Definitely "the mother of them all" to quote the poster for "Mommie Dearest", Jo Van Fleet's Mme. Dufresne isn't exactly the cookies and milk type. She's had to be tough as a widow, running a struggling rice business on an island with major weather issues that constantly affects her crop. Children Anthony Perkins and Silvana Mangano are under her prickly thumb and desperate to get out as her controlling of their lives is a Greek tragedy in the making. Set this in the south, you'd have a Tennessee Williams or Eugene O'Neill play (although Van Fleet's character would obviously be male), but in the confines of an Italian community, mama knows best and rules the roost, no questions asked.
The overacting can be funny at times, particularly by Van Fleet who was being thrust into many similar parts after "East of Eden". Perkins is a very brooding character, but not as strongly presented as James Dean had been, hiding behind the door as he only verbally protects his sister who is being violently browbeaten by their mother. They seem to deliberately trying to undermine their mother psychologically, and in looking at her, it's easy to see why.
Richard Conte, Aida Valli and Nehemiah Persoff have smaller roles, with Persoff playing a rather perverted character who ogled a showering Mangano. Valli is the young woman Perkins meets in the theater after he runs off, and Conte is the young man Mangano hopes will help her escape her miserable existence. The print I saw of this started off in color but move to black & white and considering the dark themes was actually better that way, reminding me of Italian new wave of the 1940's. Still a bit depressing, even though that's pretty much the point of how this particular world turns. The title "This Angry Age" suggests a different kind of story, and thus adds a slight bit of confusion.
The overacting can be funny at times, particularly by Van Fleet who was being thrust into many similar parts after "East of Eden". Perkins is a very brooding character, but not as strongly presented as James Dean had been, hiding behind the door as he only verbally protects his sister who is being violently browbeaten by their mother. They seem to deliberately trying to undermine their mother psychologically, and in looking at her, it's easy to see why.
Richard Conte, Aida Valli and Nehemiah Persoff have smaller roles, with Persoff playing a rather perverted character who ogled a showering Mangano. Valli is the young woman Perkins meets in the theater after he runs off, and Conte is the young man Mangano hopes will help her escape her miserable existence. The print I saw of this started off in color but move to black & white and considering the dark themes was actually better that way, reminding me of Italian new wave of the 1940's. Still a bit depressing, even though that's pretty much the point of how this particular world turns. The title "This Angry Age" suggests a different kind of story, and thus adds a slight bit of confusion.
