''Path of Hope'' ( it, Il cammino della speranza) is a 1950

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Pietro Germi that belongs to the

Italian neorealism Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...

film movement. It is based on Nino Di Maria's novel ''Cuori negli abissi''.

Federico Fellini Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...

co-wrote the script. In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the

2021 Cannes Film Festival The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after t ...

. In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."

Plot

The film presents the travel of a group of poor Sicilians to France in their dreams of a better life. Women wait anxiously at a minehead in Capodarso, Sicily. Their men are underground. The mine is closing and the miners refuse to come up unless the owner relents. After three days, they give up in despair... In a bar in town, Ciccio is recruiting workers for jobs in France. He can get people over the border — for L20,000 a head. Enough people to fill a bus, having sold their belongings to pay the fee, including Saro and his three young children, and Barbara and her man Vanni, who's in trouble with the law and desperate to flee Italy. After reaching Naples by train, Ciccio tries to slip away but is grabbed by Vanni. Vanni tells Barbara where to meet at the border if anything should go wrong. In Rome, Ciccio points out Vanni to the police. In the shoot-out, both Vanni and Ciccio escape. The others are arrested. They are ordered by the police to return to Sicily or be charged with "illegal expatriation". With Saro as leader, and nearly out of money, they head north instead. Hardship draws Saro and Barbara closer together.

Cast

Raf Vallone The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's Air force, air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal ...

- Saro Cammarata *

Elena Varzi Elena Varzi (21 December 1926 – 1 September 2014) was an Italian film actress. Life and career Born in Rome, in spite of a non-professional acting background, Varzi made her film debut in a leading role, as the Sicilian Maria Antonia in Renat ...

- Barbara Spadaro *

Saro Urzì Rosario "Saro" Urzì (24 February 1913 – 1 November 1979) was an Italian actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' In the Name of the Law'' (1949), '' The Railroad Man'' (1956), '' Seduced and Abandoned'' (1964), which earned him ...

- Ciccio Ingaggiatore * Franco Navarra - Vanni * Liliana Lattanzi - Rosa *

Mirella Ciotti Given name Mirella is a feminine given name which may refer to: *Mirella Amato, bilingual beer consultant, beer sommelier and author in Toronto, Ontario, Canada *Mirella Arnhold (born 1983), Brazilian alpine skier * Mirella Avalle (born 1922), ...

- Lorenza *

Saro Arcidiacono Saro may refer to: Places *Saro, Cantabria, a municipality in Spain *Särö, a locality situated in Halland County, Sweden *Saro, Mali, a village in the Ségou Region of Mali *Saro, the ancient name for the Korean kingdom of Silla and its capital ...

- Accountant *

Francesco Tomalillo Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), seve ...

- Misciu (as Francesco Tomolillo) *

Paolo Reale Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art *Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American s ...

- Brasi *

Giuseppe Priolo Giuseppe is the Italian form of the given name Joseph, from Latin Iōsēphus from Ancient Greek Ἰωσήφ (Iōsḗph), from Hebrew יוסף. It is the most common name in Italy and is unique (97%) to it. The feminine form of the name is Giusep ...

- Luca *

Renato Terra Renato Terra (26 July 1922 in Naples – 28 November 2010 in Rome) had a career working in film as an actor, and has appeared in over 80 movies. In 1977 he retired to become a poet. Young, he attended the Experimental Center of Cinematography in ...

- Mommino * Carmela Trovato - Cirmena *

Angelo Grasso Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...

- Antonio *

Assunta Radico The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

- Beatificata *

Francesca Russella Francesca is an Italian female given name, derived from the Latin male name ''Franciscus'' meaning 'the Frenchman' It is widely used in most Romance languages, including Italian, French and Catalan, and place of origin is Italy. It is derived from ...

- Grandmother

Awards

;Wins * 1st Berlin International Film Festival -

Silver Bear The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

;Nominations *

1951 Cannes Film Festival The 4th Cannes Film Festival was held from 3 to 20 April 1951. The previous year, no festival had been held because of financial reasons. In 1951, the festival took place in April instead of September to avoid direct competition with the Venice Fi ...

Palme d'Or The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...

References

External links

* 1950 films 1950s Italian-language films 1950 drama films Films set in Sicily Films set in Italy Italian neorealist films Films directed by Pietro Germi Films with screenplays by Federico Fellini Films with screenplays by Luciano Vincenzoni Films about illegal immigration Lux Film films Italian drama films Italian black-and-white films 1950s Italian films {{1950s-Italy-film-stub