Absolutely the worst movie.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Blistering performances.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I attended a National Film Theatre screening as part of a Bergman season. The film was introduced as one that critical America found hard to bear, not least as the deserting Hollywood star Bergman had an affair with the director, Rossellini.I mention this as the film, which charts the resolution of personal crisis in the life of a bourgeois socialite, is a extremely open and even-handed critique of European social politics. Rossellini presents Irene Girard as having an epiphany in which she appears to be ideologically seduced by an activist of the left. This would have been particularly irritating to the HUAC who were experiencing a rash of films as backlash to their Hollywood blacklist of 1947 and would explain critical hostility to the film and Bergman personally.In fact, It becomes clear that Rossellini manages the extraordinary achievement of charting an ideological third way for Irene. She throws herself into her naive acts of charity somewhat haphazardly (though convincingly). She is subsequently appalled by the 'coal-face' realities of having to work in a factory. Her non-partisan political ineptitude is the reason she is eventually committed to an asylum.For me, Europa 51 is not simply the sad but noble tale of a grieving mother finding a unique way in which to sublimate her grief and guilt. Rossellini has concocted a sophisticated analogy for the poised, unresolvable social position of European society; an analogy that translates into the more digestible position of a single, normal, rational individual. It has the same, marvellous objectivity that one feels when watching the morally neutral Badlands, for example.There are a host of imperfections (not least in the tatty, French sub-titled print we were treated to!) in this film. Only so many can be put down to the rise of the (French) New Wave and the acting can be changeable. Bergman however is very fine, giving a multi-faceted performance that never veers off into incredibility even - especially - at the poignant, potentially confusing final scene/shot. Alexander Knox is also fine. A raw jewel of a movie. 8/10

Maybe it's the dubbing, or maybe it's the endless scenes of people crying, moaning or otherwise carrying on, but I found Europa '51 to be one of the most overwrought (and therefore annoying) films I've ever seen. The film starts out promisingly if familiarly, as mom Ingrid Bergman is too busy to spend time with her spoiled brat of a son (Sandro Franchina). Whilst mummy and daddy (bland Alexander Knox) entertain their guests at a dinner party, the youngster tries to kill himself, setting in motion a life changing series of events that find Bergman spending time showering compassion on the poor and needy. Spurred on by Communist newspaper editor Andrea (Ettore Giannini), she soon spends more time with the downtrodden than she does with her husband, who soon locks her up in an insane asylum for her troubles. Bergman plays the saint role to the hilt, echoing her 1948 role as Joan of Arc, and Rossellini does a fantastic job of lighting and filming her to best effect. Unfortunately, the script pounds its point home with ham-fisted subtlety, as Andrea and Mom take turns declaiming Marxist and Christian platitudes. By the final tear soaked scene, I had had more than my fill of these tiresome characters. A real step down for Rossellini as he stepped away from neo-realism and further embraced the mythical and mystical themes of 1950's Flowers of St. Francis.

I suppose that when "Europa '51" was going to be filmed there was a great professional mutual understanding between Rossellini (the director) and Ingrid Bergman (main actress). It's really astonishing the way Ingrid Bergman's face changes throughout the movie. She really looks like a "human God" (specially towards the end) just by looking at her expressions. If you have the opportunity of watching "Europa '51" twice, you will notice that her character in the beginning of the story, where Irene Girard (Ingrid Bergman) is the mother of a well-off family, is totally different from the last shots. I also like how Irene contrasts with the way of living of the poor children and working-women. Although Rossellini's movie is a bit lengthy, bearing in mind it was made in Italy in 1952, many events occur with short scenes perfectly connected obtaining a gorgeous dynamism as a whole. I'm almost sure that my favorite scene is the same as the majority of the people who watched "Europa '51". I refer to the moving ending of the story. I also like how the camera moves around capturing the contrast of expressions between the sick patients and Irene. I encourage everybody to watch this masterpiece, even twice!

I saw the Americanized dubbed and drastically cut version of this movie that seemed like it was made for television, complete with abrupt stops where they wanted to insert commercials. The story seemed interesting, but could not develop any nuance in only 108 minutes. Ingrid Bergman seemed a bit too overtly overwhelmed in this story after she started to see poverty in visiting the slums. The one shining performance even in the truncated time came from Giulietta Masina. In this shortened version, I could not tell if the music was original or added for melodramatic effect by the television censors. All and all not a very satisfying film, though the original might have been quite moving.