Sophia Loren: Award Collection

Three films directed by Vittorio de Sica and produced by Carlo Ponti (the husband of Sophia Loren), starting the two stars of Italian cinema of the time: Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The on-screen chemistry between the two is intoxicatingly unbelievable...the two stars acted in all three films as if they were also a couple in real life...very natural performances from both of them.The box contains three films: 1) Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963); 2) Marriage Italian Style (1964); 3) Sunflower (1970)All three are equally good !!!1) Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, is composed of three short films, each film telling a story of a three different women from three different social backgrounds, and three different Italian cities, all played by Sophia Loren. The first story, is about Adelina from Naples who supports her family by selling cigarettes on the black market, for which she gets a fine she is unable to pay. With time the fine grows to staggering proportions and Adelina comes up with a "brilliant" idea that will allow her to out-smart the law and jail-time...together with her unemployed husband they will have as many babies as possible...after all in Italy it is against the law to arrest pregnant woman. The second story, deals with Anna of Milan, who is married to a wealthy industrialist but is bored with her money, life and friends she has. Therefore, she embarks on a love affair with one of her newly met male friends. Their car escapade with Anna's brand new Rolls Royce through the streets of Milan and out to the country side will test the characters of both Anna and her lover. The last story, is about a high-class prostitute with a kind heart by the name of Mara who happens to live on a top floor of an old villa in Rome, and her apartment's terrace is located right across from an old couple's apartment where a young, soon to be priest is studying...this final short film features a famous sequence where Loren is performing a strip-tease. All three short films deal with such subjects like: poverty, bureaucracy, post-WW II Italy, social status, infidelity, child raising, unrequited love, etc.2. Marriage Italian Style: is more of a melodrama with some funny moments. Loren plays an illiterate prostitute called Filumena, who is as cunning as she is kind-hearted. Mastroianni plays a wealthy businessman Domenico, who one night during an air-raid by the Allies stumbles upon frightened Filumena in the bordello. The two meet again after the war by accident and begin a short love affair. The film is told through flashbacks of both Filumena and Domencio. Filuemna is hiding a secret from Domenico, which soon is revealed and threatens their relationship...there are some tear-jerking moments in the film and the acting is superb by both leading stars.3. Sunflower: is the most dramatic and heart-wrenching of the three films. It reminded me of classics like: Doctor Zhivago (1965) and Gone With the Wind (1939). The film is also an Italian/Soviet production...many of its scenes were shot in the former Soviet Union. The film tells the story of Giovanna (Loren) who after WWII searchers for her husband Antonio (Mastroianni). Her lover for her husband and desperation leads her to Soviet Union, the country her husband together with thousands of other Italian soldiers were transported to fight along the side of Nazi Germans...when she arrives in the Soviet Union in the 1950's (Stalin is already dead) she soon discovers that...the final scene in the film is not only touching, but it is one of the most heartbreaking cinematic endings I HAVE EVER WATCHED...it reminded me of my grandmother's story who went through similar life-event as the two leading characters in the film. I think Sunflower (1970) is the most underrated Italian drama in the history of European cinema. On the final note, European cinema would have been nothing without the contribution of Italian films in the 20th century...many of which have become classics or have cult following.Mastroianni died from cancer in 1996, and is out lived by Loren, who is now 81 years old.After watching the three films, I could not help but wonder if there was any real love connection or perhaps even romance between Loren and Mastroianni off the set? did the two ever really flirted with each other? after all Loren was wedded to a guy almost twice her age who was not attractive physically...and Mastroianni was known as a womanizer.

Sophia Loren...if you're already a fan, if you're just discovering her body of work these three films will introduce you to her magic. You can't take your eyes off of her - Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow is my favorite followed by Marriage Italian Style and Sunflower is my mom's favorite. You will not find a better price and it arrived so quickly for me because of my Amazon Prime Membership level...we relished in these films throughout the holiday season. It made for great family time and great memories.

A nicely packaged set of 3 Sophia Loren/Marcello Mastroianni/Vittorio De Sica films, plus the documentary Vittorio D. Not as good as earlier De Sica (Bicycle Thieves; Umberto D), but still worth checking out. The package arrived, brand new and in good shape.

The Sophia Loren "Award Collection" demonstrates once again that the actress possessed not just electrifying and magnetic good looks but also had a powerful acting technique covering an astonishing range of emotions. Her acting is fresh, vibrant, charismatic and entirely credible. Marcello Mastroanni proves to be the perfect foil, and their onscreen chemistry is palpable and compelling. I wish someone still was making movies that are this entertaining and diverting and stylish.

This was a gift for my mom, she kept asking us to look for the movie 'Sunflower' & purchase it for her. Finally got it on amazon.... And it was a three DVD set. Not bad at all. And she loves it!

if you are fan of Sophia Loren it's must. one of the best movie of sophia loren

No stars of today can compare themselves to Sophia. Everyone should see this collection,especially the women of todays world.No breast implant,No Lips job,No Butt implant,just a beautiful women and a great actress."Marriage Italian Style" was great, how she can go from comedy to drama,"Two Women" I do not know,but my world is not to question,just to enjoy.

In the past I didn't realized how good was Sophia Loren. Watching her again in this perls of movie from the pastI now know whay she was such famous in her time. She was beautiful and knew to adapt herself to the jobs askedfrom her. Marcello Mastroianni also was so good. Sunflower which I never see before was particulary moving.

Good package of old Italian movies.Made grandma happy.

Bien que ces films soient des DVD import USA Zone 1, je n'ai rencontré aucun problème de lecture et visualisation.A noter cependant que les films sont en VO (italien) et que seuls les sous titres en anglais sont disponibles.

I had missed the showing of Marriage Italian Style at Vancouver's Cinema Pacifique so I was delighted to find that I could order the film right to my home. In Canada it came as a group of three (plus a documentary on the life of Vittorio De Sica, Director)...all in all very pleased to have such a showcase of Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. Stunning!

The movies are very enjoyable to watch. Can highly recommend!

A must for any Sofia Loren movie collector. Three great movies with English subtitles.