© 2010 by James Clark
There is a shocking moment, near the beginning of Il Grido (1957), which, like a lightning storm, briefly clears the air and allows a promising foothold for proceeding through its pervasive cloud. “Aldo” has been informed by “Irma” that, “One of us has drifted apart…I love you still, but not like before…Everything was fine until a few months ago.” (And, conversely, “It’s been coming for a long time.”) He finds this to be a monstrous reversal, coming from a woman he has lived with for seven years, during which they have had a daughter and awaited compliance from her husband living in Australia, and only now unobstructive due to having suddenly died. After a talk with his mother—“People have always gossiped…A pretty woman is one thing, a bad woman something else”—he confronts her on a street in their Po Valley town and slaps her face repeatedly while a crowd gathers. “And now come home!” he growls. “Now, Aldo, it’s really finished!” (more…)