Il Grido

Il grido (initially titled The Cry–Il Grido in the UK and The Outcry in the US) is a 1957 Italian drama film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and starring Steve Cochran, Alida Valli, and Betsy Blair. It received the Golden Leopard at the 1957 Locarno Film Festival. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978." Plot Aldo works as a mechanic in a sugar refinery in Goriano in Northern Italy. Irma, his mistress for seven years, learns that her husband, who left for Australia years ago in search of a job, recently died there. Irma goes to the refinery and drops off Aldo's lunch, but does not stay to talk with him. Concerned about her behaviour, Aldo goes back to the house where they discuss her husband's death. Aldo suggests that after seven years they can finally get married and legitimise their daughter Rosina. The next day, Irma reveals that she has fallen in love with someone else a few months ago. Aldo is devastated and desperately tries to change her mind during the following days, but to no avail. When he slaps Irma in public, she declares this incident the end of their relationship. Distraught and disillusioned, Aldo leaves Goriano with Rosina, and the two start wandering throughout the Po Valley. They stop at the house of his former girlfriend Elvia, who works as a seamstress. He flatters her and helps repair a racing boat owned by the boyfriend of Elvia's younger sister Edera. Later he and Rosina join Elvia and Edera watching the river race, with Elvia holding Aldo's arm, but Aldo cannot hide his sadness for long and retracts. In his absence, Irma shows up at Elvia's house to deliver Aldo's valise and gives her the news of their separation. Elvia has little sympathy for Irma, believing she will regret throwing away her relationship with Aldo. That night Elvia and Aldo go to a dance, but Elvia asks to leave early so she can talk with him. Upset that Aldo returned to her only after Irma broke off their relationship, she asks him to move on. She also tells him she received his valise from Irma, but does not mention Irma's visit. Later that evening, Edera returns from the dance a little drunk and flirtatious, and she and Aldo kiss, but Aldo can only think of Irma. He leaves with his daughter early the next morning.