Sophia Loren could set a new record
for the gap between Oscar nominations if she gets a nod for new
Netflix offering The Life Ahead, Variety reported at the
weekend.
The Italian screen legend could beat the 41 years between Henry
Fonda's Grapes of Wrath (1941) and On Golden Pond (1982), by
setting a 56-year record between her new film and Marriage
Italian Style in 1965.
She would also become the oldest nominee at 86, a year older
than Emmanuelle Riva, who was nominated for 'Amour'.
If she manages to go all the way to the Dolby Theatre and win,
she would not only break Jessica Tandy's record as the oldest
winner in the category, but also the oldest acting winner in
history.
Loren won an Oscar in 1962 for 'La ciociara' (Two Women), from
the Alberto Moravia novel, which made her the first actor to win
an Academy Award for a foreign-language film.
The Life Ahead was directed by Loren's son Edoardo Ponti.
It airs on Netflix from November 13.
Loren had not acted since 2013's 'La voce umana' (Human Voice),
also by Ponti, from the Jean Cocteau play.
In the new pic, inspired by Romain Gary's novel 'La vie devant
soi', Loren plays Madame Rosa, an elderly Jewess and former
prostitute, who to make ends meet houses children in difficulty
at her small flat in Bari.
One of the kids who ends up under her wing is Momo' , a
turbulent street urchin of Senegalese extraction (played by
extraordinary debutant Ibrahima Gueye).
Nothing apparently unites these two characters, who are
separated by age, ethnicity, and religion, but despite this the
hearts of this woman, assailed by absences, and of this small
boy, too smart to get into trouble, will be entwined forever.
"The character of Madame Rosa," said Loren, holding 47-year-old
Ponti's hand throughout Friday's video presentation from her
home in Geneva, "reminds me a lot of my mother.
"It's true, I stayed away from the film set for many years, but
I hardly noticed. I needed silence, to be with my children, to
see them grow.
Loren's other son by late film producer Carlo Ponti is Carlo
Ponti Jr, 52, She has four grandchildren.
Loren said she had one regret, not playing the Monaca di Monza,
an iconic character from Italy's greatest historical novel 'I
Promessi Sposi' (The Betrothed), as great director Luchino
Visconti had suggested.
"Many years ago a great director like Luchino Visconti proposed
to me to play the Monaca di Monza but nothing came of it, and I
don't even remember why. Pity, it was a character I really
loved".
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