Traveling Companion (1996) User Reviews (7)

Fellow travelers

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 19 June 2006]

Cora, the young woman at the center of this story, has relocated to Rome, where she works as a waitress in a disco. When we meet her, she is at at odds with what her new life has turned out to be in the new environment. When her friend Ada asks her to help her follow her retired father, who is, for all appearances, in the first stages of the onset of Alzheimer's disease, she accepts reluctantly because of the good pay. Little does she realize her life is about to be changed.

For Cora, what seemed a dull job following Cosimo, suddenly, takes a new dimension as the older man decides to embark on a trip. Not knowing what to do, Cora also boards the train that takes them to a remote town. Cosimo, who seems to be on a voyage of reconnection with his past, goes aimlessly from one town to the next, until Cora makes contact with him. When both are caught by the rain in a covered tennis court, she is able to look at the diary he keeps and discovers a picture of herself among the pages of the book. It's then when we realize that for better, or for worse, these two have more in common than what we previously thought.

Peter Del Monte, the director, and co-writer of the film, shows a great affinity for the job. He is never obtrusive, as he lets the story envelop the viewer in what starts as a disjointed narrative. The film is a great triumph for Asia Argento, who as Cora, goes through a series of emotions she didn't know she was capable of experiencing. Her relationship with Cosimo starts as an annoyance, but the ties between them grow as they traverse the Italian interior. Michel Piccoli, who almost has no dialog, is perfect as the older man. He is losing his mind and can't relate to what is happening to him. Mr. Piccoli gives an underplayed performance that shows all the complexities of Cosimo in this endearing story.

The film shows a new talent in the Italian cinema, Peter Del Monte.

Nice but not memorable.

[myfavoriteartform · 6/10 · 27 January 2005]

Compagna di Viaggio is a story of an aimless, rootless, orphaned 19 year-old girl, Cora, who works odd jobs and sleeps at various friends' homes. One of her jobs is walking the dog of Ada, a woman married to a journalist.

One day, Ada tells her that her father, a recently retired professor, has begun to show signs of dementia, and will wander throughout the city. She offers to pay Cora to shadow him, supposedly unseen, so he won't get lost. Cora agrees, but to her chagrin on the second day he boards a train and starts travelling through Italy, rather than just wandering the streets of Rome.

There are some subplots, involving Cora's brother, Ada's husband's infidelity, and Cora's depression, which seem more or less random since they are not fully developed nor resolved.

The film is well acted, and while there are some very nice scenes, some of which are quite poignant, it really doesn't add up to a compelling story. The ending suggests that the writer couldn't figure out where to go, so he created something somewhat artificial that really doesn't answer the questions which are raised along the way.

It's watchable, but I wouldn't go out of my way to see it. Despite the lovely scenery and fine acting, I'd only give it 6 out of 10.

love asia!

[lotusblues · 7/10 · 5 April 2006]

Asia Argento was so sadly beautifully in the film that it really kept me wondering what she would go through next. she shadows an aging professor (piccoli), whose daughter, ada, has hired her to follow around rome so that he would not get lost in town. then he travels all across europe and she follows him wondering where they would end up next. it ends up with asia'a character, cora, growing up and taking responsibility for her own actions and a developing a true compassion for the professor and eventually herself. (she disagrees with her brother to kidnap the prof and instead helps him get away). along the journey, cora discovers herself and a direction to move her life into. before her enlightenment, cora sleeps with various men to seemingly distract herself from her apparent depression and tries to kill herself later by jumping off a bridge after making friends with a girl working at a factory near the bridge. the "baptism" seems to awaken her to the positive possibilities of life and in the end she runs into the prof again and seems to feel a comfort that they are in this big world together as travelling companions. i love asia argento and bought the DVD! love asia!

...but i still remember it

[whitepaint · 10/10 · 8 May 2006]

I saw this movie on TV about eight years ago. I knew neither the title nor the names of the actors but I was so deeply moved by that, though i haven't seen it, since i still remember the feeling it left in me. Though "A travelling Companion" tells a bitter story of loneliness and estrangement it had a kind of soothing effect on me. Some many years have past but i can still see quite vividly the last scene of the movie in my memory, i mean, Cora's smile - tired, bitter and childishly delighted at the same time. I won't go into the details of the plot as i'm not sure that i remember it correctly. Besides a few people had already posted a message with its summary. All this years i've been trying to find this movie but it seems that it's quite unknown. Probably now that Asia Argento has become a cult figure "A travelling Companion" will get some additional exposure as this film really deserves more popularity.

i love this movie

[ssto · 10/10 · 5 February 2007]

i love this movie, i love watching it over and over and over again

all the characters are lovely, each has his own story and motives, and for each there is some time devoted in the movie to let us enter their life for a while

the story is very simple - everybody is on his way to somewhere, each pursuing his goals, driven by his emotions and we see how the life just passes by while we struggle to find our way through the fog and occasional rain, always alone...

the main character is a young girl who doesn't know what to do with her life. she feels only cold in her soul and doesn't believe that anybody can feel anything different for her, too. she stumbles upon a old, strange man, and following him on a trip changes the way she looks at life, makes her see things she never paid attention to, makes her feel warmth towards this complete stranger, something she never felt for a long time for anyone else in her lonely, cold life...

do watch this movie

watch it and fall in love with it

peace & love

slow and boring

[arzewski · 5/10 · 5 April 2010]

Want to watch a movie about a fast-minded young woman whose job is to shadow a slow-moving old man suffering from Alzheimer's? then this movie is for you.

Many scenes and takes were painfully slow. Does the audience really needed to suffer from such slow takes? The opening scene, for example, shows the old man slowly trying to figure out how to put on a tie. I kid-you-not, it took three minutes.

Other scenes that were just to slow were the scenes inside train stations, inside mass-transit buses, inside moving trains. Maybe the director wanted to send a message to the audience: traveling is slow and nothing happens.

There were outdoor scenes of small towns in the Umbria region. Small towns like Lugnano in Teverina. Yet, very little was done in taking advantage of such locations. Why even bother, then, of shooting takes in these towns.

A Good Little Story

[swnthom · 12 August 2003]

A good little comedy/drama with Asia Argento and Michel Piccoli. Very little plot actually involved but still a very interesting story. One of the few films Argento actually looked like she was interested in. She has very good chemistry with Piccoli and their scenes together make the movie. Movie is very good when it stays light.