Italian Cinema Today

Photo Courtesy of Archivio Luce-Cinecitt à A retrospective dedicated to the films of Italian cinema icon Monica Vitti will be held from June 6 to June 19 at Lincoln Center in New York City.  The 14-film series, titled "Monica Vitti: La Modernista," is presented by Film at Lincoln Center and Cinecittà and marks the first North American retrospective celebrating Vitti's 35-year career. "We are pleased to partner with Cinecittà to celebrate one of Italy's most revered actresses," said Film at Lincoln Center Vice President of Programming Florence Almozini. "It is a privilege to present decades' worth of films from Monica Vitti's illustrious and prolific career, especially with many restored versions of her legendary works." Monica Vitti, a key figure in film history, began her career in the mid-1950s and quickly became a captivating presence on screen. Her collaboration with director Michelangelo Antonioni produced memorable films in the 196...

"When my father died, (Dino Riso) told me, 'If you need another father, I'm here for you.'" Enrico Vanzina and his brother Carlo grew up during the Golden Age of Italian cinema with an iconic father who directed some of the most memorable films ever made. Stefano Vanzina aka Steno worked often with Mario Monicelli, Totò  and Alberto Sordi , and brought us eternal classics like "Un Americano a Roma,"   "Piccola Posta" and  Totò nella luna (Totò in the Moon) . Following in their father's footsteps, Enrico and Carlo made their feature film debut in 1976 with the comedy, "Luna di miele in tre." It would be the first film in a lifelong collaboration between the siblings until Carlo's untimely death in 2018. At the heart of those collaborations was Enrico as writer and Carlo as director. The two were known for their Christmastime comedies otherwise known as Cinepanettone. Enrico has recently taken on the role of director with the 2...

In 1972, Ettore Scola made a docu-fiction about the living conditions southern Italians were forced to endure upon relocating to the FIAT company’s Torino manufacturing plant. The title is, “Trevico-Torino. Viaggio nel Fiat-Nam,” which is a pretty harsh title giving its take on Vietnam.  The film follows a young man, Fortunato Santospirito, from Trevico in the region of Campania to Torino in the region of Piedmont. Once he begins his new job, he is met with hostility there and in his home life, too.  I found a trailer for the film on the AAMOD’s website (Audiovisual Archive Foundation of the Workers' and Democratic Movement), which has become a new fascination of mine after discovering it for the first time in April. This clip is too epic not to translate and post. I wanted it to be under a minute so that I could post it in my IG feed, so I had to cut the original. This clip includes directors Gillo Pontecorvo and Mario Monicelli along with Alberto Sordi recomme...

She’s been called “a kind of Audrey Hepburn with sex appeal.” Having worked in Hollywood and Europe, actress Elsa Martinelli’s pure beauty and innocent demeanor made her the perfect silver screen match for stars like Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, and Gabriele Ferzetti. Born in the Tuscan city of Grosetto in 1935, Martinelli moved to Rome with her family and worked as a model in the early 1950s. Shortly thereafter, she began making her transformation to acting by taking small roles in films like Claude Autant-Lara's Le Rouge et le Noir . In 1955, she was noticed by Kirk Douglas’s wife who had seen Martinelli in Vogue magazine and immediately had her in mind for the role of an American Indian for her husband’s forthcoming project. An offer was made and Martinelli was cast as Onahti, the daughter of a Sioux chief in Douglas’s Technicolor Western The Indian Fighter . A year later, she won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 6th edition of the Berlin International Film Festiv...

Update May 9, 2016 It's just been announced that Claudia Cardinale will present her latest film, "All Roads Lead to Rome" in Niagara Falls, Canada on June 18, 2016 at the Niagara Integrated Film Festival   connecting with Canada's annual Italian Contemporary Italian Film Festival . In these times of reality television, internet streaming and 15 minutes of fame, there are few legends living among us. Actress Claudia Cardinale is one of those few. A truly unique and special person, Cardinale was born in Tunisia in 1938 to Sicilian parents. Her maternal grandparents were originally from the Sicilian island of Trapani, but settled in La Goulette, Tunisia, where there was a large Italian community. Her early life seems something of a fairytale but success brought its share of problems. As a young girl, Cardinale attended elementary school in the ancient city of Carthage. Her first cinematic experience came when she participated in the making of a short film with he...

Update February 5, 2022: Italian cinema lost one of its most iconic stars. On February 2, Monica Vitti passed away at the age of 90. She suffered from dementia and hadn’t made a public appearance in nearly 20 years. Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli in Rome on November 3, 1931, Monica Vitti pursued acting as a teenager. She started in amateur theater before her formal training at Rome's National Academy of Dramatic Arts. Shortly after graduating in 1953, she toured Germany with an Italian acting troupe and then returned to her hometown to appear onstage in a production of Niccolò Machiavelli's "La Mandragola." Her first major film role was in Mario Amendola's 1958 "Le dritte."  Her breakout role came just two years later in Michelangelo Antonioni's "L'Avventura" as the beautiful and aloof Claudia. She and the director were involved romantically, so she invested much of herself in the project, accompanying Antonioni on his difficult locatio...