Best Actress: Sophia Loren

 The first Best Actress–winning performance completely in a foreign language!

via seberg

Of course, I'm talking about the incomparable Sophia Loren, who won an Oscar for the Italian language film Two Women, or La ciociara, in its original Italian. 

Set during the Second World War, Two Women follows Cesira, a mother and businesswoman who's trying to keep her daughter Rosetta safe. They leave their home in Rome to return to Cesira's hometown of Ciociaria, and this film tells the story of their perilous journey there and the dangers that are still lurking in the distance.

This movie is tense from the jump, with the realities of war present throughout. The horrors Cesira and Rosetta witness and survive are unimaginable, and Sophia's taut performance runs the gamut of emotions. There was a heaviness in my chest re-watching this film for the first time in over a decade. I think I appreciated it more this time, being older and wiser and having watched a handful of other Sophia Loren films. 

You don't feel better for the characters by the time Two Women ends, but it's certainly one of the most realistic films that have appeared in this series so far. 

Sophia was nominated against Audrey Hepburn (Breakfast at Tiffany's), Piper Laurie (The Hustler), Geraldine Page (Summer and Smoke), and Natalie Wood (Splendor in the Grass). I think you can guess who I would've voted for, but I do love this performance. 

DID I LIKE TWO WOMEN? I did. It's very heavy, subject-wise, but so riveting. And Sophia Loren is such a wonderful actress. 

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Did you like Two Women? What are your thoughts on Sophia Loren's Oscar win? 

Keep up with all my Rewatching the Best Actresses posts here.