Review of Tre donne - La sciantosa

The late Anna Magnani shines as faded singer Flora, who is asked to perform at a military base in Italy during World War I. Massimo Ranieri also excels as Tonino, a young Italian soldier who's also the band leader of the misfit group of musicians. There are several funny points in this movie, such as Flora having a series of midlife crises. First, when she realizes that she's singing in the military hospital, and not on the front line. Second, Tonino's annoying band mates trying to play for her, including a very loud horn player. She almost refuses to go on stage, but Tonino convinces her to sing anyways. Then, when the curtain goes up, she's draped in the Italian flag and wearing a crown. But when she realizes the severity of some soldiers' injuries, she gets instant stage fright. So she takes off the crown and flag and beautifully sings "O Surdato Namurato", to which she cries towards the end and the injured soldiers applaud her efforts. Then we get to probably the most dramatic part of all. She becomes a heroine and sacrifices herself to save Tonino while he's driving her back to the airport. An enemy airplane dive bombs bullets over the car, and Flora uses her body to shield Tonino. This was probably Anna Magnani's last film, since she would die about 3 years later. This was Massimo Ranieri's second film in 1970. Overall, this is a true masterpiece of a great Italian film. It's a shame it's not available on DVD.