A life on film

 

One of the sweetest things you'll see in a long time is a short Netflix documentary called "What Would Sophia Loren Do?" 

It's the story of a NewJersey spitfire named Nancy "Vincenza Careri" Kulik, who reflects on a life spent refracting her own experiences through the prism of Loren's film roles. Kulik is a charming, self-effacing parent and grandmother whose life isn't any more unique than anyone else's, except  that she relates her experiences - including the death of a son - to the characters played by her favorite actress.

The Italian-born Kulik finds comfort in them, like the struggling single mother Loren played in "Two Women," or the lighthearted young woman flippantly making pizza in "The Gold of Naples." She even appreciates Loren's "figure," as my mother would put it. 

POV Magazine

   

"Look at her," Kulik says as she watches a clip of the actress strolling down an Italian street. "She wasn't Twiggy. She couldn't relate to those skinny things."

Marriage, career, children, loss: The stages of both women's lives, one lived in public, one in private, are all relatable. So when confronted with trouble - and with something as lighthearted as her children suggesting their Italian mother try whole wheat pasta – Kulik finds comfort in asking, What would Sophia Loren do?

And sometimes she finds the answers on her own: "No matter what you do sometimes, you can't always get it right," Kulik says. "You just can't."

Were I to choose an actress to be my lodestar, the title of my documentary might be, "What Would Barbara Stanwyck Do?" Or Bette Davis? Or, heck, Frances McDormand? But the truth is, were I to reflect on my true inspiration, it would be my own mother.

What would Regina do?

I have watched my mother live a life like Nancy Kulik's and come out of it in one piece. Kulik had four kids in four years; Mom had five kids in five years, with one more later. Kulik cherished her Italian upbringing; my mother talks about hers constantly, if only to remark that things are so much different now, and not always for the better. Kulik is in her early 80s; Mom will be 86 next month.

Despite loss in her life, my mother always picked herself up and went on, just as Kulik did, and just like Sophia Loren did in those movies.

And of those things beyond our control, Kulik asks, "What do we do with that?"

You'll love Nancy Kulik because she will seem so familiar, just as some of Sophia Loren's heroines do.

"Look at that," Kulik muses as she again watches the actress on screen. "Now there's a lady."