This seemingly atypical Visconti film--which had a premiere revival here in 1979--is a satire on urban life and a mother's unrealistic ambitions for her daughter. Anna Magnani gives a bravura performance as a simple working-class woman who earns pin money as a “nurse,” giving cut-price injections to local hypochondriacs. She enters her daughter in a CineCitta talent competition which seems to offer her a chance to fulfill all her dreams through her child. Ambition becomes obsession...and obsession becomes tragedy as the mother is conned and the daughter exploited.
“Bellissima is a masterly essay in solid realism, exuberantly evoking and contrasting two worlds: the artificial one of the CineCitta studios, the humble but genuine one of tenement life...” --Sight & Sound
“...Bellissima... is a film which...confounds a number of stereotypes that have been built up around Visconti's work and artistic personality.... (I)t is the most subtle and elusive of all, the element of self-criticism and irony at the expense of its own ‘Italian' quality, which has most effectively prevented it from being assimilated and appreciated by foreign audiences. For at its highest level it is a denial of all stereotypes, about Visconti, about Italian films in general, about neo-realism, and even about the sacred monster, Anna Magnani, who is the star of the film.” --Geoffrey Nowell-Smith