I Knew Her Well (1965)

 Antonio Pietrangeli's "I Knew Her Well"


Going in to Antonio Pietrangeli's 1965 film "I Knew Her Well," I was under the false assumption that it would be a Commedia d'Italia. I believed this based on the lead actress, Stefania Sandrelli, who had appeared in two hit Commedia d'Italias (both by Pietro Germi): 1961's "Divorce Italian Style" and 1964's "Seduced and Abandoned." However, "I Knew Her Well" fell less into the Commedia d'Italian category (although it has its moments) and more into the atmosphere of the Nouvelle Vague that was sweeping Europe at the time.

The film centers on Adriana, a provincial young woman who moves to Rome to become famous. Along the way, her loose acquaintances simply use her for their own gain or amusement. Through this process, she uncovers the dark underbelly of the film and media industry and ultimately feels like a loose rag that gets tossed around.

The film is an episodic series of adventures. Its title is a bit ironic, given that Adriana spends each of these episodes with a different man while sporting a different hairstyle and outfit to match. It seems as though no one really knows her, even the viewer. Her willingness to change and conform herself to whatever anyone needs her to be creates a sense of detachment. 

This sense of detachment we feel with our own protagonist (despite sympathizing with her fully) gives the film an almost-Antonioni feel. However, it doesn't stray too far into that territory, given some of its more Commedia d'Itlalian elements (even though I wouldn't call it one). Rather, its mix of comedy and tragedy, along with a modernist atmosphere, gives it a quality unique to its own. Its like a tonal mélange of all the Italian films coming out at the time.

To me, "I Knew Her Well" was a triumphal observation on the nature of the film industry, the impermanence experience, and the modern complications of human connections. In a post-war Italian landscape, much like in Fellini's "La Dolce Vita," humans are more vapid, glamour-chasing empty vessels than anything else. In a soulless modern environment, how can anyone know anyone else well at all. The idea is comical. 





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