Neapolitan Carousel (1954)
Music, ballet, folk dances and mime eliciting the spirit of Naples across the ages are loosely tied together by the comedic wanderings and exploits of the Esposito family.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Reviews
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Whoa! I've seen some wacky movies, but this one sure came out of left field. Maybe it's because I've never seen a musical from Italy; when I think of Italian cinema, I think of Federico Fellini and Roberto Benigni. I reckon that nowadays, Ettore Giannini's "Carosello napoletano" - "Neapolitan Carousel" in English - is most notable for an early appearance by Sophia Loren (she plays Sisina). Otherwise, the whole thing runs like a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. It was apparently the first major Italian musical of the postwar era.The plot, as far as I could tell, centers on a family wandering the streets of Naples, singing songs about various events in the city's history. But it's always hard to tell what's real and what isn't. From what I could tell, only one scene even featured a carousel (unless the title had a deeper meaning); kind of like how Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" only features the title object in one scene. Oh well, I guess that the movie's worth seeing. Usually, I watch musicals only to heckle them. In this case, I didn't know that this was a musical, and I don't consider it appropriate to heckle Sophia Loren.Anyway, it's an OK movie, but trying to follow the plot is sort of a challenge. Also starring Paolo Stoppa, Clelia Matania, Maria Fiore, Nadia Gray and Leonide Massine.