In Michelangelo Antonioni's 1955 drama, independence is a choice between career and domesticity
In short: Le amiche captures the lives of five upper-class women in Turin, anchored by Clelia, a woman navigating professional ambition and social boundaries. As she observes her friends' hollow relationships and a tragic suicide, she must decide if personal independence is worth the price of a lonely, professional life.
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, the 1955 film Le amiche is a seminal exploration of emotional detachment and the internal emptiness of its protagonists. Adapted from Cesare Pavese’s 1949 novella Tra donne sole, the film shifts the narrative focus from a singular perspective to a broader ensemble of five socialite women in Turin. While Pavese’s original text attributed the suicide of the character Rosetta to a failed lesbian affair and a general sense of senselessness, Antonioni’s adaptation reframes this tragedy as the result of an ill-fated obsession with the painter Lorenzo.
The story follows Clelia, who returns to Turin to manage a new fashion salon. Her professional trajectory is complicated by her attraction to Carlo, an assistant of working-class descent. This relationship highlights the rigid social boundaries Clelia faces, despite her own humble origins in the city’s poorer districts. The film’s tension culminates when Clelia, disgusted by the cynicism of her social circle following Rosetta’s death, chooses to leave for a career in Rome. In a final, poignant moment, she rejects the prospect of becoming a 'peaceful wife in a modest home,' choosing professional autonomy even as her potential partner, Carlo, watches her departure from afar.
Though the film performed respectably at the box office upon its 1955 release and won the Silver Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, its international reputation grew later. Critics now view it as a crucial precursor to Antonioni’s later masterpieces, such as the 1960 film L'avventura. By emphasizing the lack of genuine emotional connection between his characters, Antonioni established the thematic concerns that would define his career. The film’s visual style was further elevated by the wardrobe designs of the Roman fashion house Sorelle Fontana, grounding the characters' social status in the material reality of mid-century Italian elegance.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Le Amiche
- Also: Wikidata — Le Amiche · CC0
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