Story of a Love Affair

¶ … colors, when all you could see was black and white, when nobody could think of a featured film, it was then that the director Antonio came up with a film "story of a love affair" which challenged the traditional ideas and themes. Cronaca di un amore is an Italian black and white drama film which was released in 1950. The movie is known as 'Chronicle of a Love' in the United Kingdom, and 'Story of a Love Affair' in the United States of America. It was the first venture of the director Michelangelo Antonioni as a whole length feature film. Before this the director Michelangelo Antonioni has been famous for different short films and he was also given the opportunity to direct a documentary about the internal works of an asylum but he abandoned this opportunity. Story of a Love Affair was his first narrative feature film (Venturi, 1955).

With his powerful grip on directions, Antonio hasn't failed though the movie could have been better if he had worked on the script more. Moving towards the film, one can see how Antonio has saved his movie, by getting rejected, with the help of some moments which take the audience breath away. People may remember Story of A love affair with some another name, probably 'Cronaca di un amore' or 'Chronicle of a Love however, this film is popularly known as Story of Love affair in many parts of the world which is the first narrative feature film by an Italian director.

Italian Cinema and its History

Neo-realism phase of Italian cinema emerged and surfaced from the false consciousness and other characteristics of the period of fascism. Another reason behind the emergence of the neo-realism was experience of the war and fear of another war. Apart from this the ideological argument and confrontation between the East and West also contributed towards the development of neo-realism. The influence and impact of the cold war was that people were looking for affection, warmth, and tenderness in the simulated environment and therefore the neo-realist films and movies of the Italian cinema were appreciated by the critics for showcasing and presenting the concept of sweetness and humanity (Bondanella, 2007).

The Italian cinema made a rapid growth during the period of Second World War when there were less or no American films and the German cinema was enjoying monopoly over the market of the Europe. After Second World War, the film industry and cinema of Germany was demolished and destroyed but at that time the French and Italian cinema was at verge of growth and dominating the market (Bondanella, 2007).

After the decline of the neo-realism the Italian cinema entered into the phase of the post neo-realism which was marked by movies and films about topic other than the warmth, affection, and sweetness. 'Story of a Love Affair' is the movie of an era which showed betrayal, jealousy, suspiciousness, and murder plot and changed the sweet and caring image of the Italian films and movies (Bondanella, 2007).

About the Movie

The main stars of the film were Massimo Girotti, Ferdinando Sarmi, Lucia Bose, and Gino Rossi. The film is known to be a sleek and attractive post neo-realism film which contributed in taking the charm and attraction of Italian cinema with film noir into the psychologically dangerous and risky region (Johnston, 2006).

When Michelangelo Antonioni died in 2007, he left behind some remarkable work such as "the passenger." However story of a love affair, released in 1950, is where Antonioni's own story as a feature director began. Though the movie did not prove to be successful like his other work but this was the first narrative feature film which was known to be an attractive post neo-realism film.

The story is about a wealthy business man (Enrico) who married a young woman (Poala) during a war and after seven years he felt like knowing what kind of woman his wife was before marriage. For this purpose he used the services of a detective. The major objective behind doing this was to find out what particular relationship did Poala have with her former boyfriend Guido. Jealousy of Poala's husband brought her back with Guido. The two ex-lovers rekindled their affair and the story twisted when Poala persuaded Guido to murder her husband.

The bare bones of the story are the traditional crime drama with a noticeable nourishes hue. The story did promise hope but some pieces weren't put together in a way it should have been, this is what the audience felt so. It was as if the audience was supposed to fill in the blanks in many areas of the film. One cannot criticize the film because it was the first feature film however it could have been better.

Story of love affair represents Italy as a wealthy town where the people have just recovered from the post war economic depression. These wealthy people basically belong to the secondary or industrial sector where the director showed Poala driving her fancy cars through streets where the ordinary men work. The strange thing the audience pondered is how Poala climbed the dingy stairs wearing her expensive gowns, making the audience think why the gown stayed perfect all the time.