After a decade-long hiatus, acting legend Sophia Loren has made a triumphant return, playing the role of Holocaust survivor Madame Rosa in the new Netflix film The Life Ahead.
The Italian drama film, directed by Loren’s son Edoardo Ponti, has emerged somewhat as a surprise hit with Netflix subscribers and has solidified its position in the trending top 10 upon its immediate release. “In seaside Italy, a Holocaust survivor with a daycare business, Madame Rosa (Loren), takes in 12-year-old street kid Momo, the boy who recently robbed her,” the film synopsis reads. “The two loners become each other’s protectors, anchoring an unconventional family.”
While it has been 10 years since her last lead role, Loren has lost none of her ability and delivers a masterful performance in what is her third collaboration with director son Ponti. “Every day. Every take. Every moment. And it’s beautiful, because she still approaches it with the same anxiety, the same spontaneity, the same passion as if was her first film,” Ponti told CBS about working with his mother.
Laughing, in response, Loren said: “Yes, yes, yes, I know myself he’s right, he knows me.”
Ponti, who created the screenplay alongside Ugo Chiti, based their work upon the novel The Life Before Us by Romain Gary. While Sophia Loren undoubtedly steals the show, the film also boasts impressive performances from the likes of Ibrahima Gueye, Abril Zamora, Renato Carpentieri, Babak Karimi and more.
While Loren’s last Oscar nomination arrived all the way back in 1964, and given the lack of released feature films amid a pandemic-ravaged film industry, whispers are already circulating that Loren’s return could result in a number of high profile award ceremony appearances.
See the trailer, below.
