#ICFF16 Director Renzo Martinelli to Present "Ustica" in Toronto
Marco Leonardi in a scene from "Ustica"
On June 15, Director Renzo Martinelli will present the film "Ustica" in Toronto at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival. Based on a true story, Martinelli explores the unsolved mystery of a downed passenger plane in the Tyrrhenian sea between the islands of Ponza and Ustica, located in the stretch of sea between Rome and Palermo.
On June 27, 1980 at 8.59 pm, a DC9 belonging to the private Italian airline ITAVIA disappeared from radar without launching any emergency signal. The airplane was flying at cruise speed at an altitude of 7,600 meters, along the airway “AMBRA 13” when it suddenly crashed around the “CONDOR” point between the islands of Ponza and Ustica, sinking in the “Tyrrhenian trench”, which is 3,500 meters deep. All 81 people onboard died, including 14 children.
The wreckage and bodies that were recovered indicate something happened to the aircraft while in the air, whether that be an explosion or collision. Evidence shows the plane broke into two main sections. Many hypothesis have been raised to explain the possible cause of the crash such as structural failure of the airplane, a bomb in the rear bathroom, a missile or a mid-air collision with an American fighter jet, which is explored in depth in the film. As we see in the film, the few workers who actually saw what happened with their own eyes mysteriously died in the months following the crash. I thought this was fiction but after doing some research, I was surprised to see that those people really did pass away.
Director Renzo Martinelli
I recommend seeing "Ustica" because the plane crash is a part of recent history and an event that many North Americans don't know much about. However, I have a few criticisms. The film stars Marco Leonardi and my biggest issue is that his voice was dubbed. The film was made in English. Leonardi has appeared in a number of American films and lived in the United States for many years. So it's a mystery to me why the choice was made to dub his lines, especially since his wife in the film has a strong Italian accent. If I was attending the Q&A, this would be my first question. My other criticism is with the contrived script, which made it hard for the actors to recite their lines naturally. I think this film would have been much better if it was made in Italian and presented with English subtitles. With that said, I think it's an important history lesson on a somewhat recent current event and should not be missed. If you are unable to attend the screening, check out the website for the museum in Bologna- Museo per la memoria di Ustica, which houses the wreckage and personal belongings that were recovered in the aftermath of the tragedy.
Screening times and locations:
June 15 @ 9:30pm TIFF - Toronto
June 15 @ 7:00pm Cinema Cartier - Quebec City
June 16 @ 9:00pm Cinematheque Quebecois - Montreal
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...
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 its political climate, breathtaking seaside, and the styles and cars of that time. Much of the film is set amid the sunny Italian seaside and captures 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,” directed by John Landis and starring Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, and Sylvester Stallone. In 1992, she w...
Alessandro Gassmannin his directorial debut "Razzabastarda" Alessandro Gassmann is the son of the iconic Italian actor/director Vittorio Gassman and French actress Juliette Mayniel. He was born in 1965 and grew up around cinema royalty. He made his cinema debut in 1982 at the age of 17 in his father's autobiographical film, "Di padre in figlio." He went on to study his craft under his father's direction at the Theatre Workshop of Florence. Vittorio Gassman was very active in theater and seemed just as comfortable on stage as he did in front of the camera. Known for his powerful interpretations of Dante's "Inferno" and "Paradiso," it is no surprise that he nurtured his son's acting aspirations on stage before he launched his career in television and film. One of Gassmann's strong qualities, which he undoubtedly inherited from his father is his incredible range and ease in going from genre to genre. He can play ...
His documentary films have given voice to a people who would have otherwise been forgotten while preserving rituals and traditions no longer practiced. Visually stunning and emotionally moving, they reflect an Italy we’re not used to seeing in cinema. Born in Naples in 1926, Luigi Di Gianni captured a dimension of Italy that people outside the South didn’t even know existed. He began his career working in the region of Basilicata, which back then was referred to as Lucania. He first visited the region with his parents when he was a boy. His father, being from the Lucanian village of Pescopagano, wanted to show his son his homeland. That trip made an impression on the 9-year-old and created a deep affection that would one day inspire him to return. “I always remained very emotional about returning to this part of my homeland of Lucania,” he says. “It seemed like a different planet compared to Rome, where I lived. The tiring journey, the unpaved roads, the difficulti...
Pondering his films and poetry, I wonder if the uniqueness of Pier Paolo Pasolini's films was rooted in his unconventional childhood. Born in Bologna in 1922, Pasolini's father was a lieutenant in the army, and his family was always moving. He grew up in various small towns in Northern Italy. After his parents separated, he spent most of his time in his mother's hometown of Casarsa, in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. There, he grew to respect the area's peasant culture and began to write poetry in the region's dialect. He studied literature and art history at the University of Bologna and was drafted into the army during World War II. The war proved to be especially tragic for his family as his younger brother was executed by Communist partisans. Following the war, he returned to Casarsa where he worked as a teacher and ironically became a leading member of the Communist party there. Pasolini was later expelled from the party due to allegations of homo...
Comments
Post a Comment