Available now from Radiance Films.
A young woman who followed her playboy love interest soon finds herself jilted and left to her own devices. While attempting to make sense of things, she meets his younger brother who falls for her.
Written by a slew of men (Leonardo Benvenuti, Piero de Bernardi, Enrico Medioli, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, and Valerio Zurlini) and directed by Valerio Zurlini, Girl with a Suitcase is very much a male gaze film about a young, beautiful woman who is stuck in a foreign country. The story has issues that likely were not considered so at the time of release (and production) some of which based in the culture of the time. Of course, a young woman back then was at more risk traveling alone than she would be now (to some extent) and her situation would be wildly different. Unfortunately, here the story takes her in odd directions and decisions are made that don’t make a lot of sense. The cliche of a girl in love doing all these things for a man is old and tired these days and likely already was in 1961. As it is, the film is decently written but filled with modern issues. The direction works decently as well, creating a world where things make sense and they all line up to make for a film many remember fondly.
The cast here is what most viewer will be coming to this film for. The lead is played by Claudia Cardinale who puts in the work here, she’s charming, she’s sad, she makes the film connect with the viewer and makes it a classic. She takes her character, transcends her situation, and makes her a complete human. The film’s writing feels like it’s let her down, but Cardinale makes her come to the top of the bunch, making her character much more than a cliche. Honestly, the rest of the cast here is ok. None of them leave a mark like Cardinale does and while they all turn in decent performances, their work doesn’t hit like Cardinale.
The cinematography here is a gift in this film, the work by Tino Santoni is stunning. The film’s black and white is just the right amount of lush for its story, the right levels of greyscale, the perfect stark look to some scenes while others are softer. This is how to shoot in black and white, an almost lost art form. The look of the film is fantastic and fascinating, helping pull the story up and framing the performance by Claudia Cardinale.
Girl with a Suitcase is a film that has issues in the story, but the lead performance by Claudia Cardinale is fascinating, mesmerizing, and so much more. She makes this film her own and pulls the viewer in with her. Another high point of the film is the cinematography which is just beautiful. The film overall isn’t perfect but these two creatively powerful elements make it so much more than the story deserves.
This new release from Radiance Films looks stunning in its new 4k restoration done from the original camera negatives something that ensures a higher quality of transfer and restoration, something that highly serves the film here. The extras here are interesting with the interview with Piero Schivazappa and the interview with Piero De Bernard being at to the of the bunch here. The new writing by Kat Elliger presented in a visual essay is greatly entertaining. The new artwork for the cover is also quite pretty.
Version 1.0.0