Living legend of cinema, Sophia Loren, 86 years old, returns to enchant the public after eleven years of absence.
The Italian actress stars in a new adaptation of Romain Gary's novel,
La Vie devant soi
, directed by her son Edoardo Ponti.
The film, distributed by Netflix, will be released on November 13.
A suitable date to attract the attention of the Academy of Oscars.
Read also: Sophia Loren celebrates her 80th birthday: her 5 essential films
Sophia Loren, who hasn't toured since
Rob Marshall's
Nine
in 2009, plays Madame Rosa.
A survivor of the Shoah, she takes care of the children of prostitutes for a pension.
Among them, Momo (Ibrahima Gueye), a young Senegalese immigrant with whom she will forge a special bond.
“
I loved this role,
” the actress said in a statement.
She's tough, she's fragile, she's a survivor.
In many ways, she reminds me of my own mother.
"
La Vie devant de soi
has already been transposed to the screen in 1977 by Moshé Mizrahi.
Simone Signoret, in the role of Madame Rosa was crowned with the César for best actress in 1978. The same year, at the Oscars, the adaptation won the prize for best foreign film.
For this new adaptation, Edoardo Ponti has transposed the action to the 21st century in Bari, in southern Italy, one of the gateways to Europe for migrants from Africa and the Middle East.
The film marks the third collaboration of Sophia Loren and her son who got down to directing and signed the screenplay with Ugo Chiti.
The son of producer Carlo Ponti had already worked with his mother for
Cœurs inconnus
in 2002 and in a 2014 adaptation
of Jean Cocteau's
La Voix humaine
.
I am very, very proud of my mother.
He's a thoroughbred in the best sense of the word
Edoardo Ponti
Both in love with Romain Gary's novel, mother and son are particularly involved in this new adventure.
“My son literally fell in love with the novel and made me read it,”
the actress told
La Repubblica
during the filming in Bari last July
.
The story is very beautiful, but to make a film you need a lot of money and producers who also fall in love with the novel.
I said to Edoardo then: “What are we doing?
Shall we get started? ”
and I did everything I could to make the project a success. ”
"
I am very, very proud of my mother,
" Edoardo Ponti told
Deadline.
He's a thoroughbred in the best sense of the word.
She never gives up until she has given the best of herself.
"
"With him behind the camera, I was free to give my all,
" replied Sophia Loren.
It is an experience that I will cherish forever as an actor and as a mother. ”
To accompany the icon, Spanish actress Abril Zamora, Italian actor Renato Carpentieri and Iranian Babak Karimi have joined the production
