Skip to main content

Classic Monica Vitti

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 location scouting through the Aeolian Islands, and then enduring nearly impossible conditions while shooting, which included frigid Mediterranean waters and rodent infestations around the islands.

The film premiered at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival to boos and disapproval. The next day, Roberto Rossellini along with other filmmakers released a statement. “Aware of the exceptional importance of Michelangelo Antonioni’s film, "L’Avventura" they wrote, “and appalled by the displays of hostility it has aroused, the undersigned critics and members of the profession are anxious to express their admiration for the maker of this film.” The film went on to win the festival's Special Jury Prize and was later named by 70 international film critics, the second-greatest film ever made, behind Citizen Kane.

Vitti starred in several of Antonioni's films, two of which are considered a series together with "L'Avventura." "La Notte" in 1961 and "L'Eclisse" in 1962 completed the trilogy. Antonioni explored his tormented belief that people had become emotionally unattached from one another. Vitti's character put this belief into words near the finale of "La Notte" when she said, “Each time I have tried to communicate with someone, love has disappeared.”

After the couple called it quits a decade later, Vitti went on to work with other Italian directors such as Mario Monicelli, and then in 1970, shared the screen with Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's romantic comedy about a love triangle between a florist, construction worker and a pizzaiola, "Dramma della gelosia"(The Drama of Jealousy). The film was wildly successful in Italy and showed audiences a hilarious and completely different side of her detached characters of the Antonioni years. 

The '70s proved to be a prolific decade. She took on a number of challenging roles and won prizes for her performances. One of those characters,  Miele, proves that she, together with Claudia Cardinale were the first official Thelma and Louise. Carlo Di Palma's 1975 comedy, "Qui comincia l'avventura" (Blonde in Black Leather) featured the gorgeous pair whose southern Italian characters trade in their dull lives for a wild road trip up north. 

Although she is best known internationally for the films she made with Antonioni, her collaborations and decades-long friendship with Alberto Sordi greatly impacted her cinematic legacy among Italians. The two had a uniquely strong chemistry whether the film was a drama or comedy. Their memorable collaborations include Sordi’s 1969 “Amore mio aiutami” (Help Me, My Love), the 1973 “Polvere di stelle” (Stardust) and the 1982 “Io so che tu sai che io so” (I Know That You Know That I Know).

In 1980, she paired up again with Antonioni for his project, “Il mistero di Oberwald” (The Mystery of Oberwald). It was the last time the two would work together. In 1995, she married her longtime partner, director Roberto Russo and remained under the radar except for an occasional film festival or television appearance. The legacy of her acting career and simple yet stunning beauty will remain for generations to come.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Conversation with Actor Mirko Frezza of David di Donatello Winner "Il più grande sogno"

The 2017 David di Donatello award show, which took place on Monday, was an exciting event that celebrated many great contemporary talents of Italian cinema.  I was fortunate to have seen most of the nominees.  Among my personal favorites  is Michele Vannucci's  Il più grande sogno  simply because it is based on one of the most inspiring, beautiful stories I've ever  heard, and the person behind that story is as authentic and down-to-earth as they come. The film won the 3 Future Award, which is determined by the public. With Director Michele Vannucci and Actor Mirko Frezza I first saw  Il più grande sogno last September when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. I didn't make it to Venice, but thanks to a great online platform called Festival Scope , which offers a handful of premieres to be screened on the web, I felt like I was there. The film itself blew me away, and then when I realized it was based on a true story, I knew t...

The Timeless Talent of Stefania Sandrelli

On screen since the tender age of 14, she has captivated audiences for more than 50 years with a compelling combination of strength and vulnerability. She achieved stardom at just 14 years old playing the angelic cousin of a love-struck Marcello Mastroianni in Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style.” More than half a century later, she is still going strong and remains one of Italy’s most esteemed actors. Stefania Sandrelli was born on June 5, 1946, in Viareggio in the province of Lucca in northern Italy. As a child, she studied music and dance. Then in 1960, she won a beauty pageant and was featured on the cover of Le Ore magazine. Her purity captivated the country and shortly thereafter, movie offers began pouring in. Just one year later, she made her cinema debut in three feature films: Mario Sequi’s Gioventù di notte , Luciano Salce’s The Fascist, and Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style . She instantly became a star and before long was a key figure in Italy’s legend...

Golden Age Masterpiece: Luchino Visconti’s 1957 “White Nights”

Photo Credit: Archivio Luce Cinecittà Luchino Visconti’s 1957 film, “White Nights” (“Le notti bianche”), offers a thoughtful and poignant exploration of themes such as loneliness, desire and emotional vulnerability. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name, it transports the tale from 19th-century St. Petersburg to a dreamy mid-20th-century Italian setting. While Visconti remains largely faithful to Dostoevsky’s narrative, his characteristic style infuses the film with emotional depth, striking visuals, and a focus on class and societal constraints.   The story follows a young man named Matteo, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who lives a solitary life in a small Italian town. One evening, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Natalia, portrayed by Austrian-Swiss actress Maria Schell, who is also feeling isolated. Although she is initially reluctant, Natalia eventually confides in Matteo about her love for a man who has promised to return and marry her, but he ha...

The Sweetness and Genius of Giulietta Masina

Fellini and Masina on the set of "La Strada" As open-hearted and sunny as Federico Fellini was dark and complex, they were perfect counterpoints during a half-century of marriage and professional collaboration.  Nicknamed a  “female Chaplin” and described by Chaplin himself as  the actress who moved him most,  Giulietta Masina confronted the tragedy of her characters with an eternal innocence and enthusiasm that gave Italians hope in the most challenging of times.  Born in 1921 in San Giorgio di Piano, a commune north of Bologna, Masina was the oldest of four children born to a father who was a music professor and violinist and a mother who was a grade-school teacher. Her parents sent her as a child to live in Rome with her widowed aunt while she attended school there. As Masina took an early interest in gymnastics, her aunt saw in her a passion for performing and encouraged her to pursue acting. So after high school, Masina attended Rome’s La...

Director Gianni Di Gregorio explores relationships in later life with 'Never Too Late for Love'

In “Astolfo” (“Never Too Late for Love”), director Gianni Di Gregorio delivers a coming-of-age film for the golden years of life about a retired professor who leaves Rome to return to a tiny mountain village in Abruzzo. The film opens with the title character, played by Di Gregorio, walking through the streets of his Roman neighborhood, groceries in hand, only to find his landlord waiting for him when he arrives home. She is there to announce that he will have to vacate his humble residence to make way for her daughter, who is getting married soon.  After some contemplation, he calls his ex-wife to ask her about an old family castle he split with her in their divorce. When she confirms that a portion of the castle is his for the taking, he gleefully returns to his spacious new home only to discover it has been occupied by a squatter, who turns out to be an acquaintance from his childhood who is also down on his luck. Without hesitation, Astolfo adopts the man as his roommate. ...