The Story Behind the Film

The Criterion Channel is not only a great resource for streaming classic films but also offers in-depth essays written by cinema scholars. The essays offer analysis of classic films, examining their political and social themes as well as the relationships between iconic directors and their protagonists. Criterion recently released a restored version of Francesco Rosi's 1979 film "Christ Stopped at Eboli" and marked the occasion with a compelling essay by about author Carlo Levi and the film’s political themes. Other interesting essays include “Fellini Satyricon: Not Just Friends,” “L’eclisse: Antonioni and Vitti” and “Seeing Clearly Through Tears: On the Smart Sentiment of Umberto D.” just to name a few.

In one recent essay, "Primary Sources," filmmaker Michael Almereyda sheds light on Federico Fellini's 1948 collaboration with Roberto Rossellini, "The Miracle." Fellini stars in the short along with Anna Magnani. Almereyda writes, "Among his collaborations with Rossellini, the most recognizable precursor of Fellini’s own films is The Miracle (1948), a forty-minute short in which Fellini himself appears as a vagabond—tall, bearded, gloomily handsome—who allows Anna Magnani’s simpleminded goatherd to confuse him with her celebrity crush: Saint Joseph. After enhancing this confusion with wine from his flask, the vagabond impregnates the woman, giving her the miraculous child of the title. Fellini supplied the story, a potentially sardonic premise that Rossellini treats with sincere dramatic intensity. Magnani’s credulous character bears a family resemblance to the wayward bride infatuated with the eponymous, turbaned fumetti idol in The White Sheik (1952; Fellini’s first solo-directed feature) and to the wonder-struck waifs played by Giulietta Masina in La strada and Nights of Cabiria (1957). These disenfranchised women are vulnerable yet fierce, and their subjective reality eventually takes on a transcendent power despite the chaos they’ve been plunged into by duplicitous men."

Watch a clip from "The Miracle"...

Stream the complete film on Amazon..

Visit https://www.criterion.com/current/category/2-essays.

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Luminous Legacies: Yoichi Ohira’s Murano Glass at Magazzino Italian Art

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′′They will always judge you, whether you behave well or if you behave badly. So screw it and live as you want but above all don't listen to anyone.′′ - Alberto Sordi By giving his fellow Italians something to laugh about during tumultuous times, he emerged as his generation’s King of Comedy. One of Italy’s best-loved personalities, Alberto Sordi played a pivotal role in Italian cinema from the end of World War II to the postwar economic boom of the 1950s. During those tumultuous years, he gave his countrymen a hearty laugh when they might have otherwise cried. Former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi perhaps said it best: “Alberto Sordi interpreted the feelings of Italians, especially in their most difficult and tough moments.” Born in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome in 1920, Sordi grew up in a creative household. His mother was an elementary school teacher and his father, a professional musician for the Rome Opera House. A young Sordi joined the children’s choir o...

7 Days - 7 Women: Gina Lollobrigida

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Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann. Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...

The Extraordinary Career and Legacy of Dino De Laurentiis

Producer Dino De Laurentiis was one of the most prolific filmmakers ever, having produced or co-produced more than 600 films during a career that spanned seven decades. His legacy continues not only through the work of his children and grandchildren but also through a new generation of filmmakers in his Italian hometown. De Laurentiis was born in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius on Aug. 8, 1919, in the city of Torre Annunziata, located just minutes from the ruins of Pompeii. As a child, he worked at a local pasta factory owned and operated by his father. That experience had a profound effect on him, shaping a lifelong passion for food and an appreciation for business. At the age of 17, he decided to leave home for the big city. He arrived in Rome and enrolled in the prestigious film school, Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. After attending the school for about a year, he managed to produce one film in 1940, The Last Combat , before having to leave Rome temporarily for m...

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