Italian Cinema Today

Ten shorts by the Sicilian documentary filmmaker Vittorio De Seta are now  available on The Criterion Channel in recognition of 30 years since Martin Scorsese founded The Film Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving cinema.    "Salvatore Giuliano" In addition to the films by De Seta, The Criterion Channel is releasing a number of films during the year-long celebration that have been saved and restored thanks to this initiative. Among the Italian films in the first batch of releases are Luchino Visconti’s 1954 “Senso,” Francesco Rosi’s 1962 “Salvatore Giuliano” and 1972 “The Mattei Affair” and Sergio Leone’s 1968 “Once Upon a Time in the West.” Also included is Sicilian-born American director Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night.” The 10 shorts by Vittorio De Seta are:  The Age of Swordfish (1954) Islands of Fire (1954) Solfatara (1954)  Easter in Sicily (1954) Sea Countrymen (1954) Golden Parable (1954) Fishing Boats (1958) Orgosolo’s Shepherds (1958) A Day in Bar

He may not be a household name, but he was a major force behind the rise of the neorealism movement and Italy’s Golden Age of Cinema. Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini was born in the region of Emilia-Romagna in 1902, earning a law degree before turning his attention to writing. In 1930, he moved to Milan to work at the Rizzoli publishing company. Five years later, he met Vittorio De Sica . They would go on to make 20 films together, including the neorealist classics “Sciuscià” (Shoeshine) (1946), “Ladri di biciclette” (The Bicycle Thief) (1948), “Miracolo a Milano” (Miracle in Milan) (1951) and “Umberto D.” (1952).    Zavattini worked on more than 80 films with many of the great directors of Italian cinema. Among them was Giuseppe De Santis, who collaborated with Zavattini in 1952 on “Roma 11:00.” A tragic story based on true events, the film follows several young women in post-WWII Rome as they answer a job listing for a typist. With 200 applicants waiting in line for an interview, the

Giuseppe de Liguoro   Credit: Museo Nazionale del Cinema – Torino Born in Naples on January 10, 1869, Giuseppe de Liguoro is credited with creating historical, epic films that reached beyond the borders of his country.   Among the iconic silent films he directed during the second decade of the 1900s are " L'Inferno" and " L'Odissea" (Homer's Odyssey), which were both made in 1911. "L'inferno" was roughly adapted from the first part of Dante Alighieri's  "Divine Comedy" and was Italy's first completed feature film. The project took over three years to make and was directed by de Liguoro,  Adolfo Padovan and  Francesco Bertolini.  The  gruesome story, which in the original poem, begins on the night before Good Friday in 1300, is set in the depths of Hell as Dante is guided through the "Nine Circles" by the poet Virgil. During their journey, they come in contact with a whole host of characters from the three-headed

I'm fascinated by this image from Antonio Capuano’s 2020 “Il buco in testa," which premiered out of competition at the Torino Film Festival. Brava to Antonella Di Martino for her masterful set design and Bravo to Gianluca Laudadio for his cinematography. If the film is as beautiful as the press images, I can’t wait to see it!  According to Luce Cincittà, the film follows Maria who lives nearby the sea within the province of Naples. “She has a precarious job and no love ahead. Her mother is essentially mute. Forty years before, an extreme left-wing activist killed her father, a near-twenty-year old vice-brigadier, during a political rally. Maria was born two months after the killing. One day she found out that the killer had a name, a face and a job; he now lives in Milan after having paid for his murder in prison. “Now I know the person to detest,” thinks Maria. Then, she dyes her hair and takes a high-speed train to get to know him.”  The cast includes Teresa Saponangelo, To