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Leia S Feb 24, 2017 If the movie is boring you, repeated looks at Carla Del Boggio will keep you awake. One cannot stop looking at her, she's perfect beauty that can break a man's heart just by looking at her. I appreciate the dining scene as the camera drifts past the vaudevillians desperately scarfing amidst a feeding frenzy - we get little details that individualize each character, but unite them through a common obstacle: hunger. The value of food is a recurring theme; Checco takes Liliana out to a theater restaurant and panics as she considers expensive menu options. Ultimately he cannot afford it all. This scene features a dance on a wonderfully bottom-lit dancefloor illuminating off the actors from a low angle. Great establishing shot as Checco sits alone at the front door waiting for Liliana, having just heard she's cheating on him. The houses in the back are bottom-lit. He sits in the loop of strategically placed ellipses light over stone masonry. Between all this is the dark and shadow of night, almost like a chiaroscuro. The appearance of a black trumpeter is startling, we see so few in these early films playing anything besides servants. They never interact like he does here. As Checco walks away from the street performers, a building is distinctly washed out white, forming a perfect silhouette around him as he walks off in the background. The audience's tend to be mean spirited, the sadness that simple friendly entertainment can't satisfy anymore; it's she or nothing. As Checco prepares for his next show, he and we are mesmerized by a leg/crotch shot of Liliana - that is what this show is worth and banking on. But she has no loyalty, showing up late one day only to excitedly inform she's suddenly leaving for bigger better opportunities. She hardly cares how much Checco is crushed to hear this, she plays innocent. One of the more perfect endings to a movie, coming full circle to what got him started in the first place. He is now back in the arms of his old gal Melina, who he's more than lucky to have got back in the first place after how he treated her before. But some patterns never change, which is why some broken relationships are meant to stay broken. Checco wants to believe he is settled and happy in her arms after a disappointing chance encounter with Liliana at the train station. The movie began with her getting on the same train as them, the demure devilish temptress moving in for her target. Now at the end, she is above them, and they leave the station from separate trains. But on this new train, Checco spots a new Liliana, and when he gets a moment away from his Melina, makes advances towards her. The final shot is the train moving forward. I won't read into the Hitchcock tunnel symbolism since he's not scoring, but I will point out that it moves in a patterned routine like Checco does with his women and mistakes. See more

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