Life Begins Anew

Life Begins Anew (Italian: La vita ricomincia) is a 1945 Italian drama film directed by Mario Mattoli and starring Alida Valli, Fosco Giachetti and Eduardo De Filippo. It was the second most popular Italian film during 1945-46 after Roberto Rossellini's Paisan.

The film was shot on location in war-damaged Naples. This was not because the director Mattoli wished to follow neorealist style, which he largely rejected. Interior scenes were shot at the Palatino Studios in Rome. The film was important in Giachetti's transition from one of the leading stars of the Fascist era into a figure acceptable to post-war audiences. This was partly achieved through retaining his previously strongly masculine persona which was adapted to the new conditions. Alida Valli, also a celebrated Fascist period star, received a boost from the film and went to Hollywood the following year.

An Italian serviceman returns home to Rome after spending some time in a British Prisoner of War camp during the Second World War. He finds that his wife, during the desperate war years, has become a prostitute to pay for medicine to keep their son alive. He is at first outraged and pushes her away, but after being given wise advice by a friendly neighbour, he decides to reconcile with her.