Skip to main content

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 legendary commedia all’italiana. In 1963, she teamed up again with director Pietro Germi to portray Agnese in Seduced and Abandoned, a masterpiece of the genre.

The film boasts an unforgettable opening scene with a stunning Sandrelli in a fitted black dress walking through the narrow streets of her enchanting Sicilian village. As she heads to confession, a Sicilian troubadour accompanied by the mandolin tells her unfortunate story of giving in to lustful feelings for her sister's fiancé, Peppino. Upon entering the confessional, she breaks down in tears as she describes the tryst, only to have the priest further shame her with words like wicked and disgraceful. Peppino announces that he doesn’t want to marry a girl who gave into temptation, even if it was to him, and flees with his mother. A chase ensues as the singing narrator describes Agnese’s father’s determination to change Peppino’s mind and save his daughter’s honor. Peppino refuses to relent, and the family lawyer instructs Agnese’s pushover brother Antonio on how to shoot Peppino in a way that would be easiest to defend in court. Agnese learns of the plan and stops the murder from happening at the last minute. Sandrelli delivers a subtle yet forceful performance, going full drama at the end.


One year later, Sandrelli starred in Antonio Pietrangeli’s I Knew Her Well. In her role as Adriana Astarelli, a free-spirited starlet trying to make it in Rome’s unforgiving movie business, she revealed her fierce acting chops while portraying a complex character in a leading role. She propels the film forward with contradicting qualities of vulnerability and strength toward a devastating, unpredictable ending. The qualities of Adriana reappeared in many characters throughout her career. She often portrays strong-yet-vulnerable women struggling with male characters who mistake that vulnerability for weakness.


In 1970, she took on another career-defining role in Bernardo Bertolucci’s The Conformist. Sandrelli plays the wife of Marcello, a state employee of the fascist party ordered to murder a political rival and former professor. The film is set in Rome and Paris during Benito Mussolini’s reign. Known for its monumental cinematography by the legendary Vittorio Storaro, the film’s eerie atmosphere is accentuated with splashes of Storaro’s signature shades of reds, blues, and oranges. In a film of pure visual decadence, Sandrelli revels in her character’s innocence and Bourgeoisie lifestyle, which Marcello denounces for its petty thoughts and ambitions. Even so, she holds her own, living in his world of intellectuals where everyone has a dark secret.


Since those prolific decades of the ’60s and ’70s, Sandrelli has appeared in numerous contemporary hits, including Bertolucci’s 1996 Stealing Beauty, Gabriele Muccino’s 2000 The Last Kiss, and various Italian television series.

 All the films mentioned are available through Amazon. All four films by Pietro Germi, Antonio Pietrangeli, and Bernardo Bertolucci are available to stream on Filmstruck, an absolute treasure for old and rare films. Sandrelli's current release A casa tutti bene, directed by Gabriele Muccino, recently opened in Italy to rave reviews. In March, she will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at Italy's David Di Donatello ceremony.

 - Jeannine Guilyard
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Anna Foglietta: Actress and Activist with Old School Elegance

One look at actress Anna Foglietta in her any of her roles, and the Golden Age of Italian cinema comes to mind. Among Italy’s most sought-after actresses today, Foglietta brings to the table a classic eloquence of yesterday while representing Italy’s modern woman. Born in Rome in 1979, Foglietta began her career in 2005 with a role in the RAI television series La squadra . Her character Agent Anna De Luca had a two-year run on the series as she was transitioning to cinema with Paolo Virzì’s 2006 ensemble project 4-4-2- Il gioco più bello del mondo . Since then, she has become one of Italy’s most diverse actresses, transforming herself into interesting, layered characters for comedies and dramas alike. Aside from a small part in Anton Corbijn’s 2010 film The American starring George Clooney, Foglietta’s work began reaching mainstream American audiences in 2015. As Elisa in Edoardo Leo’s 2015 comedy Noi e la Giulia , Foglietta showed her funny side playing a goofball pregn...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Emma Dante's 'The Macaluso Sisters'

In a moving story that spans several decades, “The Macaluso Sisters” follows five orphaned sisters born and raised in an apartment on Palermo’s outskirts. They support themselves by renting out pigeons for events, a unique and symbolic business that reflects their resourcefulness and the transient nature of their lives. Directed by Emma Dante, who adapted the script from her 2014 play of the same name, the film boasts an all-female cast that brings a unique power to the story. It unfolds in three chapters that show how the tragic events of one day haunt the sisters through childhood, adulthood and old age.   The first chapter reveals the tragedy of the youngest sister, Antonella, who dies during a beach outing. She remains a permanent presence in the household, never aging. The film returns again and again to the beauty of the day at the beach when tragedy struck. The apartment is a central character, housing the memories and rage each sister carries inside her. This exploration of...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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. ...
Post a Comment
Read more