March 5, 2025
FILM: THERE’S STILL TOMORROW
DIRECTED BY: PAOLA CORTELLESI
STARRING: PAOLA CORTELLESI, VALERIO MASTANDREA, ROMANA MAGGIORA VERGANO
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Post-World War II Italy was in a state of major transition. The country had been defeated and its identity needed to be re-established. This meant changes. Neo-realist films made in Italy at this time, such as The Bicycle Thieves, and Rome Open City, focused on the dark, troubled times that the country found itself in. The new film, There’s Still Tomorrow, while still illustrating the darkness of the era, takes a different approach as it offers more hope and direction for the women of Rome.
Director Paola Cortellesi stars in her own film as Delia, a woman with three children and an abusive husband. During the first scene, she wakes up with her husband Ivano who promptly slaps her across the face. Ivano constantly belittles Delia and refers to her “empty head” and as being “useless.” However, once her day begins, Delia opens the windows to their modest Rome house with a song playing suggesting it’s time for the sun and new dreams to enter her home. This becomes the underlying drive for Delia who has a lot to handle in her world. In addition to Ivano, her daughter Marcella is about to be married, her sons constantly fight, and she has more than one job which gets her out of the house and allows her to earn some extra money.
The first hour or so of the film feels a bit different than the previously mentioned films that made during the late 1940s. Shot in black and white, there’s a slight glossiness to the look which gives it something of a contemporary feel. Similarly, the background music veers between songs that have a guitar driven 1960s vibe to later some rap. These choices keep the film relevant to audiences today, suggesting the fight for women’s independence is never over.
The film was a major success in Italy in 2023. It reportedly outgrossed both Oppenheimer and Barbie and landed in the Top Ten of highest grossing films ever in the country. It’s a curious success story given its visual style as well as its portrait of a highly misogynistic culture where women are considered less than men in seemingly all ways. They make less money, and they’re considered men’s possessions.
The scenes featuring abuse are disturbing if not overtly depicted on screen. At least once, the abuse Ivano instills on Delia is illustrated as a kind of dance with choreographed moves that give Ivano the upper hand. The couple is also considered to be less sophisticated than the man Marcella is to marry. The family is branded as “yokels” who only have a restaurant keeping the younger couple attached to each other.
The tone of the film is dark at times but there are plenty of light touches, such as Ivano’s elderly father talking about the old times when people married their cousins and how much better such relationships were. There are also a few comical scenes in the town square where Delia faces off against one of her female rivals.
In the end though, this is a portrait of a resourceful woman. She’s got an old boyfriend not far away and has caught the attention of a black U.S. service man who vows to help her in any way she needs. The question is always, will Delia take the options that are in front of her? Can she and will she leave Ivano? What about the rest of the family? Forgiveness? What might become of her? As the title and the large numbers of women arriving to vote for the first time suggest, “there’s still tomorrow” for better days. We could probably all use some of that hope right now.
There’s Still Tomorrow opens theatrically this week.
FILM: THERE’S STILL TOMORROW
DIRECTED BY: PAOLA CORTELLESI
STARRING: PAOLA CORTELLESI, VALERIO MASTANDREA, ROMANA MAGGIORA VERGANO
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Post-World War II Italy was in a state of major transition. The country had been defeated and its identity needed to be re-established. This meant changes. Neo-realist films made in Italy at this time, such as The Bicycle Thieves, and Rome Open City, focused on the dark, troubled times that the country found itself in. The new film, There’s Still Tomorrow, while still illustrating the darkness of the era, takes a different approach as it offers more hope and direction for the women of Rome.
Director Paola Cortellesi stars in her own film as Delia, a woman with three children and an abusive husband. During the first scene, she wakes up with her husband Ivano who promptly slaps her across the face. Ivano constantly belittles Delia and refers to her “empty head” and as being “useless.” However, once her day begins, Delia opens the windows to their modest Rome house with a song playing suggesting it’s time for the sun and new dreams to enter her home. This becomes the underlying drive for Delia who has a lot to handle in her world. In addition to Ivano, her daughter Marcella is about to be married, her sons constantly fight, and she has more than one job which gets her out of the house and allows her to earn some extra money.
The first hour or so of the film feels a bit different than the previously mentioned films that made during the late 1940s. Shot in black and white, there’s a slight glossiness to the look which gives it something of a contemporary feel. Similarly, the background music veers between songs that have a guitar driven 1960s vibe to later some rap. These choices keep the film relevant to audiences today, suggesting the fight for women’s independence is never over.
The film was a major success in Italy in 2023. It reportedly outgrossed both Oppenheimer and Barbie and landed in the Top Ten of highest grossing films ever in the country. It’s a curious success story given its visual style as well as its portrait of a highly misogynistic culture where women are considered less than men in seemingly all ways. They make less money, and they’re considered men’s possessions.
The scenes featuring abuse are disturbing if not overtly depicted on screen. At least once, the abuse Ivano instills on Delia is illustrated as a kind of dance with choreographed moves that give Ivano the upper hand. The couple is also considered to be less sophisticated than the man Marcella is to marry. The family is branded as “yokels” who only have a restaurant keeping the younger couple attached to each other.
The tone of the film is dark at times but there are plenty of light touches, such as Ivano’s elderly father talking about the old times when people married their cousins and how much better such relationships were. There are also a few comical scenes in the town square where Delia faces off against one of her female rivals.
In the end though, this is a portrait of a resourceful woman. She’s got an old boyfriend not far away and has caught the attention of a black U.S. service man who vows to help her in any way she needs. The question is always, will Delia take the options that are in front of her? Can she and will she leave Ivano? What about the rest of the family? Forgiveness? What might become of her? As the title and the large numbers of women arriving to vote for the first time suggest, “there’s still tomorrow” for better days. We could probably all use some of that hope right now.
There’s Still Tomorrow opens theatrically this week.