Fellini Retrospective begins in New York

IFC Center presents “Fellini,” an 11-film retrospective of the legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini, July 1-September 25 in the ongoing “Weekend Classics” program. With a signature style that combined baroque and fantastic flourishes with more earthy concerns, Fellini (1920-1993) was not only one of the twentieth century’s most beloved filmmakers, but has proven one of its most influential as well. Among numerous awards and distinctions, Fellini’s films won four Oscars, along with prizes at Cannes, Venice, Berlin and other film festivals, with Fellini himself receiving career achievement awards from Cannes in 1974 and Venice in 1985, followed by a special Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1993.

The program kicks off with Fellini’s international succès de scandale blockbuster LA DOLCE VITA (1960), screening daily at 11:00am Friday, July 1-Thursday, July 7. An epic portrait of the dawn of tabloid culture, set in the decadent postwar Roman demimonde and starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg, the film was denounced by censors around the world for glorifying immorality, despite winning the Palme d’Or for Best Film at Cannes.

The series continues weekends at 11:00am through September 25. Other highlights of the program include the early black-and-white masterworks I VITELLONI and LA STRADA, the semiautobiographical AMARCORD, the historical fantasies FELLINI’S CASANOVA and FELLINI SATYRICON, the recently restored CITY OF WOMEN, and a Labor Day weekend presentation of 8½, a meditation on creativity starring Mastroianni as a frustrated filmmaker that’s a perennial entry on Top-10-of-all-Time lists.

A related exhibit of rare, international Fellini posters is on display in the Posteritati at IFC Center gallery on the theater’s second floor. A complete film schedule is below.

“Fellini” – Weekends at 11:00am, July 1-September 25 at IFC Center

JUL 1-7: LA DOLCE VITA (1960)
JUL 8-10: I VITELLONI (1953) – 35mm print!
JUL 15-17: LA STRADA (1954) – 35mm print!
JUL 29-31: IL BIDONE (1955)
AUG 5-7: GINGER AND FRED (1986) – 35mm print!
AUG 12-14: AMARCORD (1973)  – 35mm print!
AUG 19-21: ROMA (1972)
AUG 26-28: FELLINI’S CASANOVA (1976)
SEP 2-5: 8 1⁄2 (1963) – 35mm print!
SEP 9-11: FELLINI SATYRICON (1969) – 35mm print!
SEP 23-25: CITY OF WOMEN (1980)

Comments

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...

Ornella Muti: Five 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 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...

A Conversation with Documentary Filmmaker Luigi Di Gianni

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...

Alessandro Gassmann: Born to Act

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 ...

The Life and Work of Monica Bellucci

Monica Bellucci as Malèna Born in Umbria in 1964, Monica Bellucci is one of the most recognizable faces of international cinema. But she didn't always have her sights set on the spotlight. She went to college to study law and modeled to pay her tuition. Her success in the fashion world coupled with the offers that were pouring in to appear on the big screen eventually took over, changing her fate. Bellucci made her on-screen debut in the 1990 television movie, " Vita coi figli." Just two years later, she scored her first American role in Francis Ford Coppola's "Dracula." In addition to her native language, she speaks fluent English and French, which has made for a smooth transition from Italian to international cinema. Stateside, she has acted in blockbusters such as "The Matrix-Reloaded," " The Passion of the Christ" and " The Sorcerer's Apprentice." She has also appeared in several French films, a...

Italian Cinema Today

Search This Blog