Roberto Rossellini directs Anna Magnani in this controversial pair of short films about love and loneliness. Adapted from Jean Cocteau’s 1929 play The Human Voice, the first episode sees a woman make a last-ditch attempt to save her relationship over the phone. Magnani then joins Federico Fellini in the second episode: The Miracle, adapted from Ramón del Valle-Inclán’s 1904 novel Flor de santidad, which follows a peasant woman who believes she is pregnant with the son of God, much to the ire of her fellow townsfolk.

At once a showcase for Anna Magnani’s talents and an opportunity to experiment with smaller ideas while preparing for Germany, Year Zero, Roberto Rossellini’s L’amore became a subject of controversy when it’s second episode was banned for a few years in the United States after condemnation from Catholic groups and authorities. While the first episode maintains electric tension and bitter heartbreak with only a Magnani in a room with a telephone, the second contrasts grave misunderstanding and spiritual turmoil against staggeringly beautiful yet terribly isolating landscapes. An arresting and thought-provoking reprieve from the War Trilogy that heralds the kinds of images to come.