A
portrait of the actress Sofia Loren describing her like a planetary star such as
Marilyn Monroe or Elizabeth Taylor. A few scenes of this documentary take place
in the villa outside Rome where the actress and Carlo Ponti live, while she
tries on eccentric outfits and makes faces, just like in a home movie. This
intimacy pervades the entire film, even when Sofia Loren receives the telephone
call telling her she has won an Oscar. Most of the narration is in the first
person, talking about her childhood and explaining how she and her mother
decided to move from Naples to Rome thanks to a $50 prize she won in a beauty
contest. By becoming an actress, she was able to make her dreams, and her
mother's ambitions, come true.
"This is an autobiographical documentary
and is done better because it is not a chronological story, but the portrait of
an actress and a woman" (M. Stuart).
Biography
film director
Mel Stuart
Over the years, Mel Stuart has directed and produced over 150 documentaries. Some of them are Four Days in November, Wattstax and the reality series Ripley's Believe It or Not, with Jack Palance. He has also made numerous television movies like The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal and Ruby and Oswald and the feature-length film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He is now producing a series about American poetry.
FILMOGRAFIA
The Making of the President (doc., TV, 1960, 1964, 1968), D-Day (doc., TV, 1962), Four Days in November (doc., 1964), China - The Roots of Madness (doc., TV, 1966), If itís Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (Se Ë martedÏ deve essere il Belgio, 1969), Sophia: a Self Portrait (Sofia: un autoritratto, 1968), I Love My Wife (Amo mia moglie, 1970), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka e la fabbrica di cioccolato, 1971), One is a Lonely Number (Una donna in attesa di divorzio, 1972), Wattstax (doc, 1973), Love from A to Z (doc., TV, 1974), Life Goes to the Movies (doc., TV, 1976), Ruby and Oswald (TV, 1978), The Triangle Factory Fire (TV, 1979), The Chisholms (serie TV, 1979), Sophia Loren, Her Own Story (Sophia Loren, TV, 1980), The White Lions (1981), Cary Grant, a Celebration (mm, doc., TV, 1988), ´PBS American Mastersª - Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant Garde (1996), ´PBS American Mastersª - Billy Wilder: The The Making of the President (doc., TV, 1960, 1964, 1968), D-Day (doc., TV, 1962), Four Days in November (doc., 1964), China - The Roots of Madness (doc., TV, 1966), If it's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (Se è martedì deve essere il Belgio, 1969), I Love My Wife (Amo mia moglie, 1970), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka e la fabbrica di cioccolato, 1971), One is a Lonely Number (Una donna in attesa di divorzio, 1972), Wattstax (doc, 1973), Love from A to Z (doc., TV, 1974), Life Goes to the Movies (doc., TV, 1976), Ruby and Oswald (TV, 1978), The Triangle Factory Fire (TV, 1979), The Chisholms (serie TV, 1979), Sophia Loren, Her Own Story (Sophia Loren, TV, 1980), The White Lions (1981), Cary Grant, a Celebration (mm, doc., TV, 1988), «PBS American Masters» - Man Ray: Prophet of the Avant Garde (1996), «PBS American Masters» - Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy (1997), AFI's 100 Year - 100 Movies (TV, 1998), Running on the Sun (doc., 1999), BBC - A Window on the World (doc, TV, 2000), Seeing Stars with Hy Gardner (TV, 2001), «Academy of American Poets» - Anthony Hecht: The Poet's View (2001), «Academy of American Poets» - W.S. Merwin: The Poet's View (2002), Still Perfect: 20 Unforgettable Photographs (2002), «Academy of American Poets» - John Ashbery: The Poet's View (2003).
Cast
& Credits
Soggetto, sceneggiatura/Story, screenplay: Robert Abel, David Seltzer
Fotografia/Director of photography: John A. Alonzo, Robert Gerardi
Montaggio/Film editor: Carl Kress
Voce del narratore/Voice: Sophia Loren
Produttor/Producer: Robert Abel, Mel Stuart
Produzione/Production: Wolper Productions