Skip to main content

Cinematic Maestra Liliana Cavani

(Updated January 12, 2023)

Born in 1933 in Carpi near Modena, Liliana Cavani burst onto the filmmaking scene in the 1970s along with fellow Emilia Romagna natives Bernardo Bertolucci, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Marco Bellocchio.

Raised in a household that embraced the arts, Cavani went to art museums with her father, an architect, and to the movies with her mother, a film aficionado. She studied literature and philosophy at Bologna University in 1960 but decided a year later to head south to Rome to study filmmaking at the renowned Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. Success rapidly followed. Before her studies were finished, Cavani was hired there as the director of historical documentaries at RAI television. From there, she transitioned into feature films.

Cavani's filmmaking style is fierce, unflinching, and no-holds-barred. Working with future stars Charlotte Rampling, Helena Bonham Carter, and Mickey Rourke early in their careers, she was able to evoke a depth of emotion from her actors that was truly exceptional. Her films are like symphonies that feature exquisite sets, rich cinematography, and classical music that almost feels like an additional character.

She rose to international prominence with the 1974 release of "Il portiere di notte" 
(The Night Porter). A dark erotic thriller, the film stars Charlotte Rampling as Lucia, a concentration camp survivor who checks in to a Vienna hotel with her husband, an American conductor. There, she comes face to face with her former captor and lover, Max, who now works as the hotel's night porter.

After spending a sleepless night haunted by her flashbacks of life in the camp and her relationship with the former Nazi SS officer, played by British actor Dirk Bogarde, she tells her husband to continue on his, and she stays behind at the hotel. When Max confronts her, paranoid that she has searched him out to turn him into the police for war crimes, the two have an explosive encounter that ends with the realization that they still love each other. What follows is the pain and pleasure of a tortured, doomed love. 

Cavani’s balance of tenderness and violence, death and despair,  is expressed through the extraordinary performances of her actors. The scenes in the concentration camp brilliantly highlight the human desire for the beautiful things in life, like culture and closeness, against the grey, corrupt, and brutal backdrop of the Holocaust. Cavani’s camera moves smoothly in time with the classical music soundtrack, contrasting the extravagance of the Vienna hotel with the cold reality outside its doors, as if the hotel is a sanctuary, and once the couple leaves, they must fend for themselves.

Cavani’s 2002 film, "Ripley's Game," is based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith of the same name. It stars John Malkovich as a vengeful former hitman who tries to retire to a mansion in northern Italy. When a neighbor insults him around the same time that an old colleague tries to drag him out of retirement, he orchestrates some serious payback. Malkovich is brilliant as a cerebral murderer with no conscience whose last job finally gets the better of him. The film premiered out of competition at the 2002 Venice Film Festival.

Starring Mickey Rourke and Helena Bonham Carter, Cavani’s 1989 "Francesco" tells the story of St. Francis of Assisi from the point-of-view of his followers. Tapping into her early years at RAI, the film takes a documentary approach as it reveals key aspects of the saint’s personality, including his humility, generosity, love of animals, and his early inner conflict about abandoning his father's wealth to immerse himself in the world of the desperately poor.

 This wasn't the first time Cavani worked on a project about Saint Frances. In 1966, she directed a made-for-tv movie about the saint that aired on RAI. Starring Lou Castell, known for his role in Bellocchio’s 1965 "Fists in the Pockets," Cavani’s television version is described on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) as “The life of Saint Francis of Assisi retold from the sixties political radical point of view.” It's interesting to note that RAI was also listed in the credits as one of the producers of the 1989 film version.

At 90 years old, Cavani has another film in production that is slated for a 2023 release. "L'ordine del tempo" will feature Alessandro Gassman, Edoardo Leo and Claudia Gerini and Valentina Cervi. We'll keep you posted. 

The following films are available through Amazon..

                    
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Legend of Alberto Sordi - Rome's Eternal Son

′′They will always judge you, whether you behave well or if you behave badly. So screw it and live as you want but above all don't listen to anyone.′′  - Alberto Sordi By giving his fellow Italians something to laugh about during tumultuous times, he emerged as his generation’s King of Comedy. One of Italy’s best-loved personalities, Alberto Sordi played a pivotal role in Italian cinema from the end of World War II to the postwar economic boom of the 1950s. During those tumultuous years, he gave his countrymen a hearty laugh when they might have otherwise cried. Former Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi perhaps said it best: “Alberto Sordi interpreted the feelings of Italians, especially in their most difficult and tough moments.” Born in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome in 1920, Sordi grew up in a creative household. His mother was an elementary school teacher and his father, a professional musician for the Rome Opera House. A young Sordi joined the children’s choir o...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Portrait for a friend: 'How Strange to Be Named Federico'

  Ettore Scola on the set of 'How Strange to Be Named Federico' A sentimental portrait for a friend, Ettore Scola’s 2013 “Che strano chiamarsi Federico” (“How Strange to Be Named Federico”) is both a tribute to Federico Fellini and a reflection on friendship, and an artist’s passion for filmmaking.  Scola created a personal and imaginative film that moves between documentary, fiction, memory, and fantasy, bringing to life important moments he shared with Fellini during their decades-long friendship as well as highlights from Fellini’s own life and career while showing how deeply Fellini influenced Scola himself. The result is an inviting, nostalgic, and at times playful portrait of one of Italy and the world’s most beloved filmmakers. The film opens on the beach where a figure depicting Fellini sits in a director’s chair and watches performers audition for him. The beach is likely symbolic of Fellini’s roots in the seaside town of Rimini and his beach-going days on the c...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Timeless Vision of Pier Paolo Pasolini

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...
Post a Comment
Read more