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[Ruby]

The Life Ahead - Netflix. 



Sophia Loren is such a star - not that there was ever any doubt about it! You'd have thought some of that sheen would have diminished, but at 86 her screen presence is astonishing. In fact I prefer seeing her in this unadorned honest role rather than the heavily made up version she presents in interviews. I watched with subtitles because the lip syncing bothered me and the accents didn't make sense in the setting. It wasn't a trial at all. Found out after seeing an interview with her son Edoardo Ponti, who directed the movie, that her voice changes when speaking Italian - he says it drops an octave, which is quite radical, but it definitely has a different timbre. So interesting. 

This is a story about a retired streetwalker who had been in Auschwitz as a child and who seemingly reluctantly takes care of the human waifs who end up on her doorstep for one or another reason. It's about aging, and memories, compassion and connections - sometimes most unlikely. One to watch.