There is a lot to love about Hollywood legend Sophia Loren. An incredible career that started in the 1950s, the last years of Golden Hollywood. Working with some of the legends of the silver screen. But today she returns to the screens in an incredible film about tolerance, acceptance and love.
The Life Ahead is directed by Edoardo Ponti, Loren’s youngest son. This is a remarkable film about the life of Madame Rosa (Sophia Loren), an Auschwitz survivor who runs a day care for the children of street workers. Rosa takes in Momo (Ibrahaim Gueye) a Senegalese refugee, who is an orphan and very angry at the world.
There is a keen sense of realism with this film, a gritty truth about the harshness of every day life.
Watching Loren on screen is playing opposite young ball of energy Gueve, you understand why Loren has had such a long impressive career built of an immense talent. There is a grace and ease about her on screen that is captivating but watching her dance on camera with Spanish trans actor Abril Zamora, you understand how switched on and up to date she is of current issues and helping with greater representation on the screen.
Edoardo Ponti, is an intelligent filmmaker and is following in the footsteps his famous parents. He has recreated this film that is based on the novel, The Life Before Us by Romain Gary. The film was originally made in 1978 and starred Simone Signoret. But Ponti has added a modern twist and left mark on this tear-jerker about the importance of love, acceptance and tolerance on those less fortunate.
The premise of the story is about the life of a group of individuals who have all had a hard life and are all brought together by accident.
Madame Rosa a Jewish woman who survived the atrocities of World War II, became a prostitute and later in life is running a day care for the children her friends who are also ladies of the night.
Momo is a sullen and depressed refugee who is experimenting in street crime. Whether these actions are a for a cry for help or an act of rebellion by a disgruntled teenager, but by coincidence in an act of theft, is introduced to Madame Rosa.
Both actors, Loren and Gueve are captivating on screen. They bring a sense of raw and edginess to their performances. Sophia Loren is almost unrecognizable and it is brilliant.
The Life Ahead is an astounding work for the simple reason it is breaking many boundaries as it a story about the underrepresented in the community and the brutal nature of their life as they desperately try to make ends meet. There is a harshness but underlying honesty with all their performances and that is what makes this movie stand out from your standard Hollywood feature.
Ibrahaim Gueve can hold his ground on the screen with acting legend Sophia Loren and she has worked with some of the greats over the years including Marcello Mastroianni, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, John Wayne, William Holden, Clarke Gable, Marlon Brando and Charlie Chaplin, just to name a few.
The Life Ahead is strongly recommended and available to view on Netflix.
