A Matter of Time

Valentina, Nina's cousin, has arranged for her to work as a chambermaid in a dilapidated Rome hotel. Nina begins her daily duties among creaking corridors and faded glamour. This is where she first encounters Signora Contessa Sanziani and the hotel’s fragile social world.

During her duties, Nina meets Signora Contessa Sanziani, who is ailing despite having once been Europe’s toast. The Contessa’s worldliness contrasts with Nina’s maid’s life. The Contessa’s husband, Count Sanziani, visits after four decades, stirring old tensions.

Old tensions surface as the Contessa’s husband returns to her after 40 years apart, reviving quarrels that echo through the hotel. The Count leaves, telling the manager he does not wish to be informed if anything should happen to his wife. The fractured marriage sets the stage for Nina’s future transformation.

The Contessa decides to take Nina under her wing and teach her to become a sophisticated woman. She believes Nina has the potential to escape the life of a maid. This marks the beginning of Nina’s gradual transformation.

Contessa summons Nina to her room and shows her a sari given by an Indian ambassador. She orders Nina to undress, gives her a haircut and makeup, and makes her look totally different. As Nina listens to the Contessa’s stories, she imagines living the Contessa’s life, triggering fantasy sequences in ornate settings.

On a rare day off, Nina explores Rome and begins to sense a bright future ahead. The city’s possibilities seem within reach as she samples glamour beyond the hotel. Her imagination expands to a life beyond servitude.

That evening, while Nina is busy with a task for the Contessa, the Contessa experiences a mental breakdown. The hotel manager, angered by the Contessa’s wailing, demands she leave the hotel within a few days. Nina witnesses the Contessa’s fragility up close.

The next morning, Nina seeks help from Mario, a frustrated screenwriter living in the hotel. She brings the Contessa’s old stock certificates, hoping he can determine their worth. Mario declares they are worthless, but his tone reveals a lack of pity toward the Contessa.

Later, Nina goes to a bank and learns most of the certificates are worthless, but one from the Bank of Congo is valuable. That single certificate is worth enough to pay the Contessa’s hotel bill for weeks. Nina realizes the unexpected source of money that could change the Contessa’s fate.

Nina uses part of this money to cover the Contessa’s hotel expenses for weeks. The funds stabilize the Contessa’s situation and give Nina time to plan a path forward. This act also demonstrates Nina’s growing resourcefulness.

That same day, Nina goes to a restaurant to pick up the Contessa’s dinner. A screen director, Antonio Vicari, spots her and uses Mario to arrange a screen test. The opportunity marks a turning point toward Nina’s acting career.

Before leaving for the studio, the Contessa checks out of the hotel to find her old flame, Gabriele d'Orazio. In her haste, she rushes into the street and is hit by a car, and is taken unconscious to a Catholic charity hospital.

Nina’s screen test is aided by her passionate talk about the Contessa; Vicari is impressed and wants her to star in his next film. She leaves the set to locate the Contessa in the hospital, showing how intertwined her future is with the Contessa’s fate.

At the hospital, Nina learns the Contessa has died. She takes the Contessa’s ornate mirror as a remembrance and leaves the hospital, symbolizing a transfer of legacy from mentor to protégé.

Back in the present, Nina has become a motion picture star and arrives at a mid-1950s press conference. A girl in the crowd says she wants to be just like Nina when she grows up, sealing the film’s cyclical message.