Celebrate Ferragosto with Luciano Emmer’s 1950 'A Sunday in August'

Luciano Emmer’s 1950 “La domenica d'agosto” (A Sunday in August) has become one of my favorite Marcello Mastroianni works. The film follows four different stories, all tied to an Ostia beach on a sweltering Sunday in August.

The nostalgic opening shots of kids sitting outside a row of cafes takes place near the corner of Via Cola di Rienzo and Via Ottaviano by the Vatican, bringing back memories of how many times I’ve found myself exactly in that nook on my way to get a coffee at Castroni or Roman artichokes at Franchi. After having spent hours upon hours over the years in that neighborhood, seeing it in its heyday during these tough times brings some hope and happiness to so much uncertainty.

Mastroianni enters the story around 30 minutes in. He plays the role of a young lover whose fiancé has become pregnant and is fired from her job as a maid. She is beside herself but he calms her and stays right by her side.

One quote that stood out and speaks to the timelessness of the film is said by a widowed father who wants to move forward with his life but feels discouraged and depressed. “One should have the courage to start all over. But I have nothing that gives me this courage. I drag a situation since years more out of habit. What should I do? I feel tired. I feel like life is over already.”

With one of the sweetest endings I’ve ever seen, this film is just as relevant today as it was when it was made 70 years ago. I highly recommend seeing it. Click on the image to stream it on Amazon...

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Luisa Ranieri: A Contemporary Classic

Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” has advanced to the short list in the 2022 Oscar race. The film is available stateside on Netflix. One of the stars of the film is actress Luisa Ranieri as the eccentric, troubled Aunt Patrizia. Luisa Ranieri Born in Naples in 1973, Ranieri hit the ground running, finding her break out film just two years after starting her acting career. That project, a made for television movie on the life of Maria Callas in which she played the starring role, immediately made her one of the country’s most popular actresses. After numerous supporting roles in both television and film, Ranieri scored the title role in Lodovico Gasparini’s 2016 miniseries “Luisa Spagnoli,” giving her another opportunity to portray a deeply complex character. The film follows the trailblazing entrepreneur who created the Perugina chocolate brand as well as a popular clothing line that still bears her name. “I was born poor like you and know how hard life can be.” That inspirin...

Golden Age Masterpiece: Luchino Visconti’s 1957 “White Nights”

Photo Credit: Archivio Luce Cinecittà Luchino Visconti’s 1957 film, “White Nights” (“Le notti bianche”), offers a thoughtful and poignant exploration of themes such as loneliness, desire and emotional vulnerability. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name, it transports the tale from 19th-century St. Petersburg to a dreamy mid-20th-century Italian setting. While Visconti remains largely faithful to Dostoevsky’s narrative, his characteristic style infuses the film with emotional depth, striking visuals, and a focus on class and societal constraints. The story follows a young man named Matteo, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who lives a solitary life in a small Italian town. One evening, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Natalia, portrayed by Austrian-Swiss actress Maria Schell, who is also feeling isolated. Although she is initially reluctant, Natalia eventually confides in Matteo about her love for a man who has promised to return and marry her, but he ha...

A Conversation with Sergio Castellitto

Sergio Castellitto has made a profound impact on world cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. Born in Rome in 1953, Castellitto graduated from film school in 1978 and credits American cinema with pushing him toward a career in acting. His work has garnered numerous accolades, largely due to his immersive, original approach to projects in film, television and theatre. Castellitto is fluent in French and English, which has contributed mightily to his international stardom. But it's the actor's trademark brown eyes and charming everyman qualities that have lent his various characters -- even the ones that are rough around the edges -- an air of dignity that other actors might not have achieved. Sergio Castellitto and Margaret Mazzantini, 2005 Films such as "Paura e Amore," "L'uomo delle stelle," "Caterina va in città," and "Bella Martha" heralded Castellitto as a versatile artist with far-reaching abilities. But it ...

Alberto Sordi Like You've Never Seen Him..

Twenty two-year-old Alberto Sordi on the set of "I tre aquilotti" Directed by Mario Mattoli, the 1942 film"I tre aquilotti" (The Three Pilots) is set at the Royal Air Force Academy of Caserta where three students– Mario (Carlo Minello), Marco (Leonardo Cortese) and Filippo (Alberto Sordi) become close friends. Towards the end of his studies, Marco casually meets and falls in love with Mario's sister, Adriana (Michela Belmonte). Mario shows his opposition to Marco and this causes the end of their friendship. Due to an accident during a training flight, Marco is demoted from the sailors role to the service role, thus not getting the military pilot's license. After the end of the course, the three friends split up for various destinations but all three find themselves in Russia, with Mario and Filippo already decorated with medals of merit, while Marco is in charge of logistics services. During a war action Mario is hit in flight and is forced to land in en...

Ornella Muti: Five decades of Acting and Still Going Strong

Ornella Muti was born Francesca Romana Rivelli in Rome in 1955 to a Neapolitan father and an Estonian mother. She began her career as a model during her teenage years and made her film debut in 1970 with “La Moglie più bella” (The Most Beautiful Wife). Her follow-up role was in the 1971 film, “Sole nella pelle” (Sun on the Skin), in which she played the daughter of wealthy parents who runs off with a hippie they don’t approve of. The film offers a telling journey through Italian society in the seventies, with its political climate, breathtaking seaside, and the styles and cars of that time. Much of the film is set amid the sunny Italian seaside and captures the innocence and beauty of first love. Muti made her American film debut in 1980 with "Flash Gordon." She played the role of Princess Aura. She’s appeared in two other American films, including “Oscar,” directed by John Landis and starring Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, and Sylvester Stallone. In 1992, she w...

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