A Special Day

Set in Rome on 8 May 1938, A Special Day takes place as the city marks Adolf Hitler's visit to Italy and his alliance with Benito Mussolini. In a working-class apartment building, most residents have gone to cheer the parade, among them Emanuele, a fascist clerk whose wife Antonietta stays behind to keep house for their large family. Alone in the block, she meets Gabriele, a radio announcer who has recently lost his job and now awaits the police. Over the course of the day, the two neighbours, who lead very different lives, form a bond that briefly lifts them out of their ordinary circumstances. The story unfolds largely within the building and against radio coverage of the official ceremonies.

Ettore Scola directed and wrote the screenplay with Ruggero Maccari and Maurizio Costanzo, and Carlo Ponti produced. The film followed Scola's Ugly, Dirty and Bad (1976) and came before The New Monsters (1977) in a run of features that also includes We All Loved Each Other So Much (1974) and later The Family (1987). Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni play Antonietta and Gabriele; John Vernon appears as Emanuele, with Françoise Berd, Patrizia Basso and Tiziano De Persio in supporting roles. Ratings are consistent across audiences and critics: 8.1 out of 10 on IMDb from around 18,000 votes, 8.1 on TMDB, and 8.2 from ten critics' reviews.