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“I dig deep within myself and try to bring out a truth that is universal,” says Sophia Loren of her process as an actor. That truth shines through in her new Netflix film “The Life Ahead,” a triumphant return to the screen for the cinematic icon.
Directed and co-written by filmmaker (and Loren’s son) Edoardo Ponti, “The Life Ahead” is the story of Madame Rosa, a Holocaust survivor and former prostitute who takes children from the streets of Italy under her wing. Based on the novel “The Life Before Us” by Romain Gary, and co-starring Renato Carpentieri, Babak Karimi, and newcomer Ibrahima Gueye, the film has earned praise from critics around the globe—especially for Loren, making her first feature film appearance in over a decade.
“In this case, the truth of the character was born from my experiences as a child during the Second World War and my experiences with my family,” she explains in the featurette below. “The character of Madame Rosa, her toughness and her fragility, is directly derived from my own mother.”
Ponti also speaks to collaborating with Loren throughout the page-to-screen process. “My mother approaches every role, every adventure, with the desire to explore sides of her that maybe she hasn’t yet explored,” he says. “She’s not scared of falling and getting back up.”
Check out the featurette below for behind-the-scenes glimpses of Loren and Ponti’s artistic processes, and how they resulted in one of this awards season’s most moving films.
For more, go to film.netflixawards.com.