Girl With a Suitcase
In a capsule review, occasional contributor SilverBlueSnow offers a brief appreciation of last year’s Radiance Blu-ray release of director Valerio Zurlini ‘s 1961 GIRL WITH A SUITCASE [LA RAGAZZA CON LA VALIGIA].
The Italian romantic drama Girl with a Suitcase [La ragazza con la valigia] was released on Blu-ray in the UK in 2025 by Radiance. I loved this film when I first saw it in a cinema in France in 2006 and immediately ordered the DVD set from NoShame Films (it was the first DVD I ever bought!). I was looking forward to experiencing it through this new Radiance Films Blu-ray and once again was profoundly moved by this wonderful work.
Valerio Zurlini is still a little known director who received some attention in the 2000s when several of his films were rereleased in cinemas, and in 2024 the Cinematheque Francaise programmed all of his eight of his features. His 1962 film Family Diary [Cronaca familiare] shared the Venice Festival Golden Lion together with Andrei Tarkovsky’s Ivan’s Childhood [Ivanovo detstvo]. His entire filmography is ripe for rediscovery.
The story is intimate – Aida (Claudia Cardinale) has followed a boyfriend to Parma and gets dumped in a shameful manner. She wants to confront the cowardly ex, and ends up making a connection with his younger brother (Jacques Perrin).
Cardinale is such a joy in this film. The camera highlights her beauty and inner radiance, and her face perfectly expresses her vulnerability to the harsh reality of life – we fall in love with her along with Lorenzo. Her scenes with Jacques Perrin are special – Cardinale’s first language was French so she bonded closely with Perrin on set and this comes across in the film. Perrin is a unique actor and artist and he became a favorite of Zurlini. He perfectly captures a young man on the verge of adulthood whose attraction and caring for Aida is sincere but naïve – her needs and responsibilities (she has a young baby) are just too adult for the young upper class Lorenzo. Zurlini perfectly captures the feelings of these young protagonists and the bitter role that reality plays.
sound and vision
The film was scanned in 4k and restored by Cineteca di Bologna. The 1.85:1 1080p transfer is very clean and detail is sharp. A fine film grain is visible, the contrast is very nicely graded, and there is no movement of the image within frame. The beautiful B&W photography looks timeless.
The LPCM 1.0 mono soundtrack is very clear. The film has a score by Mario Nascimbene that creates a unique atmosphere – the music features a harpsichord and some kind of mandolin/guitar that gives a classical/baroque feel to the film and an underlying poignancy and tenderness.
special features
Piero Schivazappa (19:52)
This is an excellent and very personal profile of Zurlini from Piero Schivazappa who assisted on two of his films. The discussion is delivered without hesitations or pauses – he is engaging and well-spoken for 19 minutes straight (just 2 edits I could see). He shares great insight into Zurlini the filmmaker. This interview was produced by NoShame films in 2006 for that DVD release and has been upscaled from standard definition to 1080p for this Blu-ray.
Piero De Bernard (17:07)
A slightly meandering interview with Girl with a Suitcase screenwriter Piero De Bernard that nonetheless includes some interesting recollections about Zurlini. This was also sourced from the NoShame DVD and is visually similar to the interview above.
Bruno Torri (17:04)
A very good interview with critic Bruno Torri, who shares his knowledge of the Italian cinema scene in the 1960s. Again, this was sourced from the NoShame DVD
Kat Ellinger (14:22)
A good visual essay in which writer and film historian Kat Ellinger discusses the legacy of fascism and the development of strong female characters in Italian cinema. This was created exclusively for Radiance Films in January of 2025.
Booklet
Zurlini’s Cinema of Emotions: the essay does not seem to have been properly proofread – Paragraph 3 has omissions and bad construction. Also, Dino Risi did not direct the 1958 Big Deal on Madonna Street [I soliti ignoti] (page 14). The essay is a bit too dry for me, although it does contain some interesting facts.
CC Goes West: This essay looks at the American reception of the film. The comments of the American critics show us where so much of the shallow nature of the film industry comes from. Instead of any serious appreciation of the art form, most of the reviews focus on the sex symbol status of Cardinale or fail to praise Zurlini’s obvious talent. However, the film seems to have been cut drastically (20-39 minutes depending on the country) upon first release, so the film surely was severely compromised.
final thoughts
I hope we get more Zurlini on Blu-ray – Violent Summer and the 1976 Desert of the Tartars [Il deserto dei tartari](shown at Cannes in 2013 and released on a French Blu-ray) have been restored.
This film is an important part of Italian cinema and a very touching story featuring the superb Claudia Cardinale and Jacques Perrin. Highly recommended release from Radiance Films, whose Italian film library is becoming essential.
