Desire

Story

Synopsis

Paola, a Milan call girl, returns home to her village in the Abruzzi mountains in an attempt to go straight. Rejected by her father, blackmailed by a former lover, and lusted after by her brother-in-law, she turns to her beloved sister for support. Denied succor, like so many of Rossellini’s isolated figures, Paola awaits the arrival of her fiancé, who has offered her a new start, but instead decides that life is untenable.

Directors

Marcello Pagliero, Roberto Rossellini

Writers

Giuseppe De Santis, Guglielmo Santangelo, Rosario Leone

Language

Italian

Country

Italy

Release date

9 September 1946

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Massimo Girotti

  Nando Mancini

• 

  Carlo Ninchi

  Giovanni Mirelli

• 

  Elli Parvo

  Paola Previtali

• 

  Roswita Schmidt

  Anna Previtali Mancini

• Lia Corelli

  Elena

• 

  Francesco Grandjacquet

  Riccardo

• Jucci Kellerman

  Lia

• 

  Spartaco Conversi

• Giovanna Scotto

  Elvira Previtali, Paola and Anna's Mother

• Astorre Pederzoli

  (uncredited)

• Tito Rinaldi

  (uncredited)