The Lady Without Camelias

Antonioni's second film, and a hard look at the Italian film industry. Clara is an ordinary girl working in a shop in Milan. A producer discovers her, puts her in a film, and it succeeds. Then he marries her and does not want his wife appearing in cheap pictures; he steers her toward art films and the role of Joan of Arc. That film fails, and Clara is left with neither standing nor work. The title refers to The Lady of the Camellias, but the woman here is not a sacrificed romantic heroine; she is an investment nobody consults. Antonioni's interest is not fame but a woman having no say over her own life. Clara keeps entering someone else's plan, and in none of them is she asked what she wants. Lucia Bosè plays Clara. It was not well received by the Italian film world at the time; taking the industry as its subject and openly disdaining commercial cinema drew a reaction. Valuable for anyone interested in early Antonioni and cinema about cinema. For a viewer expecting his 1960s films, the manner has not settled yet.