About this Event
Italy Through its Cinema - A Special Day
Our journey through Italian cinema reaches one of its most intimate and poignant chapters with Ettore Scola’s A Special Day (1977).
Set in Rome on 6 May 1938, the day Adolf Hitler visited Benito Mussolini, the film leaves the enormous public spectacle of Fascism largely outside the frame. Instead, Scola takes us inside an almost deserted apartment building, where two lonely neighbours - played by Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni - meet while the rest of the city attends the celebrations.
Through their brief encounter, A Special Day explores life under Fascism from an intensely human perspective, examining conformity, repression, gender roles, sexuality and the isolation experienced by those who did not fit the regime’s ideal of Italian society.
Quiet, compassionate and profoundly moving, the film reveals how the forces of history reach far beyond politicians and public events, shaping the most private corners of ordinary people's lives.
Join us as Italy Through Its Cinema continues its journey through the country’s history - this time looking back to the Fascist era through one extraordinary day and two unforgettable people.
Event venue & nearby stays
The Cinema Museum, 2 Renfrew Road, London, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.