A Brief Vacation

A Brief Vacation (Italian: Una breve vacanza) is a 1973 melodrama film directed by Vittorio De Sica. The screenplay was written by Cesare Zavattini, was inspired by an Apollinaire adage ("Sickness is the vacation of the poor").

A Brief Vacation
Italian theatrical release poster
Italian	Una breve vacanza
Directed by	Vittorio De Sica
Screenplay by	Cesare Zavattini
Story by	Rodolfo Sonego
Produced by	Arthur Cohn
Starring	Florinda Bolkan Renato Salvatori Daniel Quenaud José María Prada Adriana Asti
Cinematography	Ennio Guarnieri
Edited by	Franco Arcalli
Music by	Manuel De Sica
Production companies	Verona Produzione Azor Films
Distributed by	Cinema International Corporation
Release dates	21 July 1973 (1973-07-21) (Taormina) 7 September 1973 (1973-09-07) (Italy) 2 June 1975 (1975-06-02) (Spain)
Running time	106 minutes
Countries	Italy Spain
Language	Italian

Synopsis

The film concerns a female factory worker from Calabria who falls ill on the job and is prescribed a stay at a mountain retreat. She goes despite her husband's wishes, leaving behind her thankless work shift and her frustrating in-laws, but also her three children. The film addresses issues such as the health care system, labor conditions, spousal satisfaction, and class struggle.

Cast

• Florinda Bolkan as Clara Mataro
• Renato Salvatori as Franco Mataro, the husband
• Daniel Quenaud as Luigi, Clara's lover
• José María Prada as Dr. Ciranni
• Teresa Gimpera as Gina
• Hugo Blanco as brother-in-law
• Julia Peña as Edvige
• Miranda Campa as Nurse Guidotti
• Angela Cardile as the redhead
• Anna Carena as mother-in-law
• Monica Guerritore as Maria
• Maria Mizar as Nurse Garin
• Alessandro Romanazzi as son
• Adriana Asti as Scanziani
• Christian De Sica as Mariani

Critical reception

The film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film by the U.S. National Board of Review.^[1]

Florinda Bolkan won the inaugural Best Actress prize from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for her performance.^[2]