Skip to main content

Cesare Zavattini: A Screenwriter Who Helped Define Italian Cinema

Vittorio De Sica and Cesare Zavattini
He may not be a household name, but he was a major force behind the rise of the neorealism movement and Italy’s Golden Age of Cinema.

Screenwriter Cesare Zavattini was born in the region of Emilia-Romagna in 1902, earning a law degree before turning his attention to writing. In 1930, he moved to Milan to work at the Rizzoli publishing company. Five years later, he met Vittorio De Sica. They would go on to make 20 films together, including the neorealist classics “Sciuscià” (Shoeshine) (1946), “Ladri di biciclette” (The Bicycle Thief) (1948), “Miracolo a Milano” (Miracle in Milan) (1951) and “Umberto D.” (1952). 

 

Zavattini worked on more than 80 films with many of the great directors of Italian cinema. Among them was Giuseppe De Santis, who collaborated with Zavattini in 1952 on “Roma 11:00.” A tragic story based on true events, the film follows several young women in post-WWII Rome as they answer a job listing for a typist. With 200 applicants waiting in line for an interview, the staircase they’re standing on collapses, killing one woman and injuring dozens more. The tragedy spotlighted the poverty and desperation so many Italians endured in the early 1950s. Zavattini co-wrote the script and interviewed many of the actual victims, a few of whom were cast in supporting roles. Click the image below watch it on YouTube.



Zavattini’s words graced the script of Dino Risi’s 1955 comedy “Il segno di Venere” (The Sign of Venus), which features a host of Golden Age legends, including De Sica, Sophia Loren, Alberto Sordi and Raf Vallone. The timeless tale follows the amorous misadventures of Cesira (Franca Valeri), who is frequently overshadowed by her beautiful cousin Agnese (Loren). After having her fortune told by a tarot card reader, Cesira meets a flurry of possible suitors who turn out to be more trouble than they’re worth. Click here to watch it on Netflix. 

 

Zavattini came up with the concept for the film “L’amore in città” (Love in the City), a collection of short stories based on actual events. The 1953 compilation features one vignette co-directed by Zavattini. “Storia di Caterina” tracks the plight of a young, single Sicilian mother who leaves for Rome after being shamed in her hometown. When she loses her job as a maid, she roams the streets of the Eternal City with her toddler in tow looking for work. Desperate to provide for her son, she decides to abandon him in a park, hoping a wealthy family will take him in. He’s brought to a police station instead, where he’s reunited with his mother. The emotional impact of the story is heightened by the fact that the real-life mother plays herself.

 

Among Zavattini’s last collaborations with De Sica before the director’s death in 1974 was the 1970 war drama “I girasoli” (Sunflower). Shot in Italy and Russia, the heart-wrenching story brings together screen legends Marcello Mastroianni and Loren for one of the most powerful performances of their onscreen love affair. At the start of the film, Antonio (Mastroianni) must leave his new bride, Giovanna (Loren), to fight on the Russian front. After a near-death experience, Antonio has a brief episode of amnesia and marries the young Russian woman who saved his life. Though Antonio is listed as missing in action, Giovanna sets out to find him in Russia, leading to an explosive reunion. The film is a great example of Zavattini’s signature writing style: a human story that tugs at the heartstrings.

Zavattini’s impact on the film industry extends well beyond the written word. In 1967, he founded the Zavattini Municipal Library, and a decade later, he created the Audiovisual Archive Foundation of the Workers’ and Democratic Movement, which he oversaw until his death in 1989. The foundation still serves as a hub for researching, collecting and storing historical audiovisual work. In 2006, Centro Culturale Zavattini was established in his honor to foster young writers and filmmakers.


Stream Zavattini's films on Amazon..


 

- Written by Jeannine Guilyard for the February issue of Fra Noi Magazine. Click here to subscribe. 

Comments

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...

Eric LoPresti: Fusing art and tech

  Known for contemporary landscapes that fuse art and technology, Eric LoPresti is a Brooklyn-based artist with a strong sense of Italian identity.   “My father’s family emigrated from Sicily via Ellis Island in 1905, which might explain a deep connection I still feel with that incredible Italian landscape,” LoPresti explains.   Before attending graduate school at the Maryland Institute College of Art, he studied sculpture at several schools in Europe, including one in Greppocorgno near Perugia in the region of Umbria, under the guidance of the Boston-based sculptor Vincent Ricci.   “For me, this was a transcendent experience — my first time in Italy — and a chance to connect with the Italian modernist tradition,” he says.   Since then, he has focused on painting landscapes and other natural subjects, many of them inspired by the vast deserts of the Columbia Plateau in Washington State.    The COVID lockdown was a particular productive period for LoPre...

A Conversation with Actor Mirko Frezza of David di Donatello Winner "Il più grande sogno"

The 2017 David di Donatello award show, which took place on Monday, was an exciting event that celebrated many great contemporary talents of Italian cinema.  I was fortunate to have seen most of the nominees.  Among my personal favorites  is Michele Vannucci's  Il più grande sogno  simply because it is based on one of the most inspiring, beautiful stories I've ever  heard, and the person behind that story is as authentic and down-to-earth as they come. The film won the 3 Future Award, which is determined by the public. With Director Michele Vannucci and Actor Mirko Frezza I first saw  Il più grande sogno last September when it premiered at the Venice Film Festival. I didn't make it to Venice, but thanks to a great online platform called Festival Scope , which offers a handful of premieres to be screened on the web, I felt like I was there. The film itself blew me away, and then when I realized it was based on a true story, I knew t...

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 legend...

"Ennio" — Portrait of a Genius

Though he wasn't a filmmaker, his name is inextricably bound with Italian cinema and some of Hollywood's biggest blockbusters. Known for his longtime collaborations with directors Giuseppe Tornatore, Sergio Leone, and Quentin Tarantino, Ennio Morricone created the soundtracks for Italian classics like "Cinema Paradiso" and "Malena" and American films like "The Hateful Eight," for which he won an Oscar, and "The Untouchables." Now, we have a deeply moving documentary that immerses us in the life and music of this modest genius. Written and directed by Tornatore, "Ennio" traces Morricone's path to becoming a renowned composer, focusing on his work on numerous films. It features archival and original footage, poignant interviews with Morricone conducted between 2015 and 2016, and heartfelt conversations with his peers and collaborators. The film spans Morricone's 80+ years in music, from trumpet lessons at six years old to ...