Sophia Loren’s performance as scorned sex worker Filumena, who first meets wealthy business owner Domenico (Marcello Mastroianni) during a bombing in World War II, challenges the 30-year-old actress to convey three long decades in Filumena’s life for a character “that embraces all womankind” (Evening Standard). This sweeping tragicomedy of a woman’s singular pursuit of familial stability marks another successful reteaming for stars Loren and Mastroianni and filmmaker Vittorio De Sica, which resulted in a Best Actress Oscar nomination for Loren and Best Foreign Language Film nomination for Italy, its ninth nomination of an eventual thirty to date.