Product Information
Anna (1951) Silvana Mangano, Raf Vallone
Director: Alberto Lattuado
Co-stars: Gaby Morlay, Vittorio Gassman
107 minutes, Black and White, Italian with no subtitles
DVD-R: Region ALL
Sizzling Mangano, whose voluptuousness made her a hit on American screens in Guiseppe De Santis' BITTER RICE, here plays a novitiate nun working in a hospital. Her past catches up with her when her former lover, Vallone, is shot by Gassman, another of her lovers, both having once fought for her favors. While tending the injured Vallone, Mangano relives in flashback her experiences with both men--first Gassman, a brutish, carnal truck driver with an insatiable sex drive who meets her while she is performing sexy dances in a smoky bistro and goes on to mistreat her (much as he did in BITTER RICE), then Vallone, a good man with the gentle touch. After a series of sordid adventures, the viewer is finally brought back to the present and Mangano's spiritual resolve to become a full-fledged nun. (With her background it's hard to imagine a great many choices.) Solid acting by Gassman and Vallone and a steamy performance by Mangano (perhaps the most sensuous woman ever to grace Italian cinema) make for some spellbinding moments.
