Looking for Sophia (2005)

Few icons of the postwar generation are more enduring or inspiring than the Italian actress Sophia Loren. An institution as much as she is a human, the divine Loren personifies the resilience of the human spirit, the triumph of grace over crassness, the power of beauty to transform a drab and dreary reality into the stuff of living dreams. Looking for Sophia (2005) is a documentary that combines news clips, archival footage, highlights from Loren’s many films, and interviews with colleagues and loved ones, tracing Loren’s rise from abject poverty to worldwide adulation. The filmmakers piece together a glowing portrait of Sophia Loren that reveals a real, live woman who fully deserves every gush of the tremendous love her multitudes of fans have lavished upon her.