Italian Cinema Today

Claudia Cardinale in a scene from   “Il magnifico cornuto” The world said goodbye to one of the last greats of Italy’s Golden Age of cinema and the commedia all’italiana genre when legendary actress Claudia Cardinale passed away in September at 87. She appeared in dozens of films throughout her career, which spanned six decades, and she worked with the likes of Federico Fellini , Luchino Visconti and Sergio Leone on iconic projects that have stood the test of time.  One of her greatest talents was comedy, and one of her best comedic performances was in Antonio Pietrangeli’s 1964 film “Il magnifico cornuto” (“The Magnificent Cuckold”), in which she plays a beautiful young wife married to a wildly jealous older man. The story centers on Andrea (played by Ugo Tognazzi ), a charming but often foolish man who unwittingly becomes tangled in a web of romantic and social misunderstandings created by his own deceit.   The couple is happily married until one evening, when And...

With a gift for melding disparate clips into compelling documentaries, he has captured the spirit of Italian cinema from the 1930s to the present. Marco Spagnoli is one of Italy’s most prolific film journalists, having made numerous documentaries on the country’s beloved film icons and reporting in-depth about cinema for a variety of publications.   Among his most compelling works is the 2011 documentary “Hollywood Invasion,” which zooms in on Italian and European cinema during the “Dolce Vita” decades from 1950-80. Utilizing NBC newsreels to tell his story, Spagnoli offers an extraordinary take on this period in cinematic history.   The film features rare clips of Hollywood stars like Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando and Marilyn Monroe roaming about Italy in the 1950s, as well as tantalizing behind-the-scenes glimpses of several American productions. Marilyn Monroe in a scene from  “Hollywood Invasion”  You’ll have a front-row seat to the creation of iconic moments like...

Join me in beginning the Lenten season with my favorite adaptation of one of the Gospels-  Pier Paolo Pasolini's  1964 “Il Vangolo Secondo Matteo" (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) and a few classics that I recently discovered.  Considered by the Vatican to be among the best film adaptations of the Gospels, Pasolini's film was shot in the regions of Basilicata and Calabria. He cast his mother as Mary and many locals as extras. Spanish actor Enrique Irazoqui was cast in the role of Jesus. He was just 18-years-old when he landed the part. He had been in Rome at the time of casting and auditioned for the role. I contacted Irazoqui around this time last year to ask him about his experience making the film. He suggested that we have a conversation via Skype. Although the connection wasn’t very good, it was thrilling to talk directly with this actor whose film I had been watching for at least 20 years. He was very friendly and nostalgic in his recollections espe...

She studies cinema and television production at the  Accademia Delle Belle Arti Di Napoli but even before enrolling, she was well on her way to becoming a gifted storyteller and filmmaker. Born in Naples in 1996, Angela Bevilacqua knew early on that she had a passion for cinema and she didn’t waste any time exploring it. She made her first short film when she was just 17-years-old. Il teatro dei ricordi (The Theater of Memories) stars Alessia Alciati and veteran French actor Jean Sorel who is known for his role opposite Claudia Cardinale in Luchino Visconti's 1965 Sandra . An ambitious first effort, the film premiered as a Special Event at the 2014 Giffoni Film Festival . Il teatro dei ricordi is an enigmatic tale of a tormented woman looking for a temporary escape. The film opens in a dense forest as a young woman is walking around looking dazed and confused. She starts to run as if in a panic while a violin resounds. Shortly thereafter, she finds herself in an theater with...

I just got around to subscribing to the Criterion Channel tonight and I saw the most fascinating documentary about actor/director Pietro Germi with a beautiful clip of actress Franca Bettoja talking about her husband Ugo Tognazzi.  Bettoja  is Maria Sole and Gian Marco Tognazzi’s mother. She described Ugo when he would work on a film that Pietro Germi was directing. “I saw Ugo for the first time in " L'immorale" (The Climax) . He was always extremely disciplined and professional. Maybe he didn’t know everything but he had a good memory, so he never used to study the script at home. He’d read it and then go to it. I remember that when he had to be on Pietro’s set, he was like a schoolboy. Woe to any driver that would show up late! He was very careful. They both were. Ugo and Pietro respected each other but it was more than that.”  Renée Longarini and Ugo Tognazzi in Pietro Germi’s " L'immorale" (The Climax) The documentary is a treasure trove o...

IL GIORNO DELLA CIVETTA  IL SET, IL FUORI SET E I RITRATTI DI ENRICO APPETITO There is a beautiful photo exhibit on display in the main hall of the Festa del Cinema di Roma. It is inspired by  Il giorno della civetta  ( Mafia ), a film directed in 1968 by Damiano Damiani, adapted from the novel by Leonardo Sciascia, starring Franco Nero, Claudia Cardinale and an international cast.  The exhibition presents a journey into the film with 160 images never shown before, as seen through the eyes of the set photographer Enrico Appetito; but it is also a tribute to Leonardo Sciascia's far-sightedness and civil commitment against the Mafia. The exhibition includes the Ritratti section (Portraits) in the Foyer Sinopoli, and the Set and Behind the Scenes sections in the EXPO space of the Auditorium Parco della Musica.  The images are accompanied by 50 years of news reports about the Mafia in Italy. As part of the exhibition, on Friday October 21 st , at...

Valerio Zurlini's "La ragazza con la valigia" It's not everyday you get the chance to see short films made by an Italian master before he became a master and then with English subtitles.. and then among ancient Roman ruins. Well that's how I spent my Sunday evening and it's just one of the reasons why the Festa del Cinema in Rome is still my favorite annual cinema event. The Sala Trevi is hosting the festival's impressive retrospective dedicated to director Valerio Zurlini. Perhaps best known for "La ragazza con la valigia" (Girl With a Suitcase) starring a young, gorgeous Claudia Cardinale, this retrospective includes some lesser known works, such as a series of short films he made in the early 1950s.  Curated by  Domenico Monetti and Mario Sesti in collaboration with Rome's famous film school- Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca, opening night of the retrospective featured these rare short films, each of which give profou...

Actor Raoul Bova recently presented two of his films in Canada at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival and the Niagara Integrated Film Festival: Carlo Vanzina’s time travel comedy "Rewind and Reboot" (Torno Indietro e Cambio Vita) and the romantic comedy "All Roads Lead to Rome," which he presented alongside cinema legend and co-star Claudia Cardinale . Bova’s acting career spans more than two decades and it has been a joy to watch him grow and evolve as an actor. He’s not afraid to take on complex characters like Lorenzo in Ferzan Ozpetek’s  "Facing Windows" while he seems to embrace and have fun with lighter storylines like the two he just presented.    I had the great pleasure of meeting Raoul Bova in Niagara Falls where he presented "All Roads Lead to Rome" with Claudia Cardinale. He had a full schedule lined up that day with very little time for interviews, but I managed to slip in three quick questions and he was graceful eno...

Born in Calabria but raised in the northern region of Emilia Romagna, Paola Lavini is making her mark in Italian cinema and television as a diverse actress whose passion is telling real stories through sincere, carefully-developed characters.   Lavini is no stranger to American audiences. If you followed the HBO series Rome , you saw her in the very first episode in 2005 portraying a snobby, ill-mannered trophy wife named Phyllis. When I interviewed Lavini back in October, she told me about one scene in particular in which her character was feasting on the Roman delicacy, porchetta. Since Phyllis was rich, spoiled and uncouth, she ferociously ate the porchetta, throwing any class right out the window. The American producers weren’t expecting this beautiful, petite woman to eat with such gusto and authority. They were thoroughly impressed and later remarked on how brilliant she was while doing that scene.   More recently, Americans watched Lavini on the big screen in Fr...