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60-Year-Old Tale of Post-War Italy Finally Reaches American Shores

As ‘Una Vita Difficile’ winds its way through marriage, childbirth, love lost and love tentatively regained, the picture reveals its true subject: the compromises that are made in order to live a dignified life.

Via Film Forum
Lea Massari and Alberto Sordi in ‘Una Vita Difficile.’ Via Film Forum
MARIO NAVES
MARIO NAVES

“Una Vita Difficile,” a shambling picaresque from director Dino Risi (1916-2008), is having its U.S. premier some 60 years after its initial Italian release. What took so long for it to reach these shores? 

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MARIO NAVES
MARIO NAVES

​Mr. Naves is an artist, teacher, and critic based in New York City. His writing has appeared in City Arts, the New Criterion,the New York Observer, Slate, the Spectator World, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications.

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