Skip to main content

The International Appeal of Francesca Neri

Francesca Neri is Italian by birth but known to audiences all over the world, starring opposite some of the biggest names in the movie making business.  
 
Born in the northern Italian city of Trento in 1964, Francesca Neri knew at a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in cinema. So she moved to Rome where she studied acting at the famed Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografie. Shortly upon graduating from the Roman film school, she met the talented director, Giuseppe Piccioni, who is still quite prolific in making his contributions to the study and advancement of film in Rome. Most recently, he co-founded Rome's Libreria del Cinema, a bookstore located in the lively neighborhood of Trastevere. The store features books related to cinema along with author signings and events. The destined partnership of Picconi and Neri proved to be very beneficial to the young actress' career. The director gave Neri her first major part in a motion picture and Neri embraced her role as Laura in Piccioni's 1987 coming of age film, "Il grande blek". The film was important for the two filmmakers as it was also the directorial debut for Piccioni. The film won the De Sica Award for the best new Italian film that year, was screened at the Berlin Film Festival and won the Nastro d'Argento, a prestigious award given each year by Sindacato Nazionale dei Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani, the association of Italian film critics.
 
Neri went on to work with a number of European directors in the 90's including Wilma Labate, Carlos Saura and Pedro Almodóvar. She built a solid foundation of credible, articulate roles that earned her respect and accolades among critics and audiences alike. 
 
Then in 2001, she took on a role that would change the course of her career. Shot on location in Italy and the United States,  "Hannibal", Ridley Scott's sequel to "The Silence of the Lambs" gave American audiences their first in depth look at the stunning Francesca Neri as she played the role of Allegra Pazzi, the beautiful cultured wife of Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi, played by fellow Italian actor, Giancarlo Giannini. Neri brought an eloquence to the film that even charmed the ruthless Hannibal the cannibal. The grace with which she carries herself and delivers her lines memorizes anyone watching them film and seems to have the same effect on her fellow cast members. She brought her own signature class to the role and was therefore perfectly cast as the high maintenance wife of a simple inspector. There is a light hearted comfortable connection with her onscreen husband, Giancarlo Giannini, so it is a pleasure to watch the two share their scenes.
 
The film was a huge success and broke box office records in the United States, Australia, Canada and the UK. Although Neri was a hit with audiences and critics on this side of the Atlantic, her role in "Hannibal" was not her first character in an American production. Back in 1990, Neri had a role in the box office disappointment, "Captian America". The film earned mixed reviews, but luckilly she enjoyed much more success with the production of "Hannibal". 


Next, Neri's follow up American production to "Hannibal" was the 2002 film, "Collateral Damage' in which she worked opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. The role offered a new challenge for Neri as she played more of an action character alongside Schwarzenegger. She held her own in the most violent of scenes and showed a brand new range of acting that we hadn't seen from her up to that point.

During the last decade, Neri has worked mostly in Italy with top directors and actors. Her most high profile role was in Pupi Avati's 2008 drama, "Il papá  di Giovanna". The story is about a father's love and support for his daughter under the gravest of circumstances. Neri plays the wife and mother who struggles to hold her family together. Her performance opposite Italy's beloved character actors, Silvio Orlando and Alba Rohrwacher is beautiful and intense as the family is faced with tragedy and heartbreaking choices in the midst of World War II ravaged Italy.  The film won a whole slew of awards in 2008 and 2009, including a Best Actress award for Francesca Neri.
 
In  2012, Francesca Neri married her longtime boyfriend, actor Claudio Amendola, with whom she has a son. She is currently working with director, Raffaele Verzillo on his new film, "Il Vuoto" (The Void). 
 
Several of Neri's films are available through Amazon, including Pedro Almodóvar's "Live Flesh", "Outrage", co-starring Antonio Banderas and "Collateral Damage".
 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

New faces of Italian cinema

Angelo Iannelli With the 2012 film festivals just about wrapped up, we saw a big emphasis this year on newly emerging and independent filmmakers. This was most notable in the Venice Film Festival's Horizon's program, which gave these filmmakers an unprecedented amount of visibility as the program reached out to people all over the world via the internet.  To mark this current trend, I recently caught up with two independent filmmakers in Rome: Angelo Iannelli and Vito Napolitano. Each filmmaker has experience on both sides of the camera. Their origins are based in the south of Italy but they are now living in Rome. Angelo Iannelli was born in Benevento in the region of Campania, while Vito Napolitano is from Lecce in Puglia. What I enjoyed the most about our conversation is the passion with which the two young filmmakers speak about cinema. They are so enthusiastic and about their craft, they reel you right into their dreams. The three of us recently met up at the Li

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 that I would have to find out mor

Review: Francesco Rosi's 1967 'More Than a Miracle' starring Sophia Loren and Omar Sharif

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.) who

Ornella Muti: Four decades of Acting and Still Going Strong

Ornella Muti was born Francesca Romana Rivelli in Rome in 1955 to a Neapolitan father and an Estonian mother. She began her career as a model during her teenage years and made her film debut in 1970 with La Moglie più bella (The Most Beautiful Wife).  Her follow-up role was in the 1971 film, Sole nella pelle (Sun on the Skin) in which she played the daughter of wealthy parents who runs off with a hippie they don’t approve of. The film offers a telling journey through Italian society in the seventies with the political climate, the breathtaking seaside as well as the styles and cars of that time.  Much of the film is set amid the sunny Italian seaside and succeeds in capturing the innocence and beauty of first love.   Muti made her American film debut in 1980 with Flash Gordon . She played the role of Princess Aura.  She’s appeared in two other American films, including, Oscar , which was directed by John Landis and featured Don Ameche, Chaz Palminteri, and Sylvester Stallone

Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni.. What cinema dreams are made of

The Toronto International Film Festival is wrapping up its retrospective of the cinematic collaboration of husband and wife team, Nicoletta Braschi and Roberto Benigni. Over the last few days, the couple have participated in discussions, Q & A sessions and have introduced several of their films. Today, I attended a screening of "La voce della luna" (The voice of the moon). It was  Federico Fellini's last film and is a wonderful tribute to the director's signature poetic madness. The film gave Benigni the opportunity to team up with fellow beloved comic, Paolo Villaggio, and the two created a truly unforgettable adventure. Today's screening began with an introduction by Benigni. The moments leading up to his introduction were noticeably serious and somewhat tense. Benigni's publicist and TIFF security staunchly guarded his privacy. There was no interaction and no photos were allowed. Guided by his entourage, he walked quickly from the Green Room to th