Bubu leaves his job in a bakery, forces his girl-friend into prostitution, and from then on lives out of the money she makes. The young couple find their place in the world of prostitutes and pimps, but the lack of perspective in their life - which is permanently haunted by the possibility of an incurable and fatal venereal infection - and the humiliations the girl endures strain their relationship and lead to conflicts.
Acting
Piccolo's silent suffering speaks entire dissertations.
Cinematography
Rome's underbelly never looked this beautifully hopeless.
Director
Mauro Bolognini
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bolognini adapted from Charles-Louis Philippe's 1904 novel, moving the story from Belle Époque Paris to 1970s Rome to critique Italy's economic boom's dark underclass.
Massimo Ranieri was a teen idol singer; casting him as Piero was deliberate irony—the pretty face of exploitation.
IT
