Normally when you think about big, over-the-top, melodramatic productions, you think off Hollywood movies but let me tell you, those Italians sure knew how to be big and melodramatic as well, when it comes done to making drama movies.
Normally I'm not too big on melodramas but it can still appreciate those that have something special. Something in the way they got shot or acted out. Or something unique going on with its story and have some interesting characters in it. What this movie has really going for it, is the way it got shot. I really didn't expected this movie to be in color but it luckily was, since it truly added a lot to the overall experience.
It's a visually spectacular movie to look at, also since it is being placed at an interesting time period. The movie is set in the late 19th century, during one of the many wars, this time between Austria and Italy. But the war elements get almost pushed to the background in this movie, until its very end. It foremost remains a love-story, with of course some very dramatic developments to it.
It's not a happy or sappy sort of love-story. It's about an impossible love, that isn't really meant to be and you know it could never work out well. The love itself isn't all that gloomily to begin with, due to it that the characters themselves are not without flaws. This all set against the backdrop of a war and you know stuff is going to get melodramatic very soon.
But it's made all very bearable, due to the way the movie is getting told and shot. It's really a fine looking movie with a great directing approach to it. It's the sort of movie that prefers to have long shots and wide shots in it, rather than closeups and a fast paced story. Not that the movie is slow or anything but it doesn't rush things. Because of that the story and movie itself feel very organic.
A melodrama that is definitely worth seeing.
8/10
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