Marco Bellocchio | |
|---|---|
 Bellocchio in 2010 | |
| Born | (1939-11-09)9 November 1939 (age 86) Bobbio, Italy |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter, actor |
| Years active | 1962–present |
Marco Bellocchio (Italian pronunciation:[ˈmarkobelˈlɔkkjo]; born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Most known for his filmsFists in the Pocket (1965),A Leap in the Dark (1980),Good Morning, Night (2003),The Traitor (2019)andKidnapped (2023).
Born inBobbio, near Piacenza, Marco Bellocchio had a strict Catholic upbringing – his father was a lawyer, his mother a schoolteacher.[1] He began studying philosophy in Milan but then decided to enter film school, first at the Dramatic Art Academy of Milan, then theCentro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome,[2] and later at theSlade School of Fine Art in London.[3] His first film,Fists in the Pocket (I pugni in tasca, winner of the Silver Sail at the 1965Festival del film Locarno), was funded by family members and shot on family property in 1965.
Bellocchio's films includeChina Is Near (1967),Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina (Slap the Monster on Page One) (1972),Nel Nome del Padre (In the name of the Father – a satire on a Catholic boarding school that shares affinities withLindsay Anderson'sIf....) (1972),Victory March (1976),A Leap in the Dark (1980),Henry IV (1984),Devil in the Flesh (1986), andMy Mother's Smile (2002), which told the story of a wealthy Italian artist, a 'default-Marxist and atheist', who suddenly discovers that theVatican is proposing to make his detested mother a saint.
In 1991, he won theSilver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the41st Berlin International Film Festival for his filmThe Conviction.[4]
In 1995, he directed a documentary about theRed Brigades and the kidnapping and murder ofAldo Moro, titledBroken Dreams. In 2003, he directed a feature film on the same theme,Good Morning, Night. In 2006, his filmThe Wedding Director was screened in theUn Certain Regard section at the2006 Cannes Film Festival.[5] In 1999, he was awarded with an Honorable Prize for the contribution to cinema at the21st Moscow International Film Festival.[6]
In 2009, he directedVincere, which was in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. He finishedSorelle Mai, an experimental film that was shot over ten years with the students of six separate workshops playing themselves. He was awarded with theGolden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the68th Venice International Film Festival in September 2011.[7]
His 2012 filmDormant Beauty was selected to compete for theGolden Lion at the69th Venice International Film Festival.[8] On 6 September 2012, Bellocchio condemned the Catholic Church's interference in politics after the premiere of his controversial film about a high-profile euthanasia case. The film approaches the topic of euthanasia and the difficulty withlegislation on end of life in Italy, which hasVatican City within its borders. The subject is inspired byEluana Englaro's case. Following the decision of the jury of the Venice Film Festival, which excluded the film from the Golden Lion, Bellocchio has expressed strong criticism against PresidentMichael Mann.[9]
Bellocchio made a big impact on radical Italian cinema in the mid-1960s, and was a friend ofPasolini. In 1968, he joined theUnion of Italian Communists (Marxist-Leninist), aMaoist group, and began to make politically militant cinema. However, in a 2002 interview, he talked about divided state of the Italian left, politics' lacking from the aim of radical change, and how such a radical change not being appealing for him anymore:[10]
"I can talk about my personal ideas butMarxism has little to do with it now. Today politics means administration, either a good or a bad administration, and nobody is talking any more in terms of changing things. The left in Italy is now very divided, as if it doesn't have the strength to form an opposition. No party is now proposing a radical change of anything, and radical change is no longer very interesting to me as an artist."
In another interview conducted inLondon Film Festival of 2006, he insisted still being a leftist, but argued for a need to reinvent the term:[11]
In Italy politics is pretty mediocre and depressing. It is not the same situation as in the 60s when you had the idea to change the society through politics that doesn't exist anymore. It is not necessarily to make Italy into socialist republic but in any case to change a few things radically. Because in Italy like the rest of Europe politics now is more based on running a public administration and so there is not a big difference between left and right. [...] I am still on the left but socialism and the left should be reinvented. It is difficult. Basically old values are invalid anymore and we have to find new ones."
He was candidate forItalian Parliament in 2006, withRose in the Fist list, a political cartel made bysocialists andItalian Radicals (aliberal,social liberal andlibertarian party).
Bellocchio is an atheist.[12] He is the third son in his family along with his twin brother Camillo, who committed suicide in 1969 leaving an lasting impact on Bellocchio's life. He has three children including a son Pier Giorgio Bellocchio with actress Gisella Burinato and a daughter Elena with his current partner Francesca Calvelli who is also the editor for his films.
| Year | English title | Original title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Fists in the Pocket | I pugni in tasca | |
| 1967 | China Is Near | La Cina è vicina | |
| 1972 | Slap the Monster on Page One | Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina | |
| 1976 | Victory March | Marcia trionfale | |
| 1977 | The Seagull | Il gabbiano | |
| 1980 | A Leap in the Dark | Salto nel vuoto | |
| 1982 | The Eyes, the Mouth | Gli occhi, la bocca | |
| 1984 | Henry IV | Enrico IV | |
| 1986 | Devil in the Flesh | Il diavolo in corpo | |
| 1988 | The Witches' Sabbath | La visione del sabba | |
| 1991 | The Conviction | La condanna | Silver Bear Special Jury Prize |
| 1994 | The Butterfly's Dream | Il sogno della farfalla | |
| 1996 | The Prince of Homburg | Il principe di Homburg | |
| 1999 | The Nanny | La balia | |
| 2002 | My Mother's Smile | L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre) | |
| 2003 | Good Morning, Night | Buongiorno, notte | |
| 2006 | The Wedding Director | Il regista di matrimoni | |
| 2009 | Vincere | ||
| 2012 | Dormant Beauty | Bella addormentata | |
| 2015 | Blood of My Blood | Sangue del mio sangue | |
| 2016 | Sweet Dreams | Fai bei sogni | |
| 2019 | The Traitor | Il traditore | |
| 2022 | Exterior Night | Esterno notte | Originally a miniseries |
| 2023 | Kidnapped | Rapito | |
| Year | English title | Original title | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Il popolo calabrese ha rialzato la testa | Co-directed with | |
| Viva il 1º maggio rosso proletario | |||
| 1975 | Fit to Be Untied | Matti da slegare | co-directed withSilvano Agosti,Sandro Petraglia,Stefano Rulli |
| 1979 | The Cinema Machine | La macchina cinema | |
| 1980 | Vacation in Val Trebbia | Vacanze in Val Trebbia | |
| 2002 | Farewell to the Past | Addio del passato | |
| La primavera del 2002 - L'Italia protesta, l'Italia si ferma | |||
| Appunti per un film su Zio Vanja | |||
| 2021 | Marx Can Wait | Marx può aspettare | |
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