New restoration!

A rare adaptation for Antonioni, who co-wrote the script adapted from Cesare Pavese’s novella Among Women Only, Le Amiche is widely considered the work in which he first struck on the themes that would define him as a filmmaker. Fashion designer Clelia (Eleonora Rossi Drago) arrives in Turin for the opening of a salon and rescues Rosetta (Madeleine Fischer) from a suicide attempt. Adrift in the city, Clelia is drawn into the world of Rosetta and her three affluent friends, all lovelorn and discontented despite their material comforts. Valentina Cortese (the aging diva in Truffaut’s Day for Night) is particularly memorable as the spurned wife of the artist Rosetta pines for. The film was awarded the prestigious Silver Lion at the 1955 Venice Film Festival.