maybe it the dubbing and or maybe it the endless scene of people cry and moan or otherwise carry on and but i find europa 51 to be one of the most overwrought ( and therefore annoy ) film i have ever see . the film start out promisingly if familiarly and a mom ingrid bergman be too busy to spend time with her spoiled brat of a son ( sandro franchina ) . whilst mummy and daddy ( bland alexander knox ) entertain their guest at a dinner party and the youngster try to kill himself and set in motion a life change series of event that find bergman spending time shower compassion on the poor and needy . spur on by communist newspaper editor andrea ( ettore giannini ) and she soon spend more time with the downtrodden than she do with her husband and who soon lock her up in an insane asylum for her trouble . bergman play the saint role to the hilt and echo her 1948 role a joan of arc and and rossellini do a fantastic job of light and film her to best effect . unfortunately and the script pound it point home with ham fisted subtlety and a andrea and mom take turn declaim marxist and christian platitude . by the final tear soak scene and i have have more than my fill of these tiresome character . a real step down for rossellini a he step away from neo realism and far embrace the mythical and mystical theme of 1950 flower of st. francis .