Behind Closed Shutters () is a 1951 Italian crime-melodrama directed by Luigi Comencini and starring Massimo Girotti, Eleonora Rossi Drago, and Giulietta Masina.Barattoni p. 224 The film follows Sandra (Drago) as she searches for her missing sister, venturing into the seedy underworld of Genoa.
Plot In Turin, Sandra, the daughter of a caretaker, is engaged to Roberto, an employee at a construction company. Her sister Lucia has been estranged from the family after a relationship considered inappropriate. When a friend of Lucia's is killed and her body found in the Po River, Lucia, distressed, attempts suicide and calls Sandra for help.
Sandra turns to Edmondo, a man connected to prostitution circles, to locate her sister. Although he recognizes Lucia in a photograph, he does not disclose it. Lucia is in fact under the control of Primavera, a pimp. Edmondo hinders Sandra's efforts, and she is briefly arrested in a police raid after being taken to a nightclub. Following her release, Sandra makes contact with the group, who demand money in exchange for Lucia's release.
The film concludes with Lucia being freed after a confrontation in the port of Genoa.
Cast
Massimo Girotti as Roberto Eleonora Rossi Drago as Sandra Giulietta Masina as Pippo Liliana Gerace as Lucia Renato Baldini as Primavera Ottavio Senoret as Signorino Cesarina Gheraldi as Gianna Antonio Nicotra as Barale Renato Baldini as Primavera Sidney Gordon as Il commissario Goliarda Sapienza as La prostituta religiosa
References
Bibliography Luca Barattoni. Italian Post-Neorealist Cinema. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.
External links