Movie Review: Journey to Italy

Journey to Italy stars Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders as a couple (Katherine Joyce and Alex Joyce) on their way to Italy to dispose of a property that was inherited after the death of an uncle. I believe the uncle was Katherine's. The movie starts off with the couple just 100 kilometers from Naples. Katherine is driving while Alex is taking a nap. They're driving in a rather fancy looking car and their cloths look high class (especially Katherine's). When Alex wakes up, he talks about his disappointment in not dealing with a business decision in a better way. Based on this, the immediate impression is that this is a wealthy couple. 

During the drive, they mention the names of two individuals. Initially, I thought it might be their children as they look like a couple who are in their late 30s to 40s, but I later learned that the two individuals mentioned are close friends. Also, they seem rather direct and formal with each other, but considering that they're British it just feels that this might be normal.

They randomly run into some friends at a stop and this is where relational troubles start to arise. While at dinner, the couple are separated at the table and Alex spends time flirting with a female friend. Katherine is very unhappy about this situation. In revenge, she later brings up the fact that while she was dating Alex, a poet friend had tried to pursue her. In fact, she tells Alex, the poet showed up outside her window just before she was to be married. This ploy of hers to make Alex jealous backfires and actually creates a rift between the two. 

As stated in the movie, the two of them had seldom spent time alone as a married couple. Instead, spending time with the two individuals mentioned earlier in the movie. After only a few days alone, they just find they can't get along with each other. In some ways, it is a wonder that they got married in the first place as their personal interests have no real intersection. Katherine finds excitement in visiting museums and historical sites. Alex finds excitement at bars and interactions with people. The wedge between them sends him looking into the possibility of having an affair.

As the wedge between them seems more like two roads diverging, Alex proposes that they just get a divorce. And yet, as the movie comes to a conclusion, Katherine finds herself separated from Alex during a religious town ceremony. She doesn't appear to be in any real danger so it seems more like she finds herself just not wanting to be separated from Alex. She calls out to him and he goes towards her. It is there that they realize that they do truly love each other.

The movie takes a glimpse into the life of a couple over a short period of time. One can see how this movie may have influenced Audrey Hepburn's "Two for the Road." That movie also deals with a well to do couple who are having relationship troubles that arise while they are on a trip. Is there potentially a hint that vacations cause family problems to arise? Actually, that can probably be seen in plenty of movies and in personal lives in general. Perhaps it even had an influence on a 1990s art movie called "Enchanted April."

I did enjoy the low key style of the movie and how it explored how a moment in time caused a relationship to rapidly fall apart. Yet, I question the happy ending of the movie. Was this a couple who really were in love? They just seem to have such diverse interests. Of course, maybe those interests only came to the surface due to the fact that they had plenty of free time. Perhaps one of the subtle points of the movie is that relationships aren't just built based on the two couples, but by the community and general time consuming moments that surrounds them -- be it the two friends that were missing or the work that occupied Alex's time.

The movie was initially released as "Viaggio in Italia," which explains the movie poster.