Overview
A mother's love is tested against the backdrop of war's brutality and uncertainty.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- heart-rending
- somber
- intimate
- classic cinema night
- historical drama viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praise the film as a powerful, heart-rending wartime drama anchored by Sophia Loren's charismatic and emotionally forceful performance.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Cesira and Rosetta endure displacement, hunger, bombing, occupation, and violence as noncombatants.
Cesira repeatedly makes decisions around Rosetta's safety, relocation, and survival.
The film follows a widowed shopkeeper and her daughter through wartime Italy with intimate, compassionate attention to civilian life.
Cesira and Rosetta travel from bombarded Rome to Cesira's birthplace and later face the hazards of returning.
Films like Two Women, and why
Rome, Open City
shared wartime humanism, civilian suffering, and neorealist emotional realism
Paisan
shared italian neorealist approach, moral anguish, and everyday life under wartime occupation
Life Is Beautiful
shared intimate mother child drama, devastating historical trauma, and compassionate realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Vittorio De Sica
- Release Date
- 1960-12-22
- Runtime
- 100 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (588)
Cast
- Sophia Loren
- Eleonora Brown
- Jean-Paul Belmondo
- Raf Vallone
- Carlo Ninchi
- Andrea Checchi
- Pupella Maggio
- Emma Baron
- Antonella Della Porta
- Bruna Cealti
Common questions
- What is Two Women about?
- A widowed Roman shopkeeper struggles to protect her daughter as wartime displacement exposes them to hunger, occupation, and devastating violence.
- What is Two Women like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Two Women as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Two Women violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Two Women as graphic.
- What did critics think of Two Women?
- Critics broadly praise the film as a powerful, heart-rending wartime drama anchored by Sophia Loren's charismatic and emotionally forceful performance.
- Which films are like Two Women?
- Films with a similar feel include Rome, Open City, Paisan, and Life Is Beautiful.
- How long is Two Women?
- Two Women runs 100 minutes.
