The Circumstance (Italian: La Circostanza) is a 1973 Italian drama film written, directed and edited by Ermanno Olmi. The film was screened at the 1974 San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it received a special mention.
Plot Laura, a lawyer who comes from an upper-class Milanese family, leads an altogether placid life. After witnessing an almost-fatal motorcycle accident near her family's country home, she becomes obsessed with the young victim, leading to a series of flashbacks and introspective instants that probe the bourgeois life she leads.
Cast Ada Savelli as Laura Raffaella Bianichi as Silvia, Laura's daughter Gaetano Porro as Laura's husband Massimo Tabak as Tommaso, Laura's second son Mario Sireci as Beppe, Laura's eldest son Barbara Pezzuto as Anna, Beppe's wife
Reception Critic Derek Elley titled The Circumstance a "romantic highpoint in Olmi's oeuvre" and "his most accomplished piece of work."
Legacy The Circumstance was screened at Film at Lincoln Center in 2019 as part of a retrospective on Olmi's work.
External links
The Circumstance at AllMovie
References