Le Amiche (1955)

When a despondent woman (Madeleine Fischer) attempts suicide, her girlfriends not only attempt to make sense of why she did it but begin looking inward at their own bourgeois lives. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, the film examines themes that would infuse his later masterpieces like L'AVVENTURA, LA NOTTE and L'ECLISSE. Namely, the alienation in contemporary society, the inability to feel or care. The characters here are continually saying "I'm tired", "I'm exhausted", "I'm bored" etc. And the few characters who are actually able to feel something find themselves sacrificing opportunities for love or success in their work because it's too late or they simply give in to someone who's not worthy of them. The primary focus is on the female characters which include a career woman (Eleonora Rossi Drago), a sculptress (Valentina Cortese) and a shallow upper class wife (Yvonne Furneaux) as well as the girl (Fischer) who attempted suicide who seems aimless as she searches for a reason to exist and that reason, sadly, seems validation by a man. It's not in the class of his masterworks but a blueprint but on it stands on its own as the work of a great film maker. With Gabriele Ferzetti, Franco Fabrizi and Ettore Manni.