'Love in the City' - A Rediscovered Treasure

Antonio Cifariello in a scene from Fellini's "Agenzia Matrimoniale"

“This reaction — this viewing of the film as monstrous — underlines the fear we feel when called to look at the truth.”

Screenwriter and director Cesare Zavattini was truly ahead of his time. I am so fascinated with this 1953 film compilation put together by Zavattini. “L’amore in città” (Love in the City) is a collection of six short film essays directed by Zavattini, Dino Risi, Michelangelo Antonioni, Carlo Lizzani, Federico Fellini and Alberto Lattuada. The New York Times did a beautiful article on the collection in 2014 referring to Zavattini as “a pioneer of documentary fiction (sometimes called “hybrid cinema”), in which nonactors essentially play themselves, dramatizing their particular situations.” With the exception of Fellini’s short, in which he narrates something that happened to him but uses actors to demonstrate it, this collection is exactly this type of “hybrid cinema”… the situations actually happened to the people portraying themselves in the essays. The occasional narration that accompanies them is a nice touch because it gives sort of a lesson to these sometimes tragic events.

For example, Fellini’s piece about an agency in Rome that arranges marriages ended with this commentary: “We drove back to the city in silence. I wanted to say something to her not to justify myself but to help her. I wanted to tell her to be more confident, to open her eyes to the many encounters life presents daily. But I didn’t want to be rhetorical and I knew it’d be of no use. Her problems, her daily hardships would still be all that mattered to her. I didn’t say anything. When we said goodbye, I sincerely wished her good luck.”

The compilation was released on Blue Ray in 2014 and is now available to stream on Amazon Prime. It’s free if you have a Prime account or otherwise it’s just $1.99 to rent. Minerva Pictures also has a version on YouTube with English subtitles. I highly recommend this. It also provides a beautiful portrait of contemporary Rome in the 1950s.

Click below to stream it on Amazon..

Or watch here on YouTube...

Click here to read the New York Times article..

Comments

A Conversation with Sergio Castellitto

Sergio Castellitto has made a profound impact on world cinema, both in front of and behind the camera. Born in Rome in 1953, Castellitto graduated from film school in 1978 and credits American cinema with pushing him toward a career in acting. His work has garnered numerous accolades, largely due to his immersive, original approach to projects in film, television and theatre. Castellitto is fluent in French and English, which has contributed mightily to his international stardom. But it's the actor's trademark brown eyes and charming everyman qualities that have lent his various characters -- even the ones that are rough around the edges -- an air of dignity that other actors might not have achieved. Sergio Castellitto and Margaret Mazzantini, 2005 Films such as "Paura e Amore," "L'uomo delle stelle," "Caterina va in città," and "Bella Martha" heralded Castellitto as a versatile artist with far-reaching abilities. But it ...

Golden Age Masterpiece: Luchino Visconti’s 1957 “White Nights”

Photo Credit: Archivio Luce Cinecittà Luchino Visconti’s 1957 film, “White Nights” (“Le notti bianche”), offers a thoughtful and poignant exploration of themes such as loneliness, desire and emotional vulnerability. Based on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novella of the same name, it transports the tale from 19th-century St. Petersburg to a dreamy mid-20th-century Italian setting. While Visconti remains largely faithful to Dostoevsky’s narrative, his characteristic style infuses the film with emotional depth, striking visuals, and a focus on class and societal constraints. The story follows a young man named Matteo, played by Marcello Mastroianni, who lives a solitary life in a small Italian town. One evening, he encounters a beautiful young woman named Natalia, portrayed by Austrian-Swiss actress Maria Schell, who is also feeling isolated. Although she is initially reluctant, Natalia eventually confides in Matteo about her love for a man who has promised to return and marry her, but he ha...

Alberto Sordi Like You've Never Seen Him..

Twenty two-year-old Alberto Sordi on the set of "I tre aquilotti" Directed by Mario Mattoli, the 1942 film"I tre aquilotti" (The Three Pilots) is set at the Royal Air Force Academy of Caserta where three students– Mario (Carlo Minello), Marco (Leonardo Cortese) and Filippo (Alberto Sordi) become close friends. Towards the end of his studies, Marco casually meets and falls in love with Mario's sister, Adriana (Michela Belmonte). Mario shows his opposition to Marco and this causes the end of their friendship. Due to an accident during a training flight, Marco is demoted from the sailors role to the service role, thus not getting the military pilot's license. After the end of the course, the three friends split up for various destinations but all three find themselves in Russia, with Mario and Filippo already decorated with medals of merit, while Marco is in charge of logistics services. During a war action Mario is hit in flight and is forced to land in en...

Sergio Leone: Recreating the American Cowboy

Henry Fonda in "Once Upon a Time in the West" He's an Italian filmmaker who left his mark on the world by telling uniquely American stories. Known throughout the world for his iconic Spaghetti Westerns, Sergio Leone comes from a family of filmmakers. His mother, Edvige Valcarenghi whose stage name was Bice Walerian, was a silent movie actress who gave up her career to become a wife and mother when she married Vincenzo Leone in 1916. Vincenzo whose stage name was Roberto Roberti, was a noted filmmaker who directed and acted in movies during the silent film era. He actually tried to discourage his son from pursuing a career in cinema, so Sergio Leone briefly studied law. But then fate stepped in and he landed a position as an assistant on Vittorio De Sica ’s "The Bicycle Thieves" in 1948. Leone also briefly appears in the film, as part of a group of German priests taking shelter from the rain. Although he emerged during the rise of Neorealism, Leone mig...

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...

Italian Cinema Today

Search This Blog