Girl with a Suitcase

Aida is a dancer and singer from the provinces who accepts the attention of Marcello, a wealthy young man from Parma. He loses interest once she has given in to him, and when she travels to the city and turns up at his family's home asking for him, he refuses to see her and sends his younger brother out to get rid of her instead. Lorenzo is sixteen, serious and sheltered, and rather than turning Aida away he is moved by her situation and decides to look after her, buying her clothes, giving her money and taking her out. He knows who he is to her; she does not know who he really is, and she comes to feel something for the boy as well. The attachment that grows between them is one that everyone around them treats as impossible.

Valerio Zurlini directed the film, which came before Indian Summer in his filmography, from a screenplay by Piero De Bernardi, Leonardo Benvenuti and Enrico Medioli, with Charles Delac and Maurizio Lodi-Fè producing for an Italian-French production. Claudia Cardinale plays Aida and Jacques Perrin plays Lorenzo, with Corrado Pani as Marcello; Luciana Angiolillo, Renato Baldini and Riccardo Garrone appear in supporting roles. The film runs 121 minutes and was released in February 1961. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.4 from around 2,900 votes, and on TMDB 7.1 from a much smaller number of votes, indicating a solid reputation among the viewers who have sought it out.