Italian Cinema Today

Photo by Georges Biard The daughter of two cinema icons, she’s led an extraordinary life as a model, actress, voice-over artist, writer, director, and now an organic farmer. Isabella Rossellini was born in 1952 to Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman and Italian director Roberto Rossellini . She has a twin sister named after her mother and an older brother, Robertino Ingmar, whom she often joins in retrospectives celebrating their legendary parents.  When she talks about her childhood, she does so with a wistful nostalgia. She fondly recalls time spent with them while acknowledging their long absences when their demanding careers required them to travel, leaving her and her siblings at home.  In the 1996 documentary “The Hollywood Collection: Ingrid Bergman Remembered,” Rossellini describes herself as a ball of energy. Her parents often had to tell her to quiet down because they were reading or working on a film project. When they’d leave, she enjoyed having the run of the hou...

With a gift for melding disparate clips into compelling documentaries, he has captured the spirit of Italian cinema from the 1930s to the present. Marco Spagnoli is one of Italy’s most prolific film journalists, having made numerous documentaries on the country’s beloved film icons and reporting in-depth about cinema for a variety of publications.   Among his most compelling works is the 2011 documentary “Hollywood Invasion,” which zooms in on Italian and European cinema during the “Dolce Vita” decades from 1950-80. Utilizing NBC newsreels to tell his story, Spagnoli offers an extraordinary take on this period in cinematic history.   The film features rare clips of Hollywood stars like Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe roaming about Italy in the 1950s, as well as tantalizing behind-the-scenes glimpses of several American productions. Marilyn Monroe in a scene from  “Hollywood Invasion”  You’ll have a front-row seat to the creation of iconic moments like...

Based on his own life growing up in Naples,  Paolo Sorrentino’s latest film, “The Hand of God” (È stata la mano di Dio) recounts the heartbreak and growing pains that shaped the man and filmmaker he is today. The film opens with a stunning coastal aerial shot of Naples at dawn, which leads up to the moment Fabietto Schisa (Filippo Scotti), the main character, develops a teenage infatuation with his voluptuous, unstable Aunt Patrizia ( Luisa Ranieri ). From that point, we are introduced to the eccentric members of his family that undoubtedly gave a young Sorrentino material for his future filmmaking career. The close-ups of a few zany and grotesque characters reflect the visual homages to Federico Fellini that are often present in Sorrentino’s work. He goes a step further in “The Hand of God” to offer an account of Fellini’s first influence on his life and eventual career path. Fabietto’s brother Marchino (Marlon Joubert), an aspiring actor, attends an audition for a Fellini film ...

He’s been referred to as the “mustachioed matinee idol,” but a newfound interest in 1950s melodramas has made him an international art house legend. Amedeo Nazzari was born Salvatore Amedeo Buffa on Dec. 10, 1907, in Sardinia. Assuming his maternal grandfather’s last name and moving to Rome during the 1930s to pursue a career in acting, he found an immediate place in theater but had a tough time breaking into film because of his towering height and slim build. Nazzari landed small film parts during the mid-’30s before scoring the title role in Goffredo Alessandrini’s 1938 “Luciano Serra, pilota” (Luciano Serra, Pilot), about an American pilot attacked by Ethiopian soldiers. The film was awarded the Mussolini Cup for Best Italian Film at the 6th Venice International Film Festival and launched Nazzari’s silver screen career.   Although he rose to fame during tumultuous times, and was personally invited by Mussolini to join the Fascist Party, Nazzari managed to stay politically neutra...

With so much buzz about  Paolo Sorrentino ’s premiere of “The Hand of God” (È stata la mano di Dio) at the upcoming Venice Film Festival and on Netflix, I’m sharing an opinion piece that I wrote last year about both of his HBO series, “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope.” The article was published in the January, 2021 issue of Fra Noi Magazine .  Sorrentino’s acclaimed HBO series “The Young Pope” and “The New Pope” are visually stunning fantasies of the mysterious world behind the Vatican walls. It was announced last year that a third and final series will round out the trilogy. This fascination surrounding the enigma of Catholicism has been present throughout the director’s career but came to a head in his 2013 Oscar winner, “La grande bellezza” (The Great Beauty). If there was a prelude to the HBO series, it would be that film.   From the opening hymns to the main character, Jep Gambardella ( Toni Servillo ), curiously gazing into a parochial school, the l...

A film, television and stage actor,   Stanley Tucci has an impressive 136 parts to his credit in a career that has spanned nearly 40 years. He’s also dabbled as a producer, director and voice actor on his way to three Emmy Awards and nominations for an Oscar, a Tony and a Grammy. Big-screen acting has been Tucci’s bread and butter, most of it in supporting and ensemble roles. Whether he’s playing an understanding dad in “Easy A,” a flamboyant magazine art director in “The Devil Wears Prada” or Puck in “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” a wry intelligence shines through much of his work.   His breakout role came in the 1996 film “Big Night,” which he co-directed and co-wrote. In it, he plays the charming, embattled co-owner of a struggling Italian restaurant that he runs with his headstrong chef brother. Known for its spirited scenes of cooking and feasting, the film established Tucci as a culinary force. That reputation grew with his turn as Julia Child’s adoring husband in the 2...

"Be like me. I don't love anybody anymore, and they call me Amore." An unforgettable line in  Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1961 "Accattone" came from a spirited, light-hearted prostitute portrayed by Adriana Asti.  Born in Milan in 1931, Asti began her acting career in theater before going on to work with many of the great maestros of Italian cinema, including Luchino Visconti, Bernardo Bertolucci and Federico Fellini , to name a few. She had small roles in huge, iconic films and made those characters memorable. In addition to her on-screen roles, she was also the voiceover of many of her contemporary counterparts like Claudia Cardinale , Lea Massari, and  Stefania Sandrelli . She is still very active in theater, television, and film. I am working on a feature article about Asti for the July issue of Fra Noi Magazine . As part of my research, I reached out to documentary filmmaker Rocco Talucci , who made a beautiful film about her life and career. "A.A. Prof...