Italian Cinema Today

The 2016 documentary, “Water and Sugar: Carlo Di Palma, The Colours of Life” is a portrait of an artist told through memory, sincere admiration, and respect. Directed by Kurdish-Iranian filmmaker Fariborz Kamkari, the film pays homage to Carlo Di Palma , one of Italy’s most influential and beloved cinematographers, whose work helped define photography in both European art cinema and American independent filmmaking. The documentary is deeply moving and thought provoking because rather than following a traditional style of biography, the story unfolds gently, almost conversationally, the viewer hears from the collaborators, friends and family that shaped Di Palma’s life and work. Kamkari structures the film around interviews with those who knew Di Palma best: directors, collaborators, friends, journalists, and, most poignantly, his wife, Adriana Chiesa Di Palma, who travels the world revisiting the landscapes of his career. Her conversations are unhurried, allowing reflections to emerge ...

"Salvatore Giuliano" is a 1962 Italian crime drama directed by Francesco Rosi that dramatizes the real-life events surrounding the life and death of the legendary Sicilian bandit and folk hero. Giuliano rose to notoriety after the liberation of Sicily from fascist control in 1943, when he formed a gang that joined a separatist army. When the army dissolved, he and his gang intensified their outlaw activities. One of their most significant crimes was the Portella della Ginestra incident, during which dozens of men, women, and children were killed or wounded. This act prompted the authorities to launch an all-out war against Giuliano. His defenses slowly crumbled, and on July 5, 1959, his body was discovered in the courtyard of a house in Castelvetrano. That moment serves as the starting point for Rosi's film. Giuliano's fame is tied to his involvement in the Sicilian independence movement and his battles against both the Italian government and the Mafia in the 1940s a...

Sophia Loren and Omar Sharif give extraordinary performances during the prime of their careers in Francesco Rosi’s “C’era una volta” (“More than a Miracle”). A delightful, whimsical film that transports you to another time, this enchanting 1967 period piece tells the tale of Rodrigo (Sharif), a Spanish prince initially opposed to marriage, and Isabella (Loren), the beautiful, defiant peasant girl who wins his heart. The film opens with Rodrigo attempting to tame a wild horse as his mother chides him for not taming a wife instead. When she relays orders from the king of Spain for him to marry, he mounts his unruly steed and gallops away, proudly displaying his independent spirit. Horse and supposed master run free through the countryside for a stretch, but the equally rebellious animal throws Rodrigo and abandons in a field, leaving him to fend for himself.  While searching for help, he finds himself in a remote monastery where he meets a flying monk (Yes, the monk actually flies.)...

An icon of 1970s Italian cinema, he poured himself heart and soul into every part he played. One of the most masterful actors of his generation, Gian Maria Volonté was born in Milan in 1933. He studied his craft at Rome’s National Dramatic Arts Academy. Upon graduating in 1957,  he found work right away in theater and television, quickly earning acclaim for his skilled and passionate performances .  In one of his early roles, he played Ramón Rojo under the stage name Johnny Wells opposite Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone’s 1964 Spaghetti Western, “A Fistful of Dollars.” A year later, he played the role of a Native American in Leone’s follow up, “A Few Dollars More.”   His breakout role came in Elio Petri’s 1970 “Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto” (Investigation Of a Citizen Above Suspicion) , a satirical film highlighting the corruption among officials in power.  After a newly promoted unnamed police chief (Volonté) murders his mistress (Florinda ...

Carlo Levi and Anna Magnani  Fondazione Carlo Levi, Rome In my ongoing quest to learn more about 20th century artist and writer, Carlo Levi , I recently discovered one of his most celebrated masterpieces,  Ritratto di Anna Magnani  (Portrait of Anna Magnani), an  oil on canvas,  which was created in 1954.  His close friendship with Anna Magnani was news to me but what I found most fascinating about this portrait is the presence of Levi’s post-1935 style, his new pictorial approach referred to by art critics as the "wavy" brushstroke. He developed this style during his political exile in Basilicata in 1935 when he spent much of his time there creating stunning portraits of the contadini (peasants) he befriended, who served as the inspiration behind his infamous novel, Christ Stopped at Eboli , which was later made into a movie by Francesco Rosi . It fascinates me because it's further proof how much of an impact that one year of exile in Basilicata had on hi...

Alida Valli was born Alida Maria Laura Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg in Pola, Istria, on April 29, 1921. Christened a baroness, she became a movie star at 15. Valli made her screen debut as a lead in Mario Bonnard’s 1937 comedy “Il feroce Saladino.”  In an interview featured in Mimmo Verdesca's 2020 documentary, “Alida Valli: In Her Own Words,” she explained how her last name was changed to Valli. “The writer Amedeo Castellazzi and the director Mario Bonnard found it (Valli) in the phone book. Because Altenburger was a foreign name, it was a bit too long, and so Alida Altenburger didn’t sound right,” she explained. Valli entered the film industry during a period when Italy’s Fascist government was constructing Cinecittà while producing its own propaganda films. Known as Telefoni Bianchi (White Telephones), the films of this era imitated American comedies and featured upper-class families, opulent Art Deco sets, and the namesake telephones, which symbolized the well-to-do...

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 ...

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 ...

(Andate sotto per leggere la nostra intervista in Italiano) In Part Two of our series on the release of Francesco's Rosi's complete uncut version of Christ Stopped at Eboli, we are looking into a key scene in which Carlo Levi talks with Gagliano's mayor about the briganti freedom fighters and the peasants' never-ending struggles with red tape and government. He referenced the Siege of Melfi where he believes it all began, because up to that point, the region of Basilicata or the South for that matter had its own wealth. He went on to explain that the battle had a far-reaching effect on Lucania because not only were the riches taken and the city of Melfi destroyed, but the people were also killed. How does a culture recover when much of the population is wiped out? Today, when we speak of poverty in the South of Italy, it is worth noting that even though it was a few hundred years ago, the Siege of Melfi forever changed the region of Basilicata and impacted the...