Those Two: A prickly little slice of 1935

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for black-and-white Italian cinema from the mid-30s, you’ll probably find something to love here. If you need pacing that moves faster than a slow walk, or if you get annoyed by characters who make consistently bad life choices, skip it. It's a movie for people who like to watch human beings stumble over their own feet.

Honestly, watching Those Two feels like walking into a room halfway through a conversation you weren't invited to. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s this specific, lived-in texture to the way Assia Noris carries herself that keeps the whole thing from floating away into total boredom.

The writing, handled by Eduardo De Filippo, has this weirdly sharp edge to it. He doesn’t let the characters be too nice. Everyone is a little bit selfish, a little bit tired, and very much human. It reminds me a bit of the domestic tension in The Apaches of Paris, though it’s far less gritty and much more concerned with the mundane stuff that makes people tick.

Oddly specific observations:

• The lighting in the second act is surprisingly moody for what is essentially a rom-com.
• Peppino De Filippo is doing a lot of heavy lifting with just his eyebrows.
• There is a chair in the corner of the living room set that nobody sits in, yet everyone looks at it constantly. It’s haunting in a way that I don’t think was intentional. 🪑
• The dialogue gets a bit repetitive around the 45-minute mark, almost like the actors forgot which take they were on.

It’s not a masterpiece. It doesn’t try to be. Sometimes it just stops, like the film reel had a hiccup or the director just got bored with a scene and decided, “Yeah, that’s enough of that.”

I found myself wondering if anyone in 1935 actually talked like this. Probably not. But they wanted to, which counts for something. It captures that specific longing for drama that usually only exists in old movies. It’s not as polished as something like I Live for Love, but it feels more like an actual life.

If you’re looking for a plot that hangs together perfectly, look elsewhere. But if you want to watch Anna Magnani do her thing—even in an earlier, quieter role—it’s worth the slog. Just don't expect it to explain itself.

Some parts are genuinely funny, in a dry, painful sort of way. Other parts are just… there. It’s an uneven watch, but I don’t regret the hour or so I spent with it. Sometimes that’s all you get.