Without Pity
 

Posted on october 15

Angela, a stunning young woman, tries to survive amid the intense chaos of a defeated Italy at the end of WWII. Along the way, she meets an Afro-American deserter… Without Pity is a cruelly poetic drama in the style of its elegiac filmmaker, Alberto Lattuada.

Surrounded by the legendary Nino Rota for the music and Federico Fellini for the screenplay, Lattuada delivers a film by night, even by day, during a dark and risky era. 

In the role of Angela, the blonde Carla Del Poggio (Lattuada's wife) exudes a magnetic physical presence. With resolute body language, she portrays a character who is constantly harassed, only finding respite in the company of  a streetwise girl (Giulietta Masina in her debut screen role) and another lost soul, Jerry, an Afro-American deserter (John Kitzmiller). 

Without Pity, 1948 © DR

In a world of hazy black and white, Lattuada films faces that are tormented and magnificent, political and modern. Without Pity is not only an anti-war picture, but also one of the first movies in which the two protagonists who love each other are of different skin colours. For Lattuada, the most important thing was people, whoever they were, even during a time when nobody seemed ready to admit it yet.

Virginie Apiou

SCREENING

Without Pity by Alberto Lattuada, (1948)
UGC Confluence - Monday, October 16 at 2:30pm