Terminal Station (1953)

What a long journey it has been. It took me a long time to find De Sica's original cut of Indiscretion of an American Wife. Went through two online rental services and came up empty-handed. Considered shelling out $25 for the film when my library surprised me by getting the Criterion DVD in.

The story of the production is nearly as interesting as the film itself. Selznick wanted De Sica to make a typical Selznick-style film, or read the original treatment for the film, I'm not sure which came first. Either way, they worked together, and De Sica made his film. Selznick test screened it to poor results, so he took it upon himself to cut the 89-minute film down to 63 minutes, and add a few random songs because, hey, we're told people like songs. Yes, David O. "don't you dare touch my 4-hour Gone With the Wind!" Selznick. I didn't watch Indiscretion of an American Wife, Selznick's cut, so I can't compare the two.

As a film, it struck me as very melodramatic. In fact, it feels very Hollywood to me, mostly due to the extremely obtrusive music score. It felt very far removed from De Sica's earlier Neorealist films. Thinking more about it, I can see the touches, such as filming entirely on location in the train station, and the struggle of the characters. But, Neorealism was more about man vs. society, whereas Terminal Station is about man vs. his or her own desires.

I have to wonder about the treatment of Italian men in Italian cinema. Of course, in films like the Bicycle Thieves, the male lead is a dignified hero of sorts. But, in films based on romantic situations or, for example, those by Antonioni, the Italian male is often categorized as brutish with a complete lack of understanding. Examples are La Strada, Il Grido, and Divorce Italian Style to name a few. Clift, one of my favorite screen actors, is an Italian-American, and he's not very understanding for most of the film. Towards the end of the film, he wises up a little, just enough to earn some synpathy from the audience. But, really, what gives, Italy?