Virna Lisi  “Metamorphosis of a Doll”

In the world of cinema, actors often surrender their image to eternity and their true selves to oblivion. Virna Lisi represents a happy exception: an actress who played great roles without ever losing the thread of her own existence as a woman, wife and mother. A true Mediterranean soul. In 1963 she meets director Richard Quine, who came to Europe searching for the lead in How to Murder Your Wife, a role written for Marilyn Monroe: the choice falls on her, and she flies to the United States to act alongside Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Frank Sinatra. But Hollywood, “a great factory where everything works perfectly,” is also a system that “ends up swallowing you whole.” Virna decides to return to Italy, buying back her seven-year contract from United Artists. With maturity, she maintained an immortal charm and an extraordinary evolution in terms of skill and awareness of her role as an actress.