Skip to main content

Profile: Alba Caterina Rohrwacher

Photo by Fabio Lovino 

Actress Alba Rohrwacher has been working more than ever lately and currently has two films receiving international praise; Le meraviglie which was directed by her sister, Alice, and won the Grand Prix at the 67th annual Cannes Film Festival; and Via Castellana Bandiera which is about to be shown in New York City at the Open Roads: New Italian Cinema film series at Lincoln Center.

Born to an Italian mother and German father, Rohrwacher has taken Italian cinema by storm since her debut in 2004. With her trademark red locks and blue eyes, she does not have the typical Italian look of most screen sirens in her country, but that is exactly what sets her apart from the rest.

Born in Tuscany, Rohrwacher relocated to Rome where she studied her craft at the Scuola Nazionale di Cinema. Shortly thereafter, she began working in theater and film. Her first big screen appearances were in smaller supporting roles in films such as Carlo Mazzacurati's 2004 L'amore ritrovato (An Italian Romance), the 2005 comedy, Kiss Me Lorena and Marco Bellocchio's hit movie, Il regista di matrimoni (The Wedding Director). Each of those films earned her enough recognition to catch the attention of veteran directors, Pupi Avati and Silvio Soldini. It was her role in Pupi Avati's 2008 film, Il papà di Giovanna (Giovanna's Father) that jump started her career as a leading lady. In Il papà di Giovanna, she plays the role of Giovanna Casali, an emotionally fragile teenager who is jailed for the murder of a fellow classmate. The role earned her a David di Donatello Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and a Golden Globe for Best Breakthrough Actress.

L'uomo che verrà
Rohrwacher has a mysterious quality about her that makes her characters complicated and emotionally layered. In a Jury's comment from the Venice Film Festival, she was described as an actress that "possesses an utterly natural skill, and each of her performances is always profound and complex." It is no wonder that Rohrwacher was named one of Europe's up and coming "Shooting Stars." She entrusts her characters with painstaking intensity and vulnerability. One role in which those qualities were thoroughly employed was Giorgio Diritti's 2008 drama, L'uomo che verrà (The Man Who WIll Come). The film is set during World War II in the German occupied territory of Monte Sole, just outside Bologna, and tells the tragic events referred to as "The Marzabotto Massacre," when villagers were forced to endure murder and torture at the hands of the Nazis during the decline of Mussolini. Rohrwacher plays the role of a protector to a little girl she is trying to save. She balances a fine line of fear and bravery while looking death right in the face.  

Cosa voglio di più
Rohrwacher's 2011 release, Cosa voglio di più (Come Undone) in which she costars with Pier Francesco Favino, demonstrates a sensual side of the actress. "Cosa voglio di più" is about two people who are in committed relationships but are wildly attracted to each other and engage in an illicit affair. The sultry love scenes and radical nature of Rohrwacher's character uncover yet another dimension of her wide acting range. In "Cosa voglio di più," she suppresses her inhibitions and delivers a passionate performance. The film marks new territory for Rohrwacher and has given the young actress even more international recognition and praise.
Via Castellana Bandiera
In Emma Dante's, Via Castellana Bandiera (A Street in Palermo), Rohrwacher delivers a fierce performance alongside Dante, who also stars in the film. The story recounts two young women on their way to celebrate a friend’s marriage when they decide to take a shortcut through town. That’s when they enter a one-way street with another car trying to get through. As both drivers are experiencing frustration and conflict in their own personal lives, they are not in the mood to give in and let the other through. So, there they stay camped out in their cars until one is forced by dire circumstances to finally move her car. The title, Via Castellana Bandiera is named after the narrow street in Palermo where the women remain, refusing to move their cars.

Alba Rohrwacher is prolific in her work, always taking on new projects to challenge her skills, making her grow as an actress. She currently has three upcoming releases in production: Hungry Hearts by Saverio Costanzo, Racconto dei racconti by Matteo Garrone and Vergine giurata by Laura Bispuri.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fortunato Verduci's latest project reflects his Calabrese pride

Calabrese actor and musician Fortunato Verduci has a new project; an enchanting music video celebrating the land he loves so much. Set at the Castle of Santo Niceto, an 11th-century Byzantine castle situated on a hilltop in Motta San Giovanni in the province of Reggio Calabria, Verduci and model Maryame Jafire recite a tale of love to the organetto-inspired song, “l'amuri effectu.” Directed by photographer and video editor Vincenzo Sanci, the song is performed by musicians Giuseppe Lucà, who is also a manufacturer of traditional Calabrian instruments, and Antonio Nicolò, a renowned expert in wind instruments who boasts collaborations with various international artists.   According to Verduci, the song is about love. “It talks about the sun and the moon, about an impossible love. When there is one, the other is missing,” he explained.” He goes on to say, “However, maybe the intense feelings of love can bring the sun and moon together. We wanted to insert the perfect opposite alrea
Post a Comment
Read more

Sunday Cibo & Cinema goes Old School: My Interview with Dom DeLuise

A few years before he passed away in 2009, I had the great pleasure of talking with actor and comedian extraordinaire Dom DeLuise. It was a phone interview for Fra Noi Magazine. My editor had asked me to choose an Italian American filmmaker that month. As I grew up in the '70s with my parents watching the films of DeLuise and Burt Reynolds, I've always had an affection for him, so I reached out to ask for an interview and was thrilled when his publicist granted my request. Our conversation will always remain a beautiful memory. He was so down-to-earth and enthusiastic. I discovered that his Italian origins hailed from the Basilicata region of Italy like mine, so it was a nice surprise to learn we had something in common. DeLuise has a list of film, television and stage credits that few could match. He worked with icons of television and cinema, becoming one himself, and also did the voices for cartoons such as "An American Tail" and "All Dogs Go To Heaven.&q
Post a Comment
Read more

Interview: Alessandro Borghi on Suburra, Italian Cinema Across the Globe and the Ties of Friendship

Actor Alessandro Borghi is emerging as one of contemporary Italian cinema’s great talents. Battling 4-for-4 in the hit film department with a whopping five projects currently in production, Borghi was born in Rome in 1986. He began his acting career 20 years later with the television show Distretto di polizia and went on to make numerous other appearances on popular TV series, including regular roles in the recent 2013 series L’Isola followed by the 2015 series Squadra Mobile .  The same year, he transitioned to film with Claudio Caligari’s posthumous hit Non essere cattivo (Don’t Be Bad), which was also Italy’s entry for Oscar consideration that year. Caligari’s tragic story of the bond of friendship between the two main characters, Vittorio and Cesare captivated American cinephiles when it premiered at Cinema Italian Style - an annual showcase of contemporary Italian cinema in Los Angeles. With Borghi as Vittorio and Luca Marinelli as Cesare, the two team up to explore a
Post a Comment
Read more

Italian Biblical Movies to Watch During Lent

Join me in beginning the Lenten season with my favorite adaptation of one of the Gospels-  Pier Paolo Pasolini's  1964 “Il Vangolo Secondo Matteo" (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) and a few classics that I recently discovered.  Considered by the Vatican to be among the best film adaptations of the Gospels, Pasolini's film was shot in the regions of Basilicata and Calabria. He cast his mother as Mary and many locals as extras. Spanish actor Enrique Irazoqui was cast in the role of Jesus. He was just 18-years-old when he landed the part. He had been in Rome at the time of casting and auditioned for the role. I contacted Irazoqui around this time last year to ask him about his experience making the film. He suggested that we have a conversation via Skype. Although the connection wasn’t very good, it was thrilling to talk directly with this actor whose film I had been watching for at least 20 years. He was very friendly and nostalgic in his recollections especially abou
Post a Comment
Read more

The Anthology Film Archives Presents: The Italian Connection: Poliziotteschi and Other Italo-Crime Films of the 1960s and '70's

June 19 – June 29 Influenced both by 1960s political cinema and Italian crime novels, as well as by French noir and American cop movies like "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection," many Italian filmmakers in the late-60s and early-70s gradually moved away from the spaghetti western genre, trading lone cowboys for ‘bad’ cops and the rough frontier of the American west for the mean streets of modern Italy. Just as they had with their westerns, they reinvented the borrowed genre with their inimitable eye for style and filled their stories with the kidnappings, heists, vigilante justice, and brutal violence that suffused this turbulent moment in post-boom 1970s Italy. The undercurrent of fatalism and cynicism in these uncompromising movies is eerily reminiscent of the state of discontent in Italy today. ‘The Italian Connection’ showcases the diversity and innovation found in the genre, from the gangster noir of Fernando Di Leo’s "Caliber 9"
Post a Comment
Read more