Italian Cinema Today

He gained renown during the commedia all’italiana years but his captivating performances kept him working through five decades until his untimely death in 1990. Born in 1922 in Cremona, Ugo Tognazzi’s first acting experiences go back to his childhood when he participated in local theater productions. In 1945, he won a competition for amateurs and was then officially hired by a theater company which led to a nationwide tour.  A few years later, he landed his first film roles and in the next decade, made a whopping 28 films. However, for all the films he made in the ‘50s, it was the ‘60s and ‘70s when his films were hits also outside Italy, giving him much-deserved international recognition for his lead roles.    Tognazzi had a uniquely self-effacing and multidimensional style. There’s no such thing as a typical Tognazzi character because they were all so completely different. Losing himself in each role, he gifted them with their own identities. Perhaps there’s a cons...

Franca Abategiovanni  "Naples, more than inspires me, is a part of me." Passionate words from a Neapolitan actress whose origins are at the very foundation of her work. Born in Ercolano, a comune located in Naples, Franca Abategiovanni began acting in theater when she was a young girl. Those beginnings led her to a successful career in film, and the freedom to return every so often to her first love-theater. She charmed and humored American audiences earlier this year as a strong-willed mother in Rupert Evertt's "The Happy Prince ."  A British biographical story of the tragic last days of Oscar Wilde, the film premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently in Italian theaters. I recently spoke with Franca Abategiovanni about her diverse roles and her love of her hometown of Naples. Our interview was done in Italian, so both versions are included. When did your discover this desire to be an actress? Theater has always been in...

"I have an innate passion for human relationships, and how people manifest emotions, reactions and feelings."  Those words come from Italian filmmaker, Maria Sole Tognazzi. Born in 1971, she grew up surrounded by cinema.  She is the daughter of legendary comedy actor, Ugo Tognazzi, one of the most prominent characters of the "Commedia all'Italiana".  Maria Sole is the youngest of four children and took a different path than her siblings. Unlike her brothers, Gianmarco, Ricky and Thomas, all successful actors, Maria prefers to stay behind the camera.  She started her career by working as an assistant director and made a series of video clips and a short film, Non finisce qui . Her follow up to that film, C'ero anch'io,  set the foundation for her first feature-length film, the ensemble comedy, Passato prossimo . The all-star cast includes her brother, Gianmarco along with Paola Cortellesi, Valentina Cervi, Pierfrancesco Fav...

Interview: Vito Facciolla - "Pasquale" Today is the day that we Italian cinema aficionados have been waiting for: Anime nere (Black Souls) officially opens on this side of the Atlantic. We meet Pasquale in the opening moments of Anime nere and he stays with us during the duration of the film, giving support and a bit of comedy relief to the characters as well as the audience as we all watch and digest the painful tones of  the story. Vito Facciolla is a Pugliese-born character actor with a wicked sense of humor and impeccable comic timing. He's appeared in a number of Italian films including, Kim Rossi Stuart's, Angel of Evil . However, it seems that Facciolla is really starting to hit his stride. He had a a key role in Ricky Tognazzi's recent RAI television movie, Pietro Mennea - La Freccia del Sud   and is experiencing international stardom with the success of Francesco Munzi's Anime nere . We have much more to discover about Vito Facciolla, b...

Directed by Ricky Tognazzi, "Pietro Mennea - La Freccia del Sud" is the biographical story of athlete-turned-politician, Pietro Mennea, also known as "La freccia del sud" (Arrow of the South) for his remarkable speed as an Olympic sprinter, in particular, the 200 meter in which he held the world record for almost 17 years. His record time of 19.72 seconds, set in September of 1979, is still the European record. "Si lo so non posso cambiarlo il mondo, però ci devo pensare" - I know that I can't change the world but I have to think that I can.-     Throughout the span of his multi-faceted career as an athlete, lawyer, sports agent and member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2004, Mennea was known for his staunch values ​​and ethics. In his film, Tognazzi paints a portrait of this "Arrow of the South" as a somewhat stubborn, tenacious man with unyielding commitment, willing to make the necessary sacrifices to be the best that he could be,...