Identify a neo-realist movie

December 3, 2007 2:40 PM

Identify an Italian 1950s neo-realist movie.

A man steals a car. His wife, thinking he has bought it, is overjoyed. They go to the seaside. She is blissfully happy, he full of anxiety that he will be caught.

I've never seen it myself. That's all I have to go on, folks.

posted by londongeezer to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

This is not a neo-realist flick, nor does the protagonist take his wife on the journey (he takes an ex-lover), but this is the first movie that came to mind when I read your synopsis. The majority of the film takes place on the French Riviera where Pierrot is anxious and consumed with thought, while his lover is blissfully ignoring the fact that she is being chased by the Algerian mafia. Take a look.

Pierrot Le Fou
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 3:13 PM on December 3, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks ISeemToBeAVerb but that is too late. This movie inspired a painting created in about 1957.
posted by londongeezer at 3:57 PM on December 3, 2007

Do you know more about the painting?
posted by iconomy at 4:04 PM on December 3, 2007

Not familiar with the painting, but I did just recall Rossellini's Viaggio In Italia. Been so long since I've seen it I can't recall all the details. Might be worth a look.

Journey To Italy
posted by ISeemToBeAVerb at 4:26 PM on December 3, 2007

Best answer: Five Paupers in an Automobile? Perhaps one of the five has a wife. Where did you hear about the movie?
posted by goatdog at 6:42 PM on December 3, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks mefites. Voyage In Italy doesn't seem to be right - what's more I've seen it and don't recall such a scene. But 5 Paupers could be it, I guess, allowing for the haziness, of an 80-year-old artist's memory. If I can find the painting online I'll link to it.

However, any other ideas gratefully received.
posted by londongeezer at 11:28 PM on December 3, 2007