The Voyage (1974) User Reviews

Needs More Cowbell

[MovieGuy-10924 · 6/10 · 10 July 2022]

We have a brilliant director, very talented actors, and a story written by a celebrated author, how could we have ended up with such a sappy movie.

The film begins well enough, exploring the complexities of circumstances interfering with love, particularly since the rivals love each other. This was an interesting aspect of this movie. But it quickly degrades into the worst melodrama possible.

To make the best of this film, fast forward to Sergio Bruni singing Canti Nuovi and pay particular attention to the beautiful bell tones of his voice, then go do something else in the secure knowledge that you have experienced the best part of this movie.

Brief Encounter.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 7/10 · 17 November 2012]

Being happily caught by surprise with how much a friend had enjoyed the Richard Burton and Sophia Loren adaptation of Brief Encounter,I began to search franticly round Amazon UK,for any similar movies,in the hope of finding one that would be a suitable Christmas present.Originally expecting to find nothing but the various DVD versions of the original David Lean film,I was shocked to discover,that Burton and Loren had actually appeared in a second movie together,which led to me deciding to have another brief encounter with Loren and Burton.

The plot:

Attending the reading of their father's will,each member of the Braggi family is completely satisfied with everything that their dad has kindly left them.Suddenly,the solicitor mentions the now that the property and money has been dealt with,he has one final item that was left in the will (a letter),that his sons Antonio and Cesare must follow the orders of.

Paying a visit to the Mauro family, (who have been friends with the Braggi's for decades) Cesare tells their daughter Adrianna De Mauro,that the last request left by his father was for Adrianna to get married to his youngest son Antonio.Initially angered over the idea of going with Antonion,due to having always had a secret attraction between herself and Cesare,Cesare quickly decides to hold his emotions,and tells Adrianna that they must put their feelings for each other aside,in order to do what is best for their families.

Years later:

Despite initially being extremely uncomfortable around Antonio,Adrianna soon finds herself warming to Antonio's easy charm,which leads to both of them settling down and having a child.One day deciding to take his car around some country roads,Antonio ends up driving off a cliff and dies.As Cesare and Adrianna both grieve over the death of their husband/brother,they both start to find feelings returning that they had attempted to hide into the past.

View on the film:

After being bitterly disappointed by the cold performances of Sophia Loren and Richard Burton in Brief Encounter,I was thrilled to discover,that director Vittorio De Sica (who sadly died shortly after making the film) was impressively able to break the cold shoulder by giving the film a warming atmosphere,with Loren (who had worked with Sica in the past) and Burton showing Adrianna and Cesare to be two social intelligent people,who relies that they have to show their attraction for each other in subtle ways,in order not to anger each others families.

Although the screenplay by Diego Fabbri,Massimo Franciosa and Luisa Montagnana (based on a novel by Luigi Pirandello) does fall into some melodrama traps,such as giving a character a "movie illness" that just happens to kick in whenever a dramatic moment is needed in the film,Sica is thankfully able to cover over most of the melodramatic holes that appear in the screenplay,by shooting with stylish long distance shoots,that along with allowing the stunning locations to be fully displayed,is also used to show the audience,how despite being so close to each other,Adrianna and Cesare have to do everything they can,to keep their emotions at a far distance from each other.

Don't go into this expecting to hear Richard Burton's beautiful Welsh voice.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 29 December 2022]

I'm sure Richard Burton took this role just so he could have the opportunity to work (for the first of two times) with the gorgeous Sophia Loren, as well as director Vittorio DeSica, directing his last film. Certainly just by the visuals alone, they have great chemistry, look fantastic in the period clothes and setting (pre-World War I), and the story is certainly romantic. Playing against type, Loren is a soft, fragile flower, pressed to marry Burton's brother (Ian Bannen) even though she loves Burton with all her heart and soul. Tragedy ensues, and from that comes an affair that is followed by scandal, and a plot twist that is straight out of an Italian opera. Throughout the film, one thing is clear, the love between Burton and Loren's characters is everlasting, and will not be conquered, not even by death.

According to the research I did, there is only an Italian language version of this film, and the actor stepping in for Burton's voice is obviously not him. He is famous for that powerful commanding way that he delivers his lines and expresses himself, and sadly, you do not get to hear that. Overall, the film is good enough, although a bit melodramatic and filled with far too many depressing plot twists including a very fiery car accident. Loren gets to wear some very beautiful gowns, with the child from her first marriage expressing how beautiful her mother looks, and the joy on Loren's face by hearing that. I've never seen her play a character with absolutely no temper so it's obvious why she saw a challenge in such a part. Definitely a curio because this is a film that hasn't seen much exposure since its release, and even then, it was a minimum one, even though there was much publicity about the pairing and the presence of Liz on the set. So definitely worth a look for Burton and Loren fans, and certainly for the gorgeous scenery and other physical aspects of the production.

Unlikely but flavorful costume tearjerker

[rfkeser · 10 July 2000]

If you can accept Richard Burton as an Italian, if you can believe that the strappingly healthy Sophia Loren is actually delicate and dying, and if you can take a plot based on needless misunderstandings, then you should enjoy the sunny photography, elegant period decor and sincere performances here. It's soft-centered, but Vittorio De Sica manages to work up a genuine romantic glow.

As much Carlo Ponti wanted to, never became successful Loren-Burton!!

[elo-equipamentos · 6/10 · 8 November 2023]

Carlo Ponti in same year tried for all means becomes successful the couple Loren-Burton, in Il Viaggio and the Brief Encounter, sadly both didn't work in plenty way, some reasons could explain this failure, firstly the language barrier, another a lame screenplay and perhaps the main reason should be Taylor & Burton outstanding partnership that make clear any forthcoming attempts are doomed to failure.

The store took place in the beginning of 20th century in small village at Sicily, where the a powerful Landlord went to die letting their properties for his sons Cesare (Richard Burton) and Antonio (Ian Bannen), actually true closest friends really, a sort a fraternal love indeed, turns out that the old man spells out that Antonio should be marry with his best friend's daughter Adriana (Sophia Loren) even she on tender age had a special fondness by Cesare in fact a mutual interest, however according the local patriarchal tradition the father is whoever choose the bride for their sons, thus the marriage is accomplished whether you like or not.

Aftermaths the forbearing Cesare decides travel on business for a long time, staying aside for mostly of time, Adrianna get pregnancy and has a boy, Cesare gift-giving a brand new automobile to Antonio, sadly he gonna die in the car's accident, grieving Adriana soon is getting sick all the time and Cesare enforcing her seeking a doctor, diagnosed the cardiac decease Cesare convincing her for travel thru Italy, although the gossip spreading on Sicily village about a suppose affair leading up to a scandalous, thus a serious matter to overcame meanwhile Cesare is concerning in Adriana's failing health.

It's really a great movie carried out by Vittorio de Sica, although it didn't get enough strength, in a slow pace it never gets fire properly, lack of chemistry, too puritan offer, stayed adrift mostly of time, also a slight boring sometimes, aside the great scenario, fine sets and a fabulous wardrobe, a movie to see one time only.

Thanks for reading

Resume:

First watch: 1984 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 6.

A sincere and deep love story of two close brothers and Sophia Loren

[clanciai · 10/10 · 16 June 2018]

Vittorio de Sica's last film is a delicate realisation of one of the Nobel Prize winner Luigi Pirandello's most sensitive and deeply human stories. It's a story of love with infinite tenderness and pain and equally infinite beauty, and all this, de Siva manages to put on screen in as restrained and perfectly controlled direction as Joseph Heifetz did in his rendering of Anton Chekhov's "Lady with the Dog" in 1959. It's precisely the same delicacy here (with equally heartfelt music by Manuel de Sica) but in colour and as beautifully operatic settings as in Luchino Visconti's "Senso". To this comes above all Sophia Loren's acting and Richard Burton's, for once remarkably controlled, until the very last scene.

This film has been rather brushed aside and neglected as too non-Vittorio de Sica to be taken seriously, but it's time to revise and give a faire appraisal of its qualities. Forget all his earlier films, all his black-and-white neorealism and all the war movies and take a look at this as something entirely different. This is a human story of bleeding hearts set before the first world war made a beautiful world disappear and at the pinpoint of death.

It has so many qualities, and not the least one is the mere cinematography, every scene being like a beautiful Italian painting, every human detail mattering including the gossiping servants, the scenes with the boy and the heart-rendering naivety of Ian Bannen, for once in a role completely void of any meanness. You have never seen him like this in any other film.

My favourite scene is when Sophia for the first time breaks her isolation after the loss of her husband, when Cesare has urged her to leave her closed-up existence and go out, while she refuses, but afterwards anyway goes up to the terrace, breathes some air and almost disappears among the laundry blowing in the wind...

I was always impressed by every Vittorio de Sica film I ever saw, but I am not exaggerating when I confess that I was never more impressed by him than in this one, mainly for its absolutely convincing humanism.

De Sica' s swansong

[dbdumonteil · 11 March 2006]

De Sica came in blaring ( sciuscià,ladri di biciclette,Umberto D) but he did not go out the same way.

Objections to "IL viaggio" remain:first of all,it's absurd to use English when you film a story featuring Italians in ...Italy.And Burton does not look at all like an Italian.Hints at WW1 (Sarajevo) are completely pointless -unless De Sica wants to point out that Loren's death symbolizes the death of a certain bourgeoisie,which anyway is not convincing.

And however,the movie is not completely worthless, you can watch it with interest:De Sica plays the game of melodrama and follows its rules:Loren is married to Burton's brother and would not think to cheat on him a single moment.When the husband accidentally dies ,she says "My son is everything". However she loves her brother-in-law....but...-another melodrama's permanent feature- ,she becomes seriously ill ....