Adua and Company

Adua (Simone Signoret) and her “colleagues” are on their own after their brothel is outlawed.  As they struggle to learn a new way of living, they find that society keeps pressuring them to return to their old ways.  I haven’t been too thrilled with Signoret, but this is a role she was born to play, brassy and bold.  The film manages to be quite entertaining, a relative rarity in neo-realism.  The jazzy score helps a lot, as does the fine camerawork, but it’s really the characters and performances (especially Signoret) that keep it compelling.  Rating: 8

IMDb