The two women of the title are Cesira (Sophia Loren, who won an Oscar for her performance here) and her pre-teen daugher Rosetta (Eleonora Brown). What makes their story worth watching is that they are struggling to survive in Italy at the conclusion of World War II -- facing hunger, rogue Nazis, and an uncertain future. Loren's performance is completely stunning, and though the film has a very slow, Fellini-style start, its last hour is dazzling and more than makes up for the flaws. Note that DVD quality of this film is variable -- the one I saw was a very lousy VHS dub and did little justice to the film's cinematography.

Aka La Ciociara.