LA PAURA is probably Roberto Rossellini's (RR) most Hollywood-like film, and in fact initially it also came out in an English language version, besides the original Italian.
According to Italian critic Adriano Apra, much of what happens in this movie actually reflects the deteriorating relationship between RR and Bergman, in which RR had cheated on Bergman from early on, poisoning their link as much as the curare that is injected into rats at Professor Wagner's lab.
Prof Wagner is aware that his wife, Irene (Bergman), is double-timing him, and he uses Luisa Vidor (played by Renate Mannhardt) to enforce blackmail that will ultimately cause Irene to realize the extent of the consequences to her devious behavior.
B&W photography is superb, mirroring the turvy depths of a relationship resting on deception and blackmail - and the fear of the film's title, because if you throw together a cheater, a blackmailer in love and his ruthless sidekick, and the lies that accompany the entire process on all sides, you have the recipe for tragedy.
Curiously, RR made three endings to the film. Back in the 1990s, I watched an Italian language copy in which Prof Wagner terminates the relationship, leaving Irene high and dry. Recently, I acquired an English language copy in which Wagner and Irene exchange words of love and apparent forgiveness at the end.
The original book by Stefan Zweig was no masterpiece, I think RR did a good job of transferring the material to the screen, elevating its quality in the process.
Certainly, LA PAURA is well worth watching, not just because it has the peerless Ingrid Bergman as the central character, but because it is well made.
According to Italian critic Adriano Apra, much of what happens in this movie actually reflects the deteriorating relationship between RR and Bergman, in which RR had cheated on Bergman from early on, poisoning their link as much as the curare that is injected into rats at Professor Wagner's lab.
Prof Wagner is aware that his wife, Irene (Bergman), is double-timing him, and he uses Luisa Vidor (played by Renate Mannhardt) to enforce blackmail that will ultimately cause Irene to realize the extent of the consequences to her devious behavior.
B&W photography is superb, mirroring the turvy depths of a relationship resting on deception and blackmail - and the fear of the film's title, because if you throw together a cheater, a blackmailer in love and his ruthless sidekick, and the lies that accompany the entire process on all sides, you have the recipe for tragedy.
Curiously, RR made three endings to the film. Back in the 1990s, I watched an Italian language copy in which Prof Wagner terminates the relationship, leaving Irene high and dry. Recently, I acquired an English language copy in which Wagner and Irene exchange words of love and apparent forgiveness at the end.
The original book by Stefan Zweig was no masterpiece, I think RR did a good job of transferring the material to the screen, elevating its quality in the process.
Certainly, LA PAURA is well worth watching, not just because it has the peerless Ingrid Bergman as the central character, but because it is well made.