Two years before her rise to worldwide recognition in both 8 ½ and The Pink Panther, Claudia Cardinale stunned Italy and France in this impeccably crafted film by director Valerio Zurlini. Cardinale stars as a wayward young lass named Aida, consistently duped by the worthless older men she dates. When her latest flashy playboy literally ditches her from his sports car, she strikes out on foot to track him down, eventually arriving at the estate she believes to be his home. Instead of her boyfriend Marcello, she’s greeted by a teen named Lorenzo (Jacques Perrin) who claims no knowledge of Marcello.
Buy Girl with a Suitcase Blu-rayLorenzo is of course Marcello’s younger brother, bound by family ties to shield Marcello from retribution, but he’s so enraptured by Aida that he agrees to assist her in her quest and anything else she might need. Thus begins the impossible relationship between the dewy-eyed teen and the dejected worldly lady, with Lorenzo following her around like a puppy and marshaling his meager economic resources to support her at every turn without involving his rich family.
Zurlini paints a vivid picture of the well-to-do older men who have circulated through Aida’s young life, always treating her like a precious bauble until they discard her and move on to their next conquest. Aida knows they’re no good for her, and yet the fleeting financial security and status they provide keeps her on the prowl for her next fix until she can finally find a virtuous man. When she finally does, Lorenzo is simply too young and unestablished for her, even as he clings to the dream that she will eventually realize his pure love is just the salvation she needs.
The film has gone through a 4K restoration in Italy and arrives in breathtakingly luminous black and white with barely any noticeable defects. The mono soundtrack is presented in Dolby and has also been restored to near perfection. Although there are no archival bonus features with the principals, the disc includes interviews with the assistant director, the screenwriter, and a critic, as well as an enlightening visual essay about the film and its place in Italian cinema.
Young Claudia Cardinale is so ethereal that it’s easy to understand Aida’s all-consuming appeal to Lorenzo. The surprise is just how deeply Perrin makes us feel that passion, conveying more with his enraptured gaze while cradling her than any scripted lines could enhance. In the measured hands of director Zurlini, their interactions are given time to linger, driving home the depth of Lorenzo’s infatuation and Aida’s dawning realization that the boy is the only man to ever treat her right.
