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

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" ...

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...

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...

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...

Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann. Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...

Italian Cinema Today

Search This Blog