One good girl. This film was conceived and started during the Second World War by Roberto Rossellini, one of the most famous Italian film directors. And completed already in peacetime Marcello Paliero - if I may say so, a director who always kept in the shadow of his colleagues.
Marcello Paliero was born on January 15, 1907. In the UK. He began his film career at the age of 36. Having mastered the professions of actor, screenwriter, artist, editor, he often shared the director's chair with other directors, as if fearing that exploring the dark corners of the human soul alone would take him too far.
“Desire” is the story of the moral purification of the “bad girl” – a theme so beloved by Russian writers of the nineteenth century. Young Paola (Ellie Parvo) runs away from her home village to the city. She tries to work in the studio, but after a year she becomes a high-class prostitute. One day at dawn, returning from another party, she sees a girl on the sidewalk who committed suicide by jumping off the roof. Out of shock, Paolu brings an acquaintance with the florist Giovanni. Soon mutual feelings arise between a mature man and a young woman. But how to open up to your beloved, how to tell the truth about yourself? To buy time, Paola returns to the village, causing chaos in her family. The father of the daughter is ashamed, the younger sister does not trust her, men fall in love with her. And Giovanni never comes.
The star of the film is Ellie Parvo. One glance of her dark eyes is enough to paralyze not only the peasants, but also the representatives of the Roman high society. At the same time, Ellie reliably played two images on the screen at once: a vamp woman and a stumbled modest girl, cornered by biased public opinion.
A good production about the repentance, mercy and cruelty of the crowd.
7 out of 10