Italian Cinema Today

“Vera & Giuliano” “I knew Fellini , Antonioni , Pontecorvo. It was a period of good people, good writers and very good directors.” A pioneering director himself, Giuliano Montaldo is one of the last living greats from Italy’s cinematic Golden Age. At 92, he’s as active as ever, and the pandemic hasn’t slowed him down. Donning his mask, he was one of the first in line when Italy reopened its movie theaters. Born in Genoa in 1930, Montaldo moved to Rome as a teenager to follow his dream of working in cinema. While attending film school, he was discovered by director Carlo Lizzani. Taking Montaldo under his wing, Lizzani cast him alongside Gina Lollobrigida in his 1951 war drama “Achtung! Banditi!” and then nurtured him as an assistant. Montaldo worked on a string of films with Lizzani, including his acclaimed 1952 murder mystery “Ai margini della metropoli” (At the Edge of the City) , starring Giulietta Masina . Montaldo then assisted director Gillo Pontecorvo while continuing to ta...

An icon of 1970s Italian cinema, he poured himself heart and soul into every part he played. One of the most masterful actors of his generation, Gian Maria Volonté was born in Milan in 1933. He studied his craft at Rome’s National Dramatic Arts Academy. Upon graduating in 1957,  he found work right away in theater and television, quickly earning acclaim for his skilled and passionate performances .  In one of his early roles, he played Ramón Rojo under the stage name Johnny Wells opposite Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone’s 1964 Spaghetti Western, “A Fistful of Dollars.” A year later, he played the role of a Native American in Leone’s follow up, “A Few Dollars More.”   His breakout role came in Elio Petri’s 1970 “Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto” (Investigation Of a Citizen Above Suspicion) , a satirical film highlighting the corruption among officials in power.  After a newly promoted unnamed police chief (Volonté) murders his mistress (Florinda ...

June 19 – June 29 Influenced both by 1960s political cinema and Italian crime novels, as well as by French noir and American cop movies like "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection," many Italian filmmakers in the late-60s and early-70s gradually moved away from the spaghetti western genre, trading lone cowboys for ‘bad’ cops and the rough frontier of the American west for the mean streets of modern Italy. Just as they had with their westerns, they reinvented the borrowed genre with their inimitable eye for style and filled their stories with the kidnappings, heists, vigilante justice, and brutal violence that suffused this turbulent moment in post-boom 1970s Italy. The undercurrent of fatalism and cynicism in these uncompromising movies is eerily reminiscent of the state of discontent in Italy today. ‘The Italian Connection’ showcases the diversity and innovation found in the genre, from the gangster noir of Fernando Di Leo’s "Caliber 9" ...

His career is diverse as he has played everything from a Fascist tablecloth salesman to a 5-star womanizing chef. He has been onstage, on television and on the big screen but the one thing that is always consistent is the strong conviction with which he portrays each role. Roman born actor Luca Zingaretti is a fixture in Italian cinema and television. His guy next store appeal gives him the ability to assimilate into a crowd yet hold his own in the presence of other cinema heavyweights. Zingaretti had his eye on entertainment at a young age and was classically trained at Rome's prestigious drama school, Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico. Upon graduating in 1984, he immediately hit the stage, appearing in classic plays such as Chekhov's "Three Sisters" and Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus." A few years after graduating film school, he landed his first feature film role in Giuliano Montaldo's "Gli occhgioriali d...

The 2016 documentary, “Water and Sugar: Carlo Di Palma, The Colours of Life” is a portrait of an artist told through memory, sincere admiration, and respect. Directed by Kurdish-Iranian filmmaker Fariborz Kamkari, the film pays homage to Carlo Di Palma , one of Italy’s most influential and beloved cinematographers, whose work helped define photography in both European art cinema and American independent filmmaking. The documentary is deeply moving and thought provoking because rather than following a traditional style of biography, the story unfolds gently, almost conversationally, the viewer hears from the collaborators, friends and family that shaped Di Palma’s life and work. Kamkari structures the film around interviews with those who knew Di Palma best: directors, collaborators, friends, journalists, and, most poignantly, his wife, Adriana Chiesa Di Palma, who travels the world revisiting the landscapes of his career. Her conversations are unhurried, allowing reflections to emerge ...

Update 29 February 2016 Since Ennio Morricone won the Oscar last night for Best Original Score, there's been a lot of talk about his past work. Here is a link on Amazon to check out some of his materpieces.. In addition to Morricone's Oscar nomination, Paolo Sorrentino's "Youth" is also on the ballot tonight for Best Original Song by David Lang.. "Simple Song #3" Check it out here . And Ennio Morricone takes home the Oscar.... Check out some of his work.. Ennio Morricone on Amazon Update 10 January 2016 Ennio Morricone wins Golden Globe for Best Original Score for Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight". The 20th edition of the Roma Film Festival will pay tribute to the prolific career of renowned composer Ennio Morricone. Born in Rome in 1928, Morricone has written the music for hundreds of films and television shows. His most recognizable titles include "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", "Once Upon a Time in ...

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...