A few years ago I saw the 1977 movie "Madame Rosa", starring Simone Signoret as a Holocaust survivor in Paris looking after a Muslim boy. I read that it was based on Romain Gary's novel "The Life Before Us". We now have a new adaptation. "La vita davanti a sé" ("The Life Ahead" in English) casts Sophia Loren as the elderly Rosa, assigned a troubled boy to take care of. Loren's son Edoardo directs the movie.

Powerful performances carry the movie. There are some scenes that make you feel as if you're walking on eggshells, especially seeing the environment from which Momo comes. While I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, I like how it drew a connection between Rosa's experiences and the plight of immigrants in Europe. If the movie has any downside, it's that some of the characters could've gotten more developed. But maybe they didn't need to be. Overall I found it worth seeing.

The song "Io sì (Seen)" (a power ballad against racism) received an Academy Award nomination.

This is a gently poignant story of an elderly lady - an holocaust survivor - "Madame Rosa" (Sophia Loren) who takes in young lads and gives them a temporary home. She is obviously less than enthusiastic when asked to take in a 12 year old Somalian boy "Momo" (an engaging effort from Ibrahima Gueye) who had just robbed her. For quite a while, it's not all chocolate and roses between the two - or between "Momo" and her other lodger - but despite their initial reservations of each other they gradually develop a level of trust and respect. Insofar as the story goes, it's not the most innovative nor imaginative tale. It tugs on the heart strings in a predictably sentimental fashion and that rather disappoints. Loren is every inch a star, but somehow even she doesn't manage to set this rather formulaic story alight. She is old, he is young - we know that - but the script (don't get me started on the terrible English language dubbing) offers us little by way of augmentation to what we can plainly see. It's emotional, but because it ought to be, not because the performances generate that sensation. It is worth watching - who knows how many more films this legend will make - but I fear it will go down in the annals for who was in it, rather than for being a good film in itself.

When Sophia Loren was younger she could rely on her beauty - but even back then I would argue that you could tell that there was more to her than just her looks. Obviously beauty is in the eye of the beholder and some may not thought of her as beautiful for personal reasons. That aside though, she has aged very beautiful and she is still stunning looking.

Now some may already have given up on me or this review for it being too focused on her looks. But to deny that or not mention it at all, would be a disservice to what she stood for and what people thought of her. It would also be missing the point that you might have been blinded by that exterior and miss her acting talent! She plays so wonderfully here, I would hope she continues to make more movies ... because while others retain a certain vanity even after a certain age, she seems completely free of that, which makes her and her performance even more amazing! I think the Oscars came knocking ... I would not be surprised ...