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55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnifica!, April 26, 2002
Anna Magnani perfectly portrays Tennessee Williams "Serafina DellaRosa", the love lost heroine of his beautiful play.Her portrayal is completely touching and awe-inspiring. I recently shared this film with a very accomplished actor friend who had never seen it, and his reaction was "wow." This is one of my all-time favorite films, and I consider Magnani's performance, for which she rightfully won the Academy Award as best actress, to be one of the most beautiful ever filmed. She says more with her eyes then most actors could ever convey in a whole script.Filmed on location in old Key West, it is steeped in the sleepy, humid atmosphere of that wonderful place. Watch for the bar-fight scene, where Magnani walks in to confront her dead husbands mistress. You will spot the mustachioed Tennessee Williams at the bar. His long-time lover, Frank Merlo, to whom he dedicated the book version of this play, "To Frankie, In Return For Sicily", is also in the fight scene.You can still visit Tennessee's little house in Key West,though it is not on any tour nor open to the public, just ask the locals. You may see the little plaque "the Rose Tattoo", on the gate.If you haven't seen this film (or even if you have), sit on the floor with a glass of red wine & someone you love, and watch the beautiful Anna Magnani create magic from Tennessee Williams equally magical "love play to the world", as he called it.
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Odd Couple, January 11, 2003
THE ROSE TATTOO is about an Italian widow (Anna Magnani) in the bayou country who grieves over the memory of her dead husband. She is courted by the village clown (Burt Lancaster) who tries to help her let go of her memories. The rose tattoo is significant because the deceased had one on his body. Magnani is superb as the grieving Serafina Delle Rose. Lancaster manages to pull off his role as Alvaro Mongiacavallo mainly because of his enormous energy. However, it is difficult for me to take his impersonation of an idiosyncratic Italian American seriously. The movie won Academy Awards in 1955 for Best Actress (Anna Magnani), Black and White Cinematography and Black and White Art Direction. Nominations were received for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress (Marisa Pavan), Black and White Costume Design and Editing and Scoring of a Dramatic Picture. The Oscar for Best Picture in that same year was given to MARTY. THE ROSE TATTOO was adapted for the screen from a play by Tennessee Williams who served as the screenwriter for the film. It was shot on location in old Key West.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ok, it's a LITTLE bit stagy, January 21, 2005
in parts, and Lancaster's performance is a little over the top here and there, but this is still an absolute classic. Anna Magnani is nothing short of magnificent, and while Lancaster does get a hair hammy in spots, his character is so buffoonish and likeable, he ends up being almost as endearing as Serafina.
The best way to enjoy it to the fullest? Stop reading about it, and just watch it. You won't be sorry.
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