The Golden Coach

Starring Anna Magnani—here far removed from the neorealist style that made her famous, in a more stylized, theatrical role brimming with irony—The Golden Coach transports us to 18th-century Peru, where the arrival of a small Italian troupe stirs up the Spanish colony. The charismatic actress Camilla awakens the passion of three men of different social standing: a soldier, a famous bullfighter, and the viceroy. When the monarch offers her a sumptuous golden carriage intended for the court, a scandal erupts and a rivalry ignites that shamelessly exposes social hierarchies. Between the stage and real life, Renoir crafts an entertaining reflection on desire, power, and representation.