The Circumstance


The Circumstance '' is a 1973 Italian drama film written, directed and edited by Ermanno Olmi. The film was screened at the 1974 San Sebastián International Film Festival, where it received a special mention.

Plot

Laura, a lawyer who comes from an upper-class Milanese family, leads an altogether placid life. After witnessing an almost-fatal motorcycle accident near her family's country home, she becomes obsessed with the young victim, leading to a series of flashbacks and introspective instants that probe the bourgeois life she leads.

Cast

  • Ada Savelli as Laura
  • Raffaella Bianichi as Silvia, Laura's daughter
  • Gaetano Porro as Laura's husband
  • Massimo Tabak as Tommaso, Laura's second son
  • Mario Sireci as Beppe, Laura's eldest son
  • Barbara Pezzuto as Anna, Beppe's wife

    Reception

Critic Derek Elley titled The Circumstance a "romantic highpoint in Olmi's oeuvre" and "his most accomplished piece of work."

Legacy

The Circumstance was screened at Film at Lincoln Center in 2019 as part of a retrospective on Olmi's work.