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Chris' Soundtrack Corner proudly presents the CD soundtrack to INGRID SULLA STRADA (Ingrid on the Road), a 1973 Italian psychological drama. The film was written and directed by Brunello Rondi, known primarily as a script-writer and script consultant who had often collaborated with Federico Fellini. Rondi's directorial debut came in 1961 with the film VIOLENT LIFE and he went on to make a number of psychological/sexual dramas of which INGRID SULLA STRADA was one of the last.
The film is a kind of drama in which young Ingrid leaves her home after being raped by her father and arrives in Rome, where she prostitutes herself and has various adventures until everything becomes too much and she commits suicide. It's not a real happy story, but it wasn't necessarily meant to be. Aside from its cruel turns of plot, INGRID SULLA STRADA served as Rondi's commentary and condemnation of bourgeois conventions, much in the way Fellini and Pasolini used extreme cinematic drama to express their dissatisfaction with Italian society. Thus the film has a deeper sociological component than the simplistic brutality its plot might suggest, although the film makes for difficult entertainment at best.
Swedish model and actress Janet Agren stars as Ingrid, who ventures out of the pure Nordic snowscape at the beginning of the film to arrive into the cruel depravity of modern, claustrophobic Rome. There she befriends Claudia (Francesca Romana Coluzzi), the wild and noble hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold who helps Ingrid navigate the seamier side of Roman adventure. Additional cast members include Enrico Maria Salerno as depraved bourgeois Urbano, Bruno Corazzari as Alessandro the painter, and Franco Citti as Renato the local Neo Nazi leader.
The movie features a score by Carlo Savina (1919-2002), who at the time was nearly at the midpoint of his film music career. While the movie is largely forgotten, it contains one of Savina's loveliest melodies and is one of his most interesting scores. His score is largely built around a single main theme, which Savina adapted from a sumptuous melody he originally composed for 1964's AMORE MIO, which nicely accommodates INGRID's less affectionate romantic story - essentially serving as "Ingrid's Theme." Savina provides a likable amount of arrangements and variances of this theme to fit the intricacies of the storyline and treat the listener to a variety of instrumentations.
Chris' Soundtrack Corner is delighted to make this score available for essentially the first time. Only the Main theme and the pop organ track, "Walking Through the Falling Leaves," have been previously released. It's a deliciously engaging score from Carlo Savina, its thematic development nicely reflecting the story of the friendship between Ingrid and Claudia both in the beauty of its melody and, ultimately, our coming to know the heartbreak that leads Ingrid to surrender her soul. The album is produced by Christian Riedrich and mastered by Manmade Mastering. The CD is accompanied by a 12-page illustrated booklet designed by Tobias Kohlhaas and featuring detailed, exclusive notes on the film and its score by film music journalist Randall D. Larson, who deconstructs the score's elements in detail.
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