La Ciociara.

Not really film noir, but a film about Italy in 1944. It is based on a book by Alberto Moravia and stars Sophia Loren who won a best actress oscar for the film.

The film is set during the Morocchinate, a little known tragedy in Italian history in which Moroccan soldiers, colonial troops of the French came to help "liberate" Italy. The Moroccans raped thousands of Italian women and girls ranging in age from 11 to 86, as well as a number of young boys in one of the more shameful acts by the allied forces.

Loren plays Cesira, a widower mother of a 12 year old girl named Rosetta, during the allied bombing of Rome. The pair try to escape to a village in the countryside but are both gang raped in a bombed church by Moroccan soldiers.

Loren does a fantastic job. playing woman in desperate circumstances trying to do whats best for her child. Eleanora Brown is equally good in the really tough role of Rosetta. The scene in which she lies helpless screaming under the leering faces of Moroccan soldiers is haunting.

One nice thing about Italian films set during WWII is their focus on civilians. They never try to glorify war, instead showing the dramatic cost of it all.

youtube trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DneFGQqeYgQ&ab_channel=allroundmaster1


and heres some interesting commentary by Loren's son: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21IicZZzJWg&ab_channel=24fpsfan

If you have Loren, do you really need a second woman? Lol

Actually it's interesting that she's not just being played for her looks but given what sounds like a pretty meaty drama to sink her teeth into. Best Actress? Might be worth checking out!

Yeah, her son points out that she was doing romantic comedies up to that point so she was a radical choice.
She does brilliantly. She is too pretty for the role, but she was probably the prettiest human in history so it would be hard for her not to be.