5 Oscar-worthy moments from Loren’s Netflix film
Screen legend Sophia Loren makes an emotionally powerful return to movies at 86 with the Netflix film “The Life Ahead,” after more than a decade-long break from film.
Director Eduardo Ponti, Loren’s son with producer Carlos Ponti, says the “Grumpier Old Men” star jumped at the chance to portray the spirited Madame Rosa, a former prostitute and Holocaust survivor who makes a meagre living raising the children of sex workers.
“She was waiting for a role that inspired her, challenged her and allowed her to bring out her most authentic self,” says Ponti.
Her instincts were correct about “Life Ahead” as the Italian-language film (now streaming) has instantly shot Loren, who won a 1962 best actress Oscar for “Two Women,” into the 2020 awards race.
USA TODAY chose Loren’s five most Oscarworthy film moments and asked Ponti to comment on each.
1. Madame Rosa shines dancing a living room salsa
Loren is famed for her screen dancing skills, working a sultry flamenco in front of Cary Grant in 1957’s “The Pride and the Passion.” In “Life Ahead ,” the house dress-wearing Rosa is pulled from the couch by friend and prostitute Lola (Abril Zamora) for a salsa to music from the nearby record player. The smile emerges on Rosa’s face as she begins to feel the music, giving a glimpse of the vibrant joy under her tough exterior.
Ponti says his mother was wondering whether she would be “at the level she used to dance” years ago on screen. The direc--tor credits the chemistry between the beaming Zamora and Loren for capturing screen magic. “The reason the scene works so well is because you genuinely see my mother having a good time dancing,” Ponti says.
2. Madame Rosa cracks in front of Momo
After telling off a wayward Senegalese street kid Momo (12-year-old Ibrahima Gueye) for stealing her candlesticks, Rosa is reluctantly compelled to care for the orphan. The relationship is fraught, and Rosa trembles in anger when kicking him out of her private basement sanctuary.
Rosa follows up with remorse and real emotion, easing into a kitchen table seat to watch Momo draw, a hobby which eased her own childhood trauma.
Her voice cracks as she falters explaining how her private refuge makes her feel safe, “Just because,” she says haltingly.
“That was take one,” says Ponti of the scene. “Her vulnerability spilled over slightly uncontrollably and then she was able to hold it back. It was wonderful, as a director, to capture a moment so true.”
3. Madame Rosa is frozen in the rain
Rosa suffers from an undisclosed brain condition that worsens in “Life Ahead.” Momo sees the condition when he finds Rosa on the apartment building roof, sitting oblivious in the pouring rain. She is seemingly paralyzed, staring vacantly beyond her soaked clothes line.
Ponti says he kept Loren drenched under the rain machine for four hours shooting the scene. He noticed after the first take that she was blinking, as the pelting water hit her eyes.
“I cut the scene, and said ‘Mother, when you blink, it looks like you’re present. Can you stop blinking?’ “Ponti recalls. “She looked at me as if to say, ‘You’re absolutely crazy.’ But lo and behold, you’ll see she does not blink. She did it.”
4. Madame Rosa bids farewell to one of her charges
A brief hallway scene in which Loren does not even speak, is packed with emotional force. The actress conveys swiftly changing emotions with the smallest of facial expressions, as Rosa watches with subdued joy as one of her charges is permanently reunited with his mother. Her eyes move to Momo and the expression shifts to pure empathy for a boy who will never be reunited with his mother.
“When you shoot a scene you set out for certain emotional objectives,” says Ponti. “But then there are certain looks that great actors can bring that surpass those objectives.”
5. The emotional finale is the summation of a movie, and a life
Momo helps Rosa break out of a hospital, a destination she had always dreaded after her childhood. Back in her refuge he presents her with handmade yellow mimosas, the best substitute for a flower central to her most precious childhood memory. Their moments together are tender as Rosa, hair strewn on her pillow, lets out a tear and manages to say, “How lovely.”
“We shot that scene at the very end, and the preparation was not just the whole movie, but all the people she has loved, all the people she had lost, all the hope she has had,” says Ponti. “That was the sum total of 86 years of her life.”