwrought by the graphic evidence of pervasive, instantaneous death by natural violence. She runs off, he follows, somewhat annoyed but also puzzled. He catches up as she reaches the Bentley. They drive off, silent, nonspeaking, uncommunicative ... until they come upon a large religious procession in which their car becomes entangled, forcing them to park and walk together, curious, and with the crowd, to find out what's happening.The crowd pushes, surges. She becomes separated from him, and is carried further away, calling to him. Urgently, frantically now, he pushes through, elbowing, shoving, trying to get to her as the crowd grows around them, until he finally reaches her - and where they also arrive at a resolution for their dilemma. Well ... the ending is arguably controversial, and for many reasons; even the final screen shot is a puzzle for me. However, for what it's worth I think Rossellini did the right thing commercially - even politically - but the wrong thing artistically. Beyond that I will leave it up to you to assess for yourself when you see this classic movie - as you should, perhaps.Recommended for all. Give this full score - nine out of ten (no movie is a perfect ten-ten).May 21, 2016

ElMaruecan82 It's another "Voyage to Italy" that lead me to that one, Martin Scorsese's documentary recollecting the Italian classics that forged his inspiration, among them was that intriguing Rosselini movie starring George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman. It didn't have a De Sica vibe but there had to be a reason Marty put it on his to-watch list.Indeed, "Voyage to Italy" is another of these raw diamonds like only Italian Neo-realism could produce. It starts with a couple coming from London to Napoli to sell a villa belonging to a recently deceased uncle. There's no further development in that element of the plot, the focus is on the relationship between Alex and Katherine Joyce, and from the first exchanges, we understand that something is not going well. And that journey in Italian countryside might affect their relationship, for better or worse.Fittingly, Ingrid Bergman gives an eerie 'Bergmanian' feeling to these first interactions, an odd mix of personal involvement and total detachment that you can only spot when you're married. I've been married for four years now, and I can tell when a husband and a wife only talks to break the silence. This is how dialogue is crucial in the movie, what they say is secondary to the story, it's all in the 'how they say it'.What we take from the exposition though is that this highly educated, upper class, a bit worn out, couple never did anything together besides marrying: no children and no travels. So, this trip to Italy might be a good medicine against the monotony that kept poisoning their couple or the deathblow on an agonizing marriage. She admires poetry, Mediterranean idleness and fascination for sweet and simple things; he abhors this laziness, so common among little people. While they converged to the same point, they couldn't be more divergent everywhere else. And it doesn't come as a surprise when they choose to visit Italy separately.Katherine visits museums, temples, she's fascinated by art, by these looks on marble statues, by these colossal relics where men identified imitated Gods, saw things in big, and she seems to remember how little his life has shrunk to. The delight of these visits is also spoiled by the old guides whose nonchalant and rapid tone make impossible any form of contemplation or meditation on such majestic beauty, anything to forget her marital boredom.Alex is more drastic; he simply meets other women, spending as many pleasant evenings as he can. After all, didn't he see Katherine being courted by all these luscious Italian bourgeois during a party and let it go? Did she or did she not intervene when he was talking to an old feminine acquaintance the night before? Alex rhymes with complex, his language consists on hurting to provoke a reaction, and bizarrely, a non-reaction is much more displeasing. At the end, they never acknowledge having fun and never really talk. Why? In fact, both are looking for ways out. It's obvious that Katherine needs Alex more than a guide. And so does Alex. During a crucial night, he meets a prostitute and takes her for a ride, she then confesses in the car that she was about to commit suicide and needed someone to spend the night. Alex doesn't accept as if he felt it could be that mistake he might regret it forever, and no girl yet would be worth such sacrifice. Yet when he's back to the hotel, he wastes another opportunity to let his heart talk.The day after, Katherine goes for a last trip to the catacombs, discovering meanwhile the joyful population of Napoli, full children and pregnant women, everything she lacks. Her guide, a lady who works at the hotel, notices the same because she can't have children. As a married man, I remember before my wife got pregnant, we couldn't help noticing those who were. Loveless and childless people have the eye for such things. And Katherine doesn't even have the luxury to love Alex through a child.And that boiling frustration explodes when she's confronted again to an infuriated Alex and the argument escalates to a "let's divorce" that sounds the death knell of their marriage. But they have no time to digest the decision as they're coerced to visit Pompeii's ruins. And in a heart-pounding moment, we follow the disinterment of a corpse, followed by another one, a husband and a wife, literally rooted to the spot by a sudden torrent of lava and ashes. A moved Katherine leaves the site, followed by Alex, who'll admit later the sight hit a sensitive chord too.In their way back, they're blocked by one of these typical Italian crowed processions, so they get out of the car. And while the taboo word was spoken, Katherine felt even more uncomfortable than she was at the beginning, and God, how true to life it is. Couples are weird you know, once you talk of separation, this is when you realize that there's something that deeply ties you to that person, more than love, a sort of moral commitment and visceral need to stay together. Alex still believes it is the right choice, probably exhilarated by the perspective of enjoying life, too short to be drowned in an ocean of unhappiness.And in one of the greatest twist endings, Katherine is literally swept along the human wave and literally taken out of Alex' hands. Alex feels then how precious she is for him and goes save her and they embrace … and there's no need for words anymore. We know they lanced the boil. And I wish this could be the last image of the film, the conclusion of an ordinary story speaking so many true statements about marriage.Indeed, there's more to discover in marriage than the country you visit as you might feel even more estranged to the beloved one than you are in the country.

Scott44 I recommend "No longer bodies, but pure ascetic images", chaos-rampant from Greece, 6 August 2011).I missed the first twenty minutes of "Journey to Italy." Usually when this happens I come back to the theater another time. However, with this particular slice-of-life study of marriage, I feel comfortable discussing it.Robert Rosselini deserves a lot of credit for making it work. Without much happening, we have to like what we are seeing and Rosselini is up to the task. We notice details; e.g., the faces of the two principals, children viewed through the window of a moving car, etc. The framing is well done. Rosselini has the right size of image on display at all times.Ingrid Bergman's Catherine is of course, impeccable. Bergman's combination of strength and vulnerability really makes her characters come to life. Her Catherine is just another argument she is the greatest screen actress so far.George Sanders' Alexander is written to be emotionally distant and often confusing. Sanders is convincing. However, since he always comes off as sinister (e.g., as the blackmailer in 'Rebecca'), it seems a stretch that he would be so sexless, particularly with the despairing prostitute he picks up.'Journey To Italy' is well done, and offers very interesting cultural and historical knowledge about the Naples + Pompeii region. However, I am not anxious to catch it again. It is curious how Francois Truffaut offered up so much praise for it. I'd sooner watch most of Truffaut's catalog than this again. Also, there are dozens of films made at the same time that are simply more appealing for repeated viewing.'Journey to Italy' describes love and marriage as filled with trials. Curiously, Rosselini gives love a chance to succeed while repeatedly informing us that the residents of Pompeii had no chance when their volcano unexpectedly erupted.