Synopsis
The Sign of Venus (Il segno di Venere, 1955) is a bittersweet Italian comedy you can watch online on iFILM. Dino Risi directs an ensemble led by Sophia Loren, Franca Valeri, Vittorio De Sica and Alberto Sordi.
Cesira is a plain provincial girl living with relatives in Rome and typing away in an office. A fortune-teller promises her that her season of Venus has arrived — love is finally on the way. Suitors do show up, one after another: a sponging poet, a fireman, a small-time crook. The catch never changes. The moment any of them lays eyes on her glamorous cousin Agnese, Cesira stops existing for them. The laughs keep arriving with a real ache underneath.
This is early commedia all'italiana from Risi — funny, but sharp about loneliness and self-delusion. A young Sophia Loren turns up as the dazzling cousin before stardom hit, while De Sica and Sordi play their charming chancers to perfection. It runs on character, not gags. Stream The Sign of Venus online on iFILM.
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