| Cinema of Italy | |
|---|---|
 A collage of notable Italian actors and filmmakers[a] | |
| No. ofscreens | 3,217 (2013)[1] |
| • Per capita | 5.9 per 100,000 (2013)[1] |
| Main distributors | Medusa Film (16.7%) Warner Bros. (13.8%) 20th Century Studios (13.7%)[2] |
| Produced feature films (2018)[3] | |
| Total | 273 |
| Fictional | 180 |
| Documentary | 93 |
| Number of admissions (2018)[3] | |
| Total | 85,900,000 |
| • Per capita | 1.50 (2012)[4] |
| National films | 19,900,000 (23.17%) |
| Gross box office (2018)[3] | |
| Total | €555 million |
| National films | €128 million (23.03%) |
Thecinema of Italy (Italian:cinema italiano,pronounced[ˈtʃiːnemaitaˈljaːno]) comprises the films made within Italy or byItalian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces ofart cinema and the stylistic aspect of film has been one of the most important factors in the history of Italian film.[5][6] As of 2018, Italian films have won 14Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film (the most of any country) as well as 12Palmes d'Or (the second-most of any country), oneAcademy Award for Best Picture and manyGolden Lions andGolden Bears.
The history of Italian cinema began a few months after theLumière brothers began motion picture exhibitions.[7][8] The first Italian director is considered to beVittorio Calcina, a collaborator of the Lumière Brothers, who filmedPope Leo XIII in 1896. The first films date back to 1896 and were made in the main cities of theItalian peninsula.[7][8] These brief experiments immediately met the curiosity of the popular class, encouraging operators to produce new films until they laid the foundations for the birth of a true film industry.[7][8] In the early years of the 20th century,silent cinema developed, bringing numerous Italian stars to the forefront until the end ofWorld War I.[9] In the early 1900s, artistic andepic films such asOtello (1906),The Last Days of Pompeii (1908),L'Inferno (1911),Quo Vadis (1913), andCabiria (1914), were made as adaptations of books or stage plays. Italian filmmakers were using complex set designs, lavish costumes, and record budgets, to produce pioneering films.
The oldest Europeanavant-garde cinema movement,Italian futurism, took place in the late 1910s.[10] After a period of decline in the 1920s, the Italian film industry was revitalized in the 1930s with the arrival ofsound film. A popular Italian genre during this period, theTelefoni Bianchi, consisted of comedies with glamorous backgrounds.Calligrafismo was instead in sharp contrast to Telefoni Bianchi-American style comedies and is ratherartistic, highlyformalistic,expressive in complexity and deals mainly with contemporary literary material. While Italy'sFascist government provided financial support for the nation's film industry, notably the construction of theCinecittà studios (the largest film studio in Europe), it also engaged in censorship, and thus many Italian films produced in the late 1930swere propaganda films. A new era took place at the end ofWorld War II with the birth of the influentialItalian neorealist movement, reaching a vast consensus of audiences and critics throughout the post-war period,[11] and which launched the directorial careers ofLuchino Visconti,Roberto Rossellini, andVittorio De Sica. Neorealism declined in the late 1950s in favour of lighter films, such as those of theCommedia all'italiana genre and important directors likeFederico Fellini andMichelangelo Antonioni. Actresses such asSophia Loren,Giulietta Masina andGina Lollobrigida achieved international stardom during this period.[12]
From the mid-1950s to the end of the 1970s,Commedia all'italiana and many other genres arose due toauteur cinema, and Italian cinema reached a position of great prestige both nationally and abroad.[13][14] TheSpaghetti Western achieved popularity in the mid-1960s, peaking withSergio Leone'sDollars Trilogy, which featured enigmaticscores by composerEnnio Morricone, which have become popular culture icons of theWestern genre. Erotic Italian thrillers, orgiallo, produced by directors such asMario Bava andDario Argento in the 1970s, influenced the horror genre worldwide. Since the 1980s, due to multiple factors, Italian production has gone through a crisis that has not prevented the production of quality films in the 1990s and into the new millennium, thanks to a revival of Italian cinema, awarded and appreciated all over the world.[15][16][17] During the 1980s and 1990s, directors such asErmanno Olmi,Bernardo Bertolucci,Giuseppe Tornatore,Gabriele Salvatores andRoberto Benigni brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema,[12] while the most popular directors of the 2000s and 2010s wereMatteo Garrone,Paolo Sorrentino,Marco Bellocchio,Nanni Moretti andMarco Tullio Giordana.[18]
The country is also famed for its prestigiousVenice Film Festival, the oldest film festival in the world, held annually since 1932 and awarding theGolden Lion;[19] In2008 the Venice Days ("Giornate degli Autori"), a section held in parallel to the Venice Film Festival, has produced in collaboration with Cinecittà studios and theMinistry of Cultural Heritage a list of a 100 films that have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978: the "100 Italian films to be saved".
TheDavid di Donatello Awards are one of the most prestigious awards at national level.[20] Presented by theAccademia del Cinema Italiano in the Cinecittà studios, during the awards ceremony, the winners are given a miniature reproduction of the famousstatue. The finalist candidates for the award, as per tradition, are first received at theQuirinal Palace by thePresident of Italy. The event is the Italian equivalent of the AmericanAcademy Awards.
The history of Italian cinema began a few months after the FrenchLumière brothers, who made the firstpublic screening of a film on 28 December 1895, an event considered the birth of cinema, began motion picture exhibitions.[7][8] The first Italian director is considered to beVittorio Calcina, a collaborator of the Lumière Brothers, who filmedPope Leo XIII on 26 February 1896 in the short filmSua Santità papa Leone XIII ("His Holiness Pope Leo XIII").[21] He then became the official photographer of theHouse of Savoy,[22] theItalian ruling dynasty from 1861 to 1946. In this role he filmed the first Italian film,Sua Maestà il Re Umberto e Sua Maestà la Regina Margherita a passeggio per il parco a Monza ("His Majesty theKing Umberto and Her Majesty theQueen Margherita strolling through theMonza Park"), believed to have been lost until it was rediscovered by theCineteca Nazionale in 1979.[23]
The Lumière brothers commenced public screenings in Italy in 1896 starting in March, inRome andMilan; in April inNaples,Salerno andBari; in June inLivorno; in August inBergamo,Bologna andRavenna; in October inAncona;[24] and in December inTurin,Pescara andReggio Calabria.[25] Not long before, in 1895,Filoteo Alberini patented his "kinetograph", a shooting and projecting device not unlike that of the Lumières brothers.[12][26]
Italian Lumière trainees produced short films documenting everyday life and comic strips in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Before long, other pioneers made their way.Italo Pacchioni,Arturo Ambrosio,Giovanni Vitrotti andRoberto Omegna were also active. The success of the short films was immediate. The cinema fascinated with its ability to show distant geographic realities with unprecedented precision and, vice versa, to immortalize everyday moments. Sporting events, local events, intense road traffic, the arrival of a train, visits by famous people, but also natural disasters and calamities are filmed.
Titles of the time include,Arrivo del treno alla Stazione di Milano ("Arrival of the train at Milan station") (1896),La battaglia di neve ("The snow battle") (1896),La gabbia dei matti ("The madmen's cage") (1896),Ballo in famiglia ("Family dance") (1896),Il finto storpio al Castello Sforzesco ("The fake cripple at theCastello Sforzesco") (1896) andLa Fiera di Porta Genova ("The fair ofPorta Genova") (1898), all shot byItalo Pacchioni, who was also the inventor of acamera andprojector, inspired by thecinematograph of Lumière brothers, kept at theCineteca Italiana in Milan.[27]
If the interest of the masses were enthusiastic, the technological novelty would likely be snubbed, at least at the beginning, by intellectuals and the press.[28] Despite initial doubt, in just two years, cinema climbs the hierarchy of society, intriguing the wealthier classes. On 28 January 1897, princeVictor Emmanuel and princessElena of Montenegro attended a screening organized by Vittorio Calcina, in a room of thePitti Palace inFlorence.[29] Interested in experimenting with the new medium, they were filmed inS.A.R. il Principe di Napoli e la Principessa Elena visitano il battistero di S. Giovanni a Firenze ("Their real heights the Prince of Naples and Princess Elena visit thebaptistery of Saint John in Florence") and on the day of their wedding inDimostrazione popolare alle LL. AA. i Principi sposi (al Pantheon – Roma) ("Popular demonstration at the their heights the princes spouses (at thePantheon – Rome)").[30][31]
In the early years of the 20th century, the phenomenon of itinerant cinemas developed throughout Italy, providing literacy of the visual medium.[32] This innovative form of spectacle ran out, in a short time, a number of optical attractions such as magic lanterns, cinematographers, stereoscopes, panoramas and dioramas that had fueled the European imagination and favoured the circulation of a common market for images.[33] The nascent Italian cinema, therefore, is still linked to the traditional shows of thecommedia dell'arte or to those typical of circus folklore. Public screenings take place in the streets, in cafes or in variety theatres in the presence of aswindler who has the task of promoting and enriching the story.[34]
Between 1903 and 1909 the itinerant cinema Italian film was quieting, until then considered as a freak phenomenon, took on consistency assuming the characteristics of an authentic industry, led by four major organizations:Titanus (originallyMonopolio Lombardo), the first italianfilm production company[35] and the largest and probably the most famous film house inItaly[36] founded byGustavo Lombardo atNaples in 1904,Cines, based in Rome; and the Turin-based companiesAmbrosio Film andItala Film.[25] Other companies soon followed in Milan, and these early companies quickly attained a respectable production quality and were able to market their products both within Italy and abroad. Early Italian films typically consisted of adaptations of books or stage plays, such asMario Caserini'sOtello (1906) andArturo Ambrosio's 1908The Last Days of Pompeii, an adaptation of thehomonymous novel byEdward Bulwer-Lytton. Also popular during this period were films about historical figures, such as Caserini'sBeatrice Cenci (1909) andUgo Falena'sLucrezia Borgia (1910).
In 1905, Cines inaugurated the genre of thehistorical film, which in this decade gave a great fortune to many Italian filmmakers. One of the first of these films wasLa presa di Roma (1905), lasting 10 minutes, and made byFiloteo Alberini. The operator employs for the first time actors of theatrical origin, exploiting the historical argument in a popular and pedagogical key. The film, assimilating Manzoni's lesson of making historical fiction plausible, reconstructs theCapture of Rome on 20 September 1870.
The discovery of the spectacular potential of the cinematographic medium favoured the development of a cinema with great ambitions, capable of incorporating all the cultural and historical suggestions of the country.[25] Education is an inexhaustible source of ideas, ideas that are easily assimilated not only by a cultured public but also by the masses.[25] Dozens of characters from texts make their appearance on the big screen such asthe Count of Monte Cristo,Giordano Bruno,Judith beheading Holofernes,Francesca da Rimini,Lorenzino de' Medici,Rigoletto,Count Ugolino and others.[25] From an iconographic point of view, the main references are the great Renaissance and neoclassical artists, as well as symbolists and popular illustrations.[37]
In the 1910s, the Italian film industry developed rapidly.[38] In 1912, the year of the greatest expansion, 569 films were produced in Turin, 420 in Rome and 120 in Milan.[39] Popular early Italian actors includedEmilio Ghione,Alberto Collo,Bartolomeo Pagano,Amleto Novelli,Lyda Borelli,Ida Carloni Talli,Lidia Quaranta andMaria Jacobini.[12]
Lost in the Dark,silentdrama film directed byNino Martoglio and produced in 1914, documented life in the slums ofNaples, and is considered a precursor to theItalian neorealism movement of the 1940s and 1950s.[12] The only surviving copy of this film was destroyed byNazi German forces during theWorld War II.[40] This film is based on a 1901play of the same title byRoberto Bracco.
In the three years leading up toWorld War I, as production consolidates, mythological, comedy and drama films are exported all over the world. In the meantime, in the actor's field, the phenomenon of stardom was born which for a few years will experience unstoppable success. With the end of the decade,Rome definitively established itself as the main production center; this will remain, despite the crises that will periodically shake the industry, right up to the present day.
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Thearchetypes of this film genre wereThe Last Days of Pompeii (1908), byArturo Ambrosio andLuigi Maggi andNero (1909), by Maggi himself andArrigo Frusta. This last film was inspired by the work ofPietro Cossa who is iconographically based on the etchings ofBartolomeo Pinelli, neoclassicism and the showNero, or the Destruction of Rome represented by theBarnum circus.[41] Followed byMarin Faliero, Doge of Venice (1909), byGiuseppe De Liguoro,Otello (1909) byYambo andL'Odissea (1911), by Bertolini, Padovan and De Liguoro.
L'Inferno, produced byMilano Films in 1911, even before being an adaptation ofDante's canticle, was a cinematic translation ofGustave Doré's engravings that experiments with the integration of optical effects and stage action, and it was the first Italianfeature film ever made.[42]The Last Days of Pompeii (1913), byEleuterio Rodolfi, used innovative special effects.
Enrico Guazzoni's 1913 filmQuo Vadis was one of the firstblockbusters in thehistory of cinema, using thousands ofextras and a lavish set design.[43] The international success of the film marked the maturation of the genre and allows Guazzoni to make increasingly spectacular films such asAntony and Cleopatra (1913) andJulius Caesar (1914).Giovanni Pastrone's 1914 filmCabiria was an even larger production, requiring two years and a record budget to produce, it was the firstepic film ever made and it is considered the most famous Italiansilent film.[38][44] It was also the first film in history to be shown in theWhite House.[45][46][47] After Guazzoni cameEmilio Ghione,Febo Mari,Carmine Gallone,Giulio Antamoro and many others who contributed to the expansion of the genre.
After the great success ofCabiria, with the changing tastes of the public and the first signs of the industrial crisis, the genre began to show signs of crisis. Pastrone's plan to adapt theBible with thousands of extras remained unfulfilled. Antamoro'sChristus (1916) and Guazzoni'sThe Crusaders (1918) remained notable for their iconographic complexity but offered no substantial novelties. Despite sporadic attempts to reconnect with thegrandeur of the past, the trend of historical blockbusters was interrupted at the beginning of the 1920s.
In the first and second decade of the 20th century came a prolific film production aimed at investigative and mystery content, supported by well-assorted Italian and foreign literature that favours its transposition into film. What would later take on the synthesis of thegiallo, in fact, was produced and distributed at the dawn of Italian cinema. The most prolific production houses in the 1910s wereCines,Ambrosio Film,Itala Film,Aquila Films,Milano Films and many others, while titles such asIl delitto del magistrato (1907),Il cadavere misterioso (1908),Il piccolo Sherlock Holmes (1909),L'abisso (1910) andAlibi atroce (1910), breached the imagination of the first cinema users who demanded a greater offer. The popular consensus is remarkable to the point of encouraging the film industry to invest further production resources since these films are also distributed on the French and Anglo-Saxon markets. Thus directors among the most prolific in this field such asOreste Mentasti,Luigi Maggi,Arrigo Frusta andUbaldo Maria Del Colle, together with many others less known, direct several dozen films where classic narrative elements of the silent proto-giallo (mystery, crime, investigation investigative and final twist) constitute the structural aspects of cinematic representation.
Elvira Notari, the first female director ever in Italy and one of the premieres in the history of world cinema, directedCarmela, la sartina di Montesanto (1916). While inPalermo,Lucarelli Film producedLa cassaforte n. 8 (1914) andIpnotismo (1914), theAzzurri FilmLa regina della notte (1915), theLumen FilmIl romanzo fantastico del Dr. Mercanton o il giustiziere invisibile (1915) andProfumo mortale (1915), all films ascribable to the proto-giallo that multiplied in the following decades, becoming preparatory to the subsequent birth of thegiallo.
Between 1913 and 1920 there was the rise, development and decline of the phenomenon of cinematographic stardom, born with the release ofMa l'amor mio non muore (1913), byMario Caserini. The film had great success with the public and encoded the setting and aesthetics of female stardom. Within just a few years,Eleonora Duse,Pina Menichelli,Rina De Liguoro,Leda Gys,Hesperia,Vittoria Lepanto,Mary Cleo Tarlarini andItalia Almirante Manzini established themselves.
Films such asFior di male (1914), byCarmine Gallone,Il fuoco (1915), byGiovanni Pastrone,Rapsodia satanica (1917), byNino Oxilia andCenere (1917), byFebo Mari, changed the national costume, imposing canons of beauty, role models and objects of desire.[48] These models, strongly stylized according to the cultural and artistic trends of the time, moved away from naturalism in favor of melodramatic acting, pictorial gesture and theatrical pose; all favored by the incessant use ofclose-up which focuses the attention on the expressiveness of the actress.[49]
The most successful comedian in Italy wasAndré Deed, better known in Italy asCretinetti, star of comic short film forItala Film. Its success paved the way forMarcel Fabre (Robinet),Ernesto Vaser (Fricot) and many others. The only actor of a certain substance, however, wasFerdinand Guillaume, who became famous with the stage name ofPolidor.[50]
The historical interest of these films lay in their ability to reveal the aspirations and fears of a petty-bourgeois society torn between the desire for affirmation and the uncertainties of the present. It was significant that the protagonists of Italian comedians never place themselves in open contrast with society or embody the desire for social revenge (as happens for example withCharlie Chaplin), but rather tried to integrate into a strongly desired world.[51]
Italian futurist cinema was the oldest movement of Europeanavant-garde cinema.[10] Italianfuturism, anartistic andsocial movement, impacted the Italian film industry from 1916 to 1919.[52] It influencedRussian Futurist cinema[53] andGerman Expressionist cinema.[54] Its cultural importance was considerable and influenced all subsequent avant-gardes, as well as some authors of narrative cinema; its echo expands to the dreamlike visions of some films byAlfred Hitchcock.[55]
Futurism emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane, and the industrial city. Its key figures were the ItaliansFilippo Tommaso Marinetti,Umberto Boccioni,Carlo Carrà,Fortunato Depero,Gino Severini,Giacomo Balla, andLuigi Russolo. It glorified modernity and aimed to liberate Italy from the weight of its past.[56]
The 1916 Manifesto of Futuristic Cinematography was signed by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Armando Ginna, Bruno Corra, Giacomo Balla and others. To the Futurists, cinema was an ideal art form, being a fresh medium, and able to be manipulated by speed, special effects and editing. Most of the futuristic-themed films of this period have been lost, but critics citeThaïs (1917) byAnton Giulio Bragaglia as one of the most influential, serving as the main inspiration forGerman Expressionist cinema in the following decade.
The Italian film industry struggled against rising foreign competition in the years followingWorld War I.[12] Several major studios, among them Cines and Ambrosio, formed the Unione Cinematografica Italiana to coordinate a national strategy for film production. This effort was largely unsuccessful, however, due to a wide disconnect between production and exhibition (some movies weren't released until several years after they were produced).[57]
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With the end of World War I, Italian cinema went through a period of crisis due to many factors such as production disorganization, increased costs, technological backwardness, loss of foreign markets and inability to cope with international competition, in particular with that of Hollywood.[58] The main causes included the lack of a generational change with a production still dominated by filmmakers and producers of literary training, unable to face the challenges of modernity. The first half of the 1920s marked a sharp decrease in production; from 350 films produced in 1921 to 60 in 1924.[59]
Literature and theatre are still the preferred narrative sources. Thefeuilletons resist, mostly taken from classical or popular texts and directed by specialists such asRoberto Roberti and the religious blockbusters ofGiulio Antamoro. On the basis of the latest generation of divas, a sentimental cinema for women spread, centred on figures on the margins of society who, instead of struggling to emancipate themselves (as happens in contemporary Hollywood cinema), go through an authentic ordeal in order to preserve their own virtue. Protest and rebellion by the female protagonists are out of the question. It is a strongly conservative cinema, tied to social rules upset by the war and in the process of dissolution throughout Europe. An exemplary case is that ofA Woman's Story (1920) byEugenio Perego, which uses an original narrative construction to propose a 19th-century morality with melodramatic tones.[60]
A particular genre is that of arealist setting, due to the work of the first female director of Italian cinema,Elvira Notari, who directs numerous films influenced by popular theatre and taken from famous dramas, Neapolitan songs, appendix novels or inspired by facts of chronicle.[61] Another film with a realist setting isLost in the Dark (1914) by directorNino Martoglio, considered by critics as a prime example of neorealist cinema.[62]
The revival of Italian cinema took place at the end of the decade with the production of larger-scale films. During this period, a group of intellectuals close to the fortnightlycinematografo led byAlessandro Blasetti launched a program that was as simple as it was ambitious. Aware of the Italian cultural backwardness, they decided to break all ties with the previous tradition through a rediscovery of the peasant world, hitherto practically absent in Italian cinema.Sun (1929) by Alessandro Blasetti shows the evident influence of the Soviet and German avant-gardes in an attempt to renew Italian cinema in accordance with the interests of the fascist regime.Rails (1929) byMario Camerini blends the traditional genre of comedy withkammerspiel and realist film, revealing the director's ability to outline the characters of the middle class.[63] While not comparable to the best results of international cinema of the period, the works of Camerini and Blasetti testify to a generational transition between Italian directors and intellectuals, and above all an emancipation from literary models and an approach to the tastes of the public.
The sound cinema arrived in Italy in 1930, three years after the release ofThe Jazz Singer (1927), and immediately led to a debate on the validity of spoken cinema and its relationship with the theatre. Some directors enthusiastically face the new challenge. The advent of talkies led to stricter censorship by theFascist government.[12]
The first Italiantalking picture wasThe Song of Love (1930) byGennaro Righelli, which was a great success with the public.Alessandro Blasetti also experimented with the use of an optical track for sound in the filmResurrection (1931), shot beforeThe Song of Love but released a few months later.[64] Similar to Righelli's film isWhat Scoundrels Men Are! (1932) byMario Camerini, which has the merit of makingVittorio De Sica debut on the screens. Historical films such as Blasetti's1860 (1934) andCarmine Gallone'sScipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal (1937) were also popular during this period.[12]
With the transition to sound cinema, most of the Italian silent film actors, still linked to theatrical stylization, find themselves disqualified. The era of divas, dandies and strongmen, who barely survived the 1920s, is definitely over. Even if some performers will move on to directing or producing, the arrival of sound favours the generational change and the consequent modernization of the structures.
Italian-born directorFrank Capra received threeAcademy Awards for Best Director for the filmsIt Happened One Night (1934, the first Big Five winner at the Academy Awards),Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) andYou Can't Take It with You (1938).
In 1932, theVenice Film Festival, the world's oldest film festival and one of the "Big Three" film festivals, alongside theCannes Film Festival and theBerlin International Film Festival,[65][66][67][68] was established.
In 1934, the Italian government created the General Directorate for Cinema (Direzione Generale per le Cinematografia), and appointedLuigi Freddi its director. With the approval ofBenito Mussolini, this directorate called for the establishment of a town southeast of Rome devoted exclusively to cinema, dubbed theCinecittà ("Cinema City"), under the slogan "Il cinema è l'arma più forte" ("Cinema is the most powerful weapon").[70] The studios were constructed during theFascist era as part of a plan to revive the Italian film industry, which had reached its low point in 1931.[71][72]
Mussolini himself inaugurated the studios on 21 April 1937.[73] Post-production units and sets were constructed and heavily used initially. Early films such asScipio Africanus (1937) andThe Iron Crown (1941) showcased the technological advancement of the studios. Seven thousand people were involved in the filming of the battle scene fromScipio Africanus, and live elephants were brought in as a part of the re-enactment of theBattle of Zama.[74]
The Cinecittà provided everything necessary for filmmaking: theatres, technical services, and even a cinematography school, theCentro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, for younger apprentices. The Cinecittà studios were Europe's most advanced production facilities and greatly boosted the technical quality of Italian films.[12] Many films are still shot entirely in Cinecittà. Benito Mussolini founded Cinecittà studio also for the production ofFascist propaganda untilWorld War II.[75]
During this period, Mussolini's son,Vittorio, created a national production company and organized the work of noted authors, directors and actors (including even some political opponents), thereby creating an interesting communication network among them, which produced several noted friendships and stimulated cultural interaction.
With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is still the largest film studio inEurope,[69] and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. Filmmakers such asFederico Fellini,Roberto Rossellini,Luchino Visconti,Sergio Leone,Bernardo Bertolucci,Francis Ford Coppola,Martin Scorsese, andMel Gibson have worked at Cinecittà. More than 3,000 movies have been filmed there, of which 90 received anAcademy Award nomination and 47 of these won it.[76]
During the 1930s, light comedies known asTelefoni Bianchi ("white telephones") were predominant in Italian cinema.[12] These films, which featured lavish set designs, promoted conservative values and respect for authority, and thus typically avoided the scrutiny of government censors. Telefoni Bianchi proved to be the testing ground of numerous screenwriters destined to impose themselves in the following decades (includingCesare Zavattini andSergio Amidei), and above all of numerous set designers such asGuido Fiorini,Gino Carlo Sensani andAntonio Valente, who, by virtue, successful graphic inventions led these productions to become a kind of "summa" of the petty-bourgeois aesthetics of the time.[77][78]
The first film of the genre Telefoni Bianchi wasThe Private Secretary (1931), byGoffredo Alessandrini.[79] Among the authors,Mario Camerini is the most representative director of the genre. After having practiced the most diverse trends in the 1930s, he happily moved into the territory of sentimental comedy withWhat Scoundrels Men Are! (1932),Il signor Max (1937) andDepartment Store (1939). In other films, he compares himself with the Hollywood-style comedy on the model ofFrank Capra (Heartbeat, 1939) and the surreal one ofRené Clair (I'll Give a Million, 1936). Camerini is interested in the figure of the typical and popular Italian, so much so that he anticipates some elements of the future Italian comedy.[80] His major interpreter,Vittorio De Sica, will continue his lesson inMaddalena, Zero for Conduct (1940) andTeresa Venerdì (1941), emphasizing above all the direction of the actors and the care for the settings.
Other directors includeMario Mattoli (Schoolgirl Diary, 1941),Jean de Limur (Apparition, 1944) andMax Neufeld (The House of Shame, 1938;A Thousand Lire a Month, 1939). The realist comedies ofMario Bonnard (Before the Postman, 1942;The Peddler and the Lady, 1943) are partially different in character, which partially deviate from the imprint of Telefoni Bianchi.
In thefascist propaganda cinema, at the beginning, the representations of the squads and the first fascist actions were rare.The Old Guard (1934), byAlessandro Blasetti evokes the supposed vitalistic spontaneity of squads with populist tones, but is not appreciated by official critics.[81]Black Shirt (1933), byGiovacchino Forzano, made for the 10th anniversary of theMarch on Rome, celebrated the regime's policies (the reclamation of the Pontine marshes and the construction ofLittoria) alternating narrative sequences with documentary passages.
With political consolidation, the government authority required the film industry to strengthen the regime's identification with the country's history and culture. Hence the intention to reread Italian history in an authoritarian perspective, teleologically reducing every past event to a harbinger of the "fascist revolution", in continuity with the historiographical work ofGioacchino Volpe. After the first attempts in this direction, aimed above all at underlining the alleged link between theRisorgimento andFascism (Villafranca by Forzano, 1933;1860 by Blasetti, 1933), the trend reached its peak just before the war.Cavalry (1936), byGoffredo Alessandrini, evokes the nobility of the Savoy fighters by presenting their deeds as anticipations of squads.Condottieri (1937) byLuis Trenker, tells the story ofGiovanni delle Bande Nere, explicitly establishing a parallel withBenito Mussolini, whileScipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal (1937) byCarmine Gallone (one of the greatest financial efforts of the time), it celebrates theRoman Empire and indirectly theFascist Empire.[82]
Theinvasion of Ethiopia gives Italian directors the opportunity to extend the horizons of the settings.[83]The Great Appeal (1936) byMario Camerini, exalts imperialism by describing the "new land" as an opportunity for work and redemption, contrasting the heroism of young soldiers with bourgeois fearlessness. The anti-pacifist controversy that accompanies colonial enterprises is also evident inLo squadrone bianco (1936) byAugusto Genina, which combines propaganda rhetoric with notable battle sequences shot in theItalian Tripolitania desert. Most of the films celebrating the empire are predominantly documentaries, aimed at disguising the war as a struggle of civilization against barbarism. TheSpanish Civil War is described in the documentariesLos novios de la muerte (1936) byRomolo Marcellini andArriba España, España una, grande, libre! (1939) byGiorgio Ferroni, and is the backdrop for another dozen films, among which the most spectacular isThe Siege of the Alcazar (1940) byAugusto Genina.[82]
Films such asPietro Micca (1938) byAldo Vergano,Ettore Fieramosca (1938), made in the same year byAlessandro Blasetti, andFanfulla da Lodi (1940) byGiulio Antamoro can also be counted as propaganda films (albeit indirect), in which, a pretext for the epic narration of historical events, a clear apology for dedication to the homeland (in some cases even to the point of personal sacrifice) is made in the same vein as colonial films with a contemporary setting.
WithItaly's participation in World War II, the fascist regime further strengthens its control over production and requires a more decisive commitment to propaganda. In addition to the now canonical documentaries, short films and newsreels, there is also an increase in feature films in praise of Italian war enterprises. Among the most representative we findBengasi (1942) by Genina,Gente dell'aria (1943) byEsodo Pratelli,The Three Pilots (1942) byMario Mattoli (based on a screenplay byVittorio Mussolini),Il treno crociato (1943) byCarlo Campogalliani,Harlem (1943) byCarmine Gallone andMen of the Mountain (1943) byAldo Vergano under the supervision of Blasetti.Uomini sul fondo (1941) byFrancesco De Robertis is also notable due to its almost documentary approach.[84]
The most successful film of the period isWe the Living (1942) byGoffredo Alessandrini, made as a single film, but then distributed in two parts due to its excessive length. Referable to the genre of anti-communist drama, this sombre melodrama (set in theSoviet Union) is inspired bythe novel of the same name by the writerAyn Rand which exalts the most radical philosophical individualism. Precisely because of this generic criticism of authoritarianism, the diptych could be interpreted as a mild accusation against the fascist regime.[85]
Among the directors who give their contribution to the war propaganda, there is alsoRoberto Rossellini, author of a trilogy composed ofThe White Ship (1941),A Pilot Returns (1942) andThe Man with a Cross (1943). Anticipating in some ways his works of maturity, the director adopted a modest and immediate style, which does not contrast the effectiveness of the propaganda but neither does it exalt the dominant war rhetoric; it was the same anti-spectacular approach to which he remained faithful throughout his life.[85]
By the end ofWorld War II, the Italian "neorealist" movement had begun to take shape. Neorealist films typically dealt with the working class (in contrast to theTelefoni Bianchi), and were shot on location. Many neorealist films, but not all, used non-professional actors. Though the term "neorealism" was used for the first time to describeLuchino Visconti’s 1943 film,Ossessione, there were several important precursors to the movement, most notably Camerini'sWhat Scoundrels Men Are! (1932), which was the first Italian film shot entirely on location, and Blasetti's 1942 film,Four Steps in the Clouds.[87]
Ossessione angered Fascist officials. Upon viewing the film, Vittorio Mussolini is reported to have shouted, "This is not Italy!" before walking out of the theatre.[88] The film was subsequently banned in the Fascist-controlled parts of Italy. While neorealism exploded after the war and was incredibly influential at the international level, neorealist films made up only a small percentage of Italian films produced during this period, as postwar Italian moviegoers preferred escapist comedies starring actors such asTotò andAlberto Sordi.[87]
Neorealist works such asRoberto Rossellini's trilogyRome, Open City (1945),Paisà (1946), andGermany, Year Zero (1948), with professional actors such asAnna Magnani and a number of non-professional actors, attempted to describe the difficult economic and moral conditions of postwar Italy and the changes in public mentality in everyday life. Visconti'sThe Earth Trembles (1948) was shot on location in a Sicilian fishing village and used local non-professional actors.Giuseppe De Santis, on other hand, used actors such asSilvana Mangano andVittorio Gassman in his 1949 film,Bitter Rice, which is set in thePo Valley during rice-harvesting season.
Poetry and cruelty of life were harmonically combined in the works thatVittorio De Sica wrote and directed together with screenwriterCesare Zavattini: among them,Shoeshine (1946),The Bicycle Thief (1948) andMiracle in Milan (1951). The 1952 filmUmberto D. showed a poor old man with his little dog, who must beg for alms against his dignity in the loneliness of the new society. This work is perhaps De Sica's masterpiece and one of the most important works in Italian cinema.[89] It was not a commercial success[89] and since then it has been shown on Italian television only a few times. Yet it is perhaps the most violent attack, in the apparent quietness of the action, against the rules of the new economy, the new mentality, the new values, and it embodies both a conservative and a progressive view.[89]
AlthoughUmberto D. is considered the end of the neorealist period, later films such asFederico Fellini'sLa Strada (1954) and De Sica's 1960 filmTwo Women (for whichSophia Loren won the Oscar for Best Actress) are grouped with the genre. DirectorPier Paolo Pasolini's first film,Accattone (1961), shows a strong neorealist influence.[87] Italian neorealist cinema influenced filmmakers around the world, and helped inspire other film movements, such as theFrench New Wave and thePolish Film School. The Neorealist period is often simply referred to as "The Golden Age" of Italian cinema by critics, filmmakers, and scholars.
![Bicycle Thieves (1948), by Vittorio De Sica, ranked among the best movies ever made and part of the canon of classic cinema.[90]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLadriDiBicicletteStaiola1948.jpg)
![Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers (1966) is often associated with Italian neorealism.[91]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aBattle-of-Algiers-screenshot.jpg)
Calligrafismo is in sharp contrast toTelefoni Bianchi-American style comedies and is ratherartistic, highlyformalistic,expressive in complexity and deals mainly with contemporary literary material,[92] above all the pieces of Italianrealism from authors likeCorrado Alvaro,Ennio Flaiano,Emilio Cecchi,Francesco Pasinetti,Vitaliano Brancati,Mario Bonfantini andUmberto Barbaro.[93]
The best-known exponent of this genre isMario Soldati, a long-time writer and director destined to establish himself with films of literary ancestry and solid formal structure. His films put at the centre of the story characters endowed with a dramatic and psychological strength foreign to both white-phone cinema and propaganda films, and found in works such asDora Nelson (1939),Piccolo mondo antico (1941),Tragic Night (1942),Malombra (1942) andIn High Places (1943).Luigi Chiarini, already active as a critic, deepens the trend in hisSleeping Beauty (1942),Street of the Five Moons (1942) andThe Innkeeper (1944). The internal conflicts of the characters and the scenographic richness are also recurrent in the first films byAlberto Lattuada (Giacomo the Idealist, 1943) andRenato Castellani (A Pistol Shot, 1942), dominated by a sense of moral and cultural decay that seems to anticipate the end of the war.
Another important example of a calligraphic film is the film version ofThe Betrothed (1941), byMario Camerini (very faithful in the staging ofManzoni's masterpiece), which due to the perceived income, became the most popular feature film between 1941 and 1942.[94]
The pioneer of the Italian cartoon was Francesco Guido, better known asGibba. Immediately after the end ofWorld War II, he produced the first animated medium-length film of Italian cinema entitledL'ultimo sciuscià (1946), which took up themes typical ofneorealism and in the following decade the feature filmsRompicollo and I picchiatelli, in collaboration with Antonio Attanasi.[95] In the 1970s, after many animated documentaries, Gibba himself will return to the feature film with the eroticIl nano e la strega (1973) andIl racconto della giungla (1974). Also interesting are the contributions of the painter and set designerEmanuele Luzzati who, after some valuable short films, made in 1976 one of the masterpieces of Italian animation:Il flauto magico ("The Magic Flute"), based on the homonymous opera byMozart.
In 1949, the designerNino Pagot presentedThe Dynamite Brothers at theVenice Film Festival, one of the first animated feature films of the time, released in theatres in conjunction withLa Rosa di Bagdad (1949), made by the animatorAnton Gino Domeneghini.[95] In the early 1950s, the cartoonistRomano Scarpa created the short filmLa piccola fiammiferaia (1953), which remains, like the two previous films, little more than an isolated case. Apart from these examples, Italian animation in the 1950s and 1960s failed to become a major reality and remains confined to the television sector, due to the various commissions provided by theCarosello container.[96][97]
But it is withBruno Bozzetto that the Italian cartoon reaches an international dimension: his debut feature filmWest and Soda (1965), an irresistible caricature of the Western genre, received acclaim from both audiences and critics.[95] A few years later his second work entitledVIP my Brother Superman was released, distributed in 1968. After many satirical short films (centred on the popular figure of "Signor Rossi") he returned to the feature film with what is considered his most ambitious work,Allegro Non Troppo (1977). Inspired by the well-known DisneyFantasia, it is a mixed media film, in which animated episodes are molded to the notes of many classical music pieces. Another illustrator to underline is the artistPino Zac who in 1971 shot (again with mixed technique)The Nonexistent Knight, based onthe novel of the same name byItalo Calvino.
In the 1990s, Italian animation entered a new phase of production due to the Turin Lanterna Magica studio which in 1996, under the direction ofEnzo D'Alò, created the intriguing Christmas fairy taleHow the Toys Saved Christmas, based on a short story byGianni Rodari. The film was a success and paved the way for other feature films. In fact, in 1998,Lucky and Zorba based on a novel byLuis Sepúlveda was distributed, which attracted the favour of the public, reaching a new apex in the Italian animated cinema.[98]
The director Enzo d'Alò, who separated from the Lanterna Magica studio, produced other films in the following years such asMomo (2001) andOpopomoz (2003). The Turin studio distributed on its behalf the filmsAida of the Trees (2001) andTotò Sapore e la magica storia della pizza (2003), accompanied by a good response at the box office. In 2003, the first entirely Italian animated film in computer graphics was released entitledL'apetta Giulia and Signora Vita, directed by Paolo Modugno.[99] To underline the workLa Storia di Leo (2007) by director Mario Cambi, winner, the following year, at theGiffoni Film Festival.
In 2010, the first Italian animated film in3D technology was made, directed byIginio Straffi, entitledWinx Club 3D: Magical Adventure, based on the homonymous series; in the meantime Enzo D'Alò returns to theatres, presenting hisPinocchio (2012). In 2012, the filmGladiators of Rome, also shot in 3D technology, received credit from the public, followed by the feature filmWinx Club: The Mystery of the Abyss (2014), both again by Iginio Straffi. Finally,The Art of Happiness (2013) byAlessandro Rak, a film made in Naples by 40 authors, including only 10 designers and animators from the Mad Entertainment studio, a true absolute record for an animated film was made.[100]Cinderella the Cat (2017), taken from the textPentamerone byGiambattista Basile, came out of the same studio. The work won twoDavid di Donatello's, one of which was for special effects, becoming the first animated film to be nominated, and win, in this category.
Starting from the mid-1950s, Italian cinema freed itself from neorealism by tackling purely existential topics, films with different styles and points of view, often more introspective than descriptive.[101] Thus we are witnessing a new flowering of filmmakers who contribute in a fundamental way to the development of the art.[101]
Michelangelo Antonioni is the first to establish himself, becoming a reference author for all contemporary cinema.[102] This charge of novelty is recognizable from the beginning as the director's first work,Story of a Love Affair (1950), marks an indelible break with the world of neorealism and the consequent birth of a modern cinema.[102] Antonioni investigated the world of the Italian bourgeoisie with a critical eye, left out of the post-war cinematic lens. In doing so, works of psychological research such asI Vinti (1952),The Lady Without Camelias (1953) andLe Amiche (1955), free adaptation of the short storyTra donne sole byCesare Pavese, came to light. In 1957, he staged the unusual proletarian dramaIl Grido, with which he obtained critical acclaim.
In 1955, theDavid di Donatello was established, withits Best Picture category being awarded for the first time only in 1970. Named afterDonatello'sDavid, a symbolic statue of theItalian Renaissance,[103] are film awards given out each year by theAccademia del Cinema Italiano (The Academy of Italian Cinema).
Federico Fellini is recognized as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time.[105] Fellini won thePalme d'Or forLa Dolce Vita, was nominated for twelveAcademy Awards, and won four in the category ofBest Foreign Language Film, the most for any director in the history of the academy. He received an honorary award for Lifetime Achievement at the 65th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. His other well-known films includeLa Strada (1954),Nights of Cabiria (1957),Juliet of the Spirits (1967),Satyricon (1969),Roma (1972),Amarcord (1973), andFellini's Casanova (1976).
Personal and highlyidiosyncratic visions of society, Fellini's films are a unique combination of memory, dreams, fantasy and desire. The adjectives "Fellinian" and "Felliniesque" are "synonymous with any kind of extravagant, fanciful, even baroque image in the cinema and in art in general".[106]La Dolce Vita contributed the termpaparazzi to the English language, derived from Paparazzo, the photographer friend of journalist Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni).[107]
Contemporary filmmakers such asTim Burton,[108]Terry Gilliam,[109]Emir Kusturica,[110] andDavid Lynch[111] have cited Fellini's influence on their work.
AlthoughUmberto D. is considered the end of the neorealist period, subsequent works turned toward lighter, sweetened and mildly optimistic atmospheres, more coherent with the improving conditions of Italy just before theeconomic boom; this genre became known aspink neorealism.
The precursor of pink neorealism was Renato Castellani, who helped bring realist comedy into vogue withUnder the Sun of Rome (1948) andIt's Forever Springtime (1949), both shot on location and with non-professional actors, and above all with public success and criticism ofTwo Cents Worth of Hope (1952), which laid the foundations for pink neorealism.[112]
Notable films of pink neorealism, which combine popular comedy and realist motifs, arePane, amore e fantasia (1953) byLuigi Comencini andPoveri ma belli (1957) byDino Risi, both works are in perfect harmony with the evolution of the Italian costume.[113] The large influx at the box office from the two films remained almost unchanged in the sequelsBread, Love and Jealousy (1954),Scandal in Sorrento (1955) andPretty But Poor (1957), also directed by Luigi Comencini and Dino Risi.
Similarly, stories of daily life told with gentle irony (without losing sight of the social fabric) can be found in the work of the MilaneseLuciano Emmer, whose filmsSunday in August (1950),Three Girls from Rome (1952) andHigh School (1954), are the best-known examples. Another film of the pink neorealism genre wasSusanna Whipped Cream (1957) bySteno.[114]
This trend allowed some actresses to become real celebrities, such asSophia Loren,Gina Lollobrigida,Silvana Pampanini,Lucia Bosé,Barbara Bouchet,Eleonora Rossi Drago,Silvana Mangano,Virna Lisi,Claudia Cardinale andStefania Sandrelli. Soon pink neorealism was replaced by theCommedia all'italiana, a unique genre that, born on an ideally humouristic line, talked instead very seriously about important social themes.
Commedia all'italiana ("Comedy in the Italian way") is an Italian film genre born in Italy in the 1950s and developed in the following 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started withMario Monicelli'sBig Deal on Madonna Street in 1958[115] and derives its name from the title ofPietro Germi'sDivorce Italian Style, 1961.[116] According to most of the critics,La Terrazza byEttore Scola (1980) is the last work considered part of the Commedia all'italiana.[117][118][119]
Rather than a specific genre, the term indicates a period (approximately from the late 1950s to the early 1970s) in which the Italian film industry was producing many successful comedies, with some common traits like satire of manners, farcical and grotesque overtones, a strong focus on "spicy" social issues of the period (like sexual matters, divorce, contraception,marriage of the clergy, theeconomic rise of the country and its various consequences, thetraditional religious influence of theCatholic Church) and a prevailingmiddle-class setting, often characterized by a substantial background of sadness andsocial criticism that diluted the comic contents.[120]
The genre of Commedia all'italiana differs markedly from the light and disengaged comedy from the so-called "pink neorealism" trend, in vogue until all of the 1950s, since, starting from the lesson ofneorealism, is based on a more frank adherence in writing to reality; therefore, alongside the comic situations and plots typical of traditional comedy, always combines, with irony, a biting and sometimes bitter satire of manners, which reflects the evolution of Italian society in those years.[120]
The success of films belonging to the "Commedia all'italiana" genre is due both to the presence of an entire generation of great actors, who knew how to masterfully embody the vices and virtues, and the attempts at emancipation but also the vulgarities of the Italians of the time, both to the careful work of directors, storytellers and screenwriters, who invented a real genre, with essentially new connotations, managing to find precious material for their cinematographic creations in the folds of a rapid evolution with many contradictions.[120]
Among the actors the main representatives areAlberto Sordi,Ugo Tognazzi,Vittorio Gassman,Marcello Mastroianni andNino Manfredi,[121] while among the actresses isMonica Vitti.[122] Among directors and films, in 1961Dino Risi directedUna vita difficile (A Difficult Life), thenIl Sorpasso (The Easy Life), now a cult-movie, followed by:I Mostri (The Monsters, also known as15 From Rome),In nome del popolo italiano (In the Name of the Italian People) andProfumo di donna (Scent of a Woman). Monicelli's works includeLa grande guerra (The Great War),I compagni (The Organizer),L'armata Brancaleone,Vogliamo i colonnelli (We Want the Colonels),Romanzo popolare (Come Home and Meet My Wife) and theAmici miei (My Friends) series.
For the majority of critics the true and proper "Commedia all'italiana" is to be considered definitively waned since the beginning of the 1980s, giving way, at most, to an "Commedia italiana" ("Italian comedy").[123]
At this time, on the more commercial side of production, the phenomenon ofTotò, a Neapolitan actor who is acclaimed as the major Italian comic, exploded. His films (often withAldo Fabrizi,Peppino De Filippo and almost always withMario Castellani) expressed a sort of neorealistic satire, in the means of aguitto (a "hammy" actor) as well as with the art of the great dramatic actor he also was.[124] Totò is one of the symbols of thecinema of Naples.[125]
A "film-machine" who produced dozens of titles per year, his repertoire was frequently repeated. His personal story (a prince born in the poorestrione (section of the city) ofNaples), his unique twisted face, his special mimic expressions and his gestures created an inimitable personage and made him one of the most beloved Italians of the 1960s.
Some of his best-known films areFear and Sand byMario Mattoli,Toto Tours Italy by Mario Mattoli,Toto the Sheik by Mario Mattoli,Cops and Robbers byMario Monicelli,Toto and the Women by Mario Monicelli,Totò Tarzan by Mario Mattoli,Toto the Third Man by Mario Mattoli,Toto and the King of Rome by Mario Monicelli andSteno,Toto in Color by Steno (one of the first Italian colour movies, 1952, inFerrania colour),Big Deal on Madonna Street by Mario Monicelli,Toto, Peppino, and the Hussy byCamillo Mastrocinque andThe Law Is the Law byChristian-Jaque.Pier Paolo Pasolini'sThe Hawks and the Sparrows and the episode "Che cosa sono le nuvole" fromCaprice Italian Style (the latter released after his death), showed his dramatic skills.[124]
A series of black-and-white films based onDon Camillo and Peppone characters created by the Italian writer and journalistGiovannino Guareschi were made between 1952 and 1965. These were French-Italian coproductions, and starredFernandel as the Italian priest Don Camillo andGino Cervi as Giuseppe 'Peppone' Bottazzi, the Communist Mayor of their rural town. The titles are:The Little World of Don Camillo (1952),The Return of Don Camillo (1953),Don Camillo's Last Round (1955),Don Camillo: Monsignor (1961), andDon Camillo in Moscow (1965).
The movies were a huge commercial success in their native countries. In 1952,Little World of Don Camillo became the highest-grossing film in both Italy and France,[126] whileThe Return of Don Camillo was the second most popular film of 1953 at the Italian and French box office.[127]
Mario Camerini began filming the filmDon Camillo e i giovani d'oggi, but had to stop filming due to Fernandel's falling ill, which resulted in his untimely death. The film was then realized in 1972 withGastone Moschin playing the role of Don Camillo andLionel Stander as Peppone.
A new Don Camillo film, titledThe World of Don Camillo, was also remade in 1983, an Italian production withTerence Hill directing and also starring as Don Camillo.Colin Blakely performed Peppone in one of his last film roles.
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Hollywood on the Tiber is a phrase used to describe the period in the 1950s and 1960s when the Italian capital ofRome emerged as a major location for internationalfilmmaking attracting many foreign productions to theCinecittà studios, the largest film studio inEurope.[69] By contrast to the native Italian film industry, these movies were made inEnglish for global release. Although the primary markets for such films were American and British audiences, they enjoyed widespread popularity in other countries, including Italy.
In the late 1940s,Hollywood studios began to shift production abroad to Europe. Italy was, along with Britain, one of the major destinations for American film companies. Large-budget films shot at Cinecittà during the "Hollywood on the Tiber" era such asQuo Vadis (1951),Roman Holiday (1953),Ben-Hur (1959), andCleopatra (1963) were made in English with international casts and sometimes, but not always, Italian settings or themes.
The heyday of what was dubbed '"Hollywood on the Tiber" was between 1950 and 1970, during which time many of the most famous names in world cinema made films in Italy. The phrase "Hollywood on Tiber", a reference to theriver that runs through Rome, was coined in 1950 byTime magazine during the making ofQuo Vadis.[128]
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Sword-and-sandal, also known aspeplum (pepla plural), is asubgenre of largelyItalian-made historical, mythological, or Biblical epics mostly set in theGreco-Roman antiquity or theMiddle Ages. These films attempted to emulate the big-budget Hollywood historical epics of the time.[129]
With the release of 1958'sHercules, starring American bodybuilderSteve Reeves, the Italian film industry gained entree to the American film market. These films were low-budget costume/adventure dramas, and had immediate appeal with both European and American audiences. Besides the many films starring a variety of muscle men as Hercules, heroes such asSamson and Italian fictional heroMaciste were common.
Sometimes dismissed as low-quality escapist fare, the sword-and-sandal allowed newer directors such asSergio Leone andMario Bava a means of breaking into the film industry. Some, such as Mario Bava'sHercules in the Haunted World (Italian: Ercole Al Centro Della Terra) are considered seminal works in their own right.
As the genre matured, budgets sometimes increased, as evidenced in 1962'sI sette gladiatori (The Seven Gladiators in 1964 US release), a wide-screen epic with impressive sets and matte-painting work. Most sword-and-sandal films were in colour, whereas previous Italian efforts had often been black and white.
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Musicarello (pl. musicarelli) is a film subgenre which emerged in Italy and which is characterised by the presence in main roles of young singers, already famous among their peers, and their new record album. The genre began in the late 1950s, and had its peak of production in the 1960s.[130]
The film which started the genre is considered to beI ragazzi del Juke-Box byLucio Fulci (1959).[131] The musicarelli were inspired by two American musicals, in particularJailhouse Rock byRichard Thorpe (1957) and earlierLove Me Tender byRobert D. Webb (1956), both starringElvis Presley.[132][133][134]
At the heart of the musicarello is a hit song, or a song that the producers hoped would become a hit, that usually shares its title with the film itself and sometimes has lyrics depicting a part of the plot.[135] In the films there are almost always tender and chaste love stories accompanied by the desire to have fun and dance without thoughts.[136] Musicarelli reflect the desire and need for emancipation of youngItalians, highlighting some generational frictions.[132]
With the arrival of the1968 student protests the genre started to decline, because the generational revolt became explicitly political and at the same time there was no longer music equally directed to the whole youth audience.[137] For some time the duoAl Bano and Romina Power continued to enjoy success in musicarello films, but their films (like their songs) were a return to the traditional melody and to the musical films of the previous decades.[137]
On the heels of thesword-and-sandal craze, a related genre, theSpaghetti Western arose and was popular both in Italy and elsewhere. These films differed from traditionalwesterns by being filmed in Europe on limited budgets, but featured vivid cinematography. The term was used by foreign critics because most of these westerns were produced and directed by Italians.[140]
The most popular Spaghetti Westerns were those ofSergio Leone, credited as the inventor of the genre,[141][142] whoseDollars Trilogy (1964'sA Fistful of Dollars, an unauthorized remake of the Japanese filmYojimbo byAkira Kurosawa; 1965'sFor a Few Dollars More, an original sequel; and 1966'sThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a World-famous prequel), featuringClint Eastwood as a character marketed as "theMan with No Name" and notorious scores byEnnio Morricone, came to define the genre along withOnce Upon a Time in the West (1968).
Another popular Spaghetti Western film isSergio CorbucciDjango (1966), starringFranco Nero asthe titular character, anotherYojimbo plagiarism, produced to capitalize on the success ofA Fistful of Dollars. The originalDjango was followed by both an authorized sequel (1987'sDjango Strikes Again) and an overwhelming number of unauthorized uses of the same character in other films.
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Also considered Spaghetti Westerns is a film genre which combined traditional western ambience with aCommedia all'italiana-type comedy; films includingThey Call Me Trinity (1970) andTrinity Is Still My Name (1971), both byEnzo Barboni, which featuredBud Spencer and Terence Hill, the stage names ofCarlo Pedersoli andMario Girotti.
Terence Hill and Bud Spencer made numerous films together.[143] Most of their early films were Spaghetti Westerns, beginning withGod Forgives... I Don't! (1967), the first part of a trilogy, followed byAce High (1968) andBoot Hill (1969), but they also starred in comedies such as... All the Way, Boys! (1972) andWatch Out, We're Mad! (1974).
The next films shot by the couple of actors, almost all comedies, wereTwo Missionaries (1974),Crime Busters (1977),Odds and Evens (1978),I'm for the Hippopotamus (1979),Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure (1981),Go for It (1983),Double Trouble (1984),Miami Supercops (1985) andTroublemakers (1994).
During the 1960s and 1970s, Italian filmmakersMario Bava,Riccardo Freda,Antonio Margheriti andDario Argento developedgiallo (pluralgialli, fromgiallo, Italian for "yellow") horror films that become classics and influenced the genre in other countries. Representative films include:The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963),Castle of Blood (1964),The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970),Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971),Deep Red (1975) andSuspiria (1977).
Giallo is a genre ofmystery fiction andthrillers and often containsslasher,crime fiction,psychological thriller,psychological horror,sexploitation, and, less frequently,supernatural horror elements.[148]Giallo developed in the mid-to-late 1960s, peaked in popularity during the 1970s, and subsequently declined in commercial mainstream filmmaking over the next few decades, though examples continue to be produced. It was a predecessor to, and had significant influence on, the later Americanslasher film genre.[149]
Giallo usually blends the atmosphere and suspense ofthriller fiction with elements ofhorror fiction (such as slasher violence) anderoticism (similar to the Frenchfantastique genre), and often involves a mysterious killer whose identity is not revealed until the final act of the film. Most critics agree that thegiallo represents a distinct category with unique features,[150] but there is some disagreement on what exactly defines agiallo film.[151]
Giallo films are generally characterized as gruesome murder-mystery thrillers that combine the suspense elements ofdetective fiction with scenes of shockinghorror, featuring excessive bloodletting, stylish camerawork and often jarring musical arrangements. Thearchetypalgiallo plot involves a mysterious, black-gloved psychopathic killer who stalks and butchers a series of beautiful women.[153] While mostgialli involve a human killer, some also feature asupernatural element.[154]
The typicalgialloprotagonist is an outsider of some type, often a traveller,tourist, outcast, or even an alienated or disgracedprivate investigator, and frequently a young woman, often a young woman who is lonely or alone in a strange or foreign situation or environment (gialli rarely or less frequently featurelaw enforcement officers as chief protagonists).[154][155]
The protagonists are generally or often unconnected to the murders before they begin and are drawn to help find the killer through their role aswitnesses to one of the murders.[154] The mystery is the identity of the killer, who is often revealed in theclimax to be another key character, who conceals his or her identity with adisguise (usually some combination of hat, mask, sunglasses, gloves, and trench coat).[156] Thus, the literarywhodunit element of thegiallo novels is retained, while being filtered through horror genre elements and Italy's long-standing tradition ofopera and stagedgrand guignol drama. The structure ofgiallo films is also sometimes reminiscent of the so-called "weird menace" pulp magazine horror mystery genre alongsideEdgar Allan Poe andAgatha Christie.[157]
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Poliziotteschi (plural of poliziottesco) films constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known aspolizieschi all'italiana, Euro-crime, Italo-crime, spaghetti crime films', or simply Italian crime films.
Influenced by both 1970sFrench crime films and gritty 1960s and 1970s Americancop films andvigilante films,[158] poliziotteschi films were made amidst an atmosphere ofsocio-political turmoil in Italy and increasing Italian crime rates.
The films generally featured graphic and brutal violence, organized crime,car chases, vigilantism,heists, gunfights, and corruption up to the highest levels. The protagonists were generally tough working-class loners, willing to act outside a corrupt or overly bureaucratic system.[159] Notable international actors who acted in this genre of films includeAlain Delon,Henry Silva,Fred Williamson,Charles Bronson,Tomas Milian and others.
Franco and Ciccio were a comedy duo formed by Italian actorsFranco Franchi (1928–1992) andCiccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Together, they appeared in 116 films, usually as the main characters, and occasionally as supporting characters in films featuring well-known actors such asTotò,Domenico Modugno,Vittorio Gassman,Buster Keaton andVincent Price.[160]
Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theatre field, and ended with Franchi's death in 1992. The two made their cinema debut in 1960 with the filmAppuntamento a Ischia. After, seeing them in this film Modugno, who wanted them with him in his film,[161][162] and remained active until 1984 when they shot their last film together,Kaos, although there were some interruptions in 1973, and from 1975 to 1980.[163]
They acted in films certainly made in a short time and with few means, such as those shot with directorMarcello Ciorciolini, sometimes even making a dozen films in a year, often without a real script and where they often improvised on the set. Also are the 13 films directed byLucio Fulci, who was the architect of the reversal of their typical roles by making Ciccio the serious one, the sidekick, and Franco the comic one.[164]
They also worked with important directors such asPier Paolo Pasolini and theTaviani brothers. At the time, they were considered protagonists ofB movie, they were subsequently reevaluated by critics for their comedy and creative abilities, becoming the subject of study.[165][166] The huge success with the public is evidenced by the box office earnings, which in the 1960s, represented 10% of the annual earnings in Italy.[167]
The auteur cinema of the 1960s continues its path by analyzing distinct themes and problems. A new authorial vision is emancipated from the surreal and existential veins of Fellini and Antonioni which sees cinema as an ideal means of denouncing corruption and malfeasance,[168] both in the political system and in the industrial world. Thus was born the structure of the investigative film which, starting from the neorealist analysis of the facts, added to them a concise critical judgment, with the manifest intent of shaking the consciences of public opinion. This typology deliberately touches upon burning issues, often targeting the established power, with the intent of reconstructing a historical truth that is often hidden or denied.[169]
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The precursor of this way of understanding the director's profession wasFrancesco Rosi.[170] In 1962 he inaugurated the investigation film project retracing, through a series of longflashbacks, the life of the homonym Sicilian criminal in the filmSalvatore Giuliano. The following year he directedRod Steiger inHands over the City (1963), in which he courageously denounced the collusion existing between the various organs of the State and the building exploitation in Naples. The film was awarded theGolden Lion at theVenice Film Festival.
One of Francesco Rosi's most famous films of denunciation isThe Mattei Affair (1972), a rigorous documentary into the mysterious disappearance ofEnrico Mattei, manager ofEni, a large Italian state group. The film won thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival. It became (together with the tightIllustrious Corpses (1976)) a true model for similar denunciation films produced both in Italy and abroad. Famous films of denunciation byElio Petri areThe Working Class Goes to Heaven (1971), a corrosive denunciation of life in the factory (winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes) andInvestigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970). The latter (accompanied by the incisive soundtrack byEnnio Morricone) is a dry psychoanalytic thriller centred on the aberrations of power, analyzed in a pathological key.[171] The film obtained a wide consensus, winning theAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film the following year.
Arguments related to civilian cinema can be found in the work ofDamiano Damiani, who withThe Day of the Owl (1968) enjoyed considerable success. Other feature films include,Confessions of a Police Captain (1971),The Case Is Closed, Forget It (1971),How to Kill a Judge (1974) andI Am Afraid (1977). AlsoPasquale Squitieri for the filmIl prefetto di ferro (1977) andGiuliano Montaldo, who after some experiences as an actor, staged some historical and political films such asThe Fifth Day of Peace (1970),Sacco & Vanzetti (1971) andGiordano Bruno (1973). AlsoNanni Loy for the filmIn Prison Awaiting Trial (1971) starringAlberto Sordi.
In the 1970s the work done by the directorLina Wertmüller was influential, who together with the well-established actorsGiancarlo Giannini andMariangela Melato, gave life to successful films such asThe Seduction of Mimi (1972),Love and Anarchy (1973) andSwept Away (1974). Two years later, withSeven Beauties (1976), she obtained four nominations for theAcademy Awards, making her the first woman ever to receive a nomination for best director.[172]
The last protagonist of the great season of the comedy is the directorEttore Scola. Throughout the 1950s, he played the role of screenwriter, and then makes his directorial debut in 1964 with the filmLet's Talk About Women. In 1974, he directed his best-known film,We All Loved Each Other So Much, which traces 30 years of Italian history through the stories of three friends: the lawyer Gianni Perego (Vittorio Gassman), the porter Antonio (Nino Manfredi) and the intellectual Nicola (Stefano Satta Flores). Other films include,Down and Dirty (1976) starring Nino Manfredi, andA Special Day (1977) starringSophia Loren andMarcello Mastroianni.[173]
Commedia sexy all'italiana is characterized typically by both abundant female nudity and comedy, and by the minimal weight given to social criticism that was the basic ingredient of the maincommedia all'italiana genre.[174] Stories are often set in affluent environments such as wealthy households. It is closely connected to thesexual revolution, which was extremely new and innovative for that period. For the first time, films with female nudity could be watched at the cinema. Pornography and scenes of explicit sex were still forbidden in Italian cinemas, but partial nudity was somewhat tolerated. The genre has been described as a cross betweenbawdy comedy and humorouserotic film with ampleslapstick elements which follow more or less clichéd storylines.
During this time, commedia sexy all'italiana films, described by the film critics of the time as not artistic or "trash films", were very popular in Italy. Today they are widely re-evaluated and have become real cult movies. They also allowed the producers of Italian cinema to have enough revenue to produce successful artistic films. These comedy films were of little artistic value and reached their popularity by confronting Italian social taboos, most notably in the sexual sphere. Actors such asLando Buzzanca,Lino Banfi,Renzo Montagnani,Alvaro Vitali,Gloria Guida,Barbara Bouchet andEdwige Fenech owe much of their popularity to these films.
The films starringUgo Fantozzi, a character invented byPaolo Villaggio for his television sketches and newspaper short stories, also fell within the comic satirical comedy genre.[175] Although Villaggio's movies tend to bridge comedy with a more elevated social satire, this character had a great impact on Italian society, to such a degree that the adjectivefantozziano entered the lexicon.[176] Ugo Fantozzi represents thearchetype of the average Italian of the 1970s, middle-class with a simple lifestyle with the anxieties common to an entire class of workers,[177] being re-evaluated by critics.[178]
Of the many films telling of Fantozzi's misadventures, the most notable and famous wereFantozzi (1975) andIl secondo tragico Fantozzi (1976), both directed byLuciano Salce, but many others were produced. The other films wereFantozzi contro tutti (1980) directed byNeri Parenti,Fantozzi subisce ancora (1983) by Neri Parenti,Superfantozzi (1986) by Neri Parenti,Fantozzi va in pensione (1988) by Neri Parenti,Fantozzi alla riscossa (1990) by Neri Parenti,Fantozzi in paradiso (1993) by Neri Parenti,Fantozzi - Il ritorno (1996) by Neri Parenti andFantozzi 2000 - La clonazione (1999) by Domenico Saverni.
Thesceneggiata (pl. sceneggiate) or sceneggiata napoletana is a form of musical drama typical ofNaples. Beginning as a form of musical theatre afterWorld War I, it was also adapted for cinema; sceneggiata films became especially popular in the 1970s, and contributed to the genre becoming more widely known outside Naples.[179] The most famous actors who played dramas wereMario Merola,Mario Trevi, andNino D'Angelo.[180]
The sceneggiata can be roughly described as a "musical soap opera", where action and dialogue are interspersed withNeapolitan songs. Plots revolve aroundmelodramatic themes drawing from the Neapolitan culture and tradition, including passion, jealousy, betrayal, personal deceit and treachery, honour, vengeance, and life in the world of petty crime. Songs and dialogue were originally inNeapolitan dialect, although, especially in film production,Italian has sometimes been preferred, to reach a larger audience.
Sgarro alla camorra (i.e. "Offence to theCamorra", 1973), written and directed byEttore Maria Fizzarotti and starringMario Merola at his film debut, is regarded as the first sceneggiata film and as a prototype for the genre.[181][182] It was shot inCetara,Province of Salerno.[182] Outside Italy, sceneggiata is mostly known in areas populated byItalian immigrants. Besides Naples, the second homeland of sceneggiata is probablyLittle Italy inNew York City.[183]
The 1980s was a period of decline for Italian filmmaking. In 1985, only 80 films were produced (the least since the postwar period)[187] and the total number of audience decreased from 525 million in 1970 to 123 million.[188] It is a physiological process that invests, in the same period as other countries, with a great cinematographic tradition such as Japan, United Kingdom and France. The era of producers ended;Carlo Ponti andDino De Laurentiis work abroad,Goffredo Lombardo andFranco Cristaldi were no longer key figures. The crisis affects the Italiangenre cinema above all, which, by virtue of the success ofcommercial television, is deprived of the vast majority of its audience.[189] As a result, cinemas began showing mainlyHollywood films, which steadily took over, while many other cinemas closed.
Among the major artistic films of this era wereLa città delle donne,E la nave va,Ginger and Fred byFellini,L'albero degli zoccoli byErmanno Olmi (winner of thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival),La notte di San Lorenzo byPaolo and Vittorio Taviani, Antonioni'sIdentificazione di una donna, andBianca andLa messa è finita byNanni Moretti. Although not entirely Italian,Bernardo Bertolucci'sThe Last Emperor, winner of 9 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, andOnce Upon a Time in America of Sergio Leone came out of this period also.
Non ci resta che piangere, directed by and starring bothRoberto Benigni andMassimo Troisi, is a cult movie in Italy.
Carlo Verdone, actor, screenwriter and film director, is best known for his comedic roles in Italian classics, which he also wrote and directed. His career was jumpstarted by his first three successes,Un sacco bello (1980),Bianco, rosso e Verdone (1981) andBorotalco (1982). Since the 1990s, he has been introducing more serious subjects in his work, linked to the excesses of society and the individual's hardships in confronting it; some examples areMaledetto il giorno che t'ho incontrata (1992),Il mio miglior nemico (2006) andIo, loro e Lara (2010).
Francesco Nuti began his professional career as an actor in the late 1970s, when he formed the cabaret groupGiancattivi together withAlessandro Benvenuti andAthina Cenci. The group took part in the TV showsBlack Out andNon Stop forRAI TV, and shot their first feature film,West of Paperino (1981), written and directed by Benvenuti. The following year Nuti abandoned the trio and began a solo career with three movies directed byMaurizio Ponzi:What a Ghostly Silence There Is Tonight (1982),The Pool Hustlers (1982) andSon contento (1983). Starting in 1985, he began to direct his movies, scoring an immediate success with the filmsCasablanca, Casablanca andAll the Fault of Paradise (1985),Stregati (1987),Caruso Pascoski, Son of a Pole (1988),Willy Signori e vengo da lontano (1990) andWomen in Skirts (1991). The 1990s were however a period of decline for the Tuscan director, with poorly successful movies such asOcchioPinocchio (1994),Mr. Fifteen Balls (1998),Io amo Andrea (2000) andCaruso, Zero for Conduct (2001).
Thecinepanettoni (singular:cinepanettone) are a series offarcicalcomedy films, one or two of which are scheduled for release annually in Italy during the Christmas period. The films were originally produced byAurelio De Laurentiis'Filmauro studio.[190] These films are usually focused on the holidays of stereotypical Italians: bungling, wealthy and presumptuous members of the middle class who visit famous, glamorous or exotic places.
The economic crisis that emerged in the 1980s began to ease over the next decade.[191] Nonetheless, the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons marked an all-time low in the number of films made, in the national market share (15 per cent), in the total number of viewers (under 90 million per year) and in the number of cinemas.[192] The effect of this industrial contraction sanctions the total disappearance of Italiangenre cinema in the middle of the decade, as it was no longer suitable to compete with the contemporary big Hollywoodblockbusters (mainly due to the enormous budget differences available), with its directors and actors who therefore almost entirely switch to television film.
A new generation of directors has helped return Italian cinema to a healthy level since the end of the 1980s. Probably the most noted film of the period isNuovo Cinema Paradiso, for whichGiuseppe Tornatore won a 1989 Oscar (awarded in 1990) for Best Foreign Language Film. This award was followed whenGabriele Salvatores'sMediterraneo won the same prize in 1991.
Il Postino: The Postman (1994), directed by the BritishMichael Radford and starringMassimo Troisi, received five nominations at the Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Troisi, and won forBest Original Score. Another exploit was in 1998 whenRoberto Benigni won three Oscars for his movieLife Is Beautiful (La vita è bella) (Best Actor for Benigni himself, Best Foreign Film, Best Music). The film was also nominated for Best Picture.
Leonardo Pieraccioni made his directorial debut withThe Graduates (1995).[193] In 1996 he directed his breakthrough filmThe Cyclone, which grossedLire 75 billion at the box office.[194][195]
With the new millennium, the Italian film industry regained stability and critical recognition. In 1995, 93 films were produced,[196] while in 2005, 274 films were made.[197] In 2006, the national market share reached 31 per cent.[198] In 2001,Nanni Moretti's filmThe Son's Room (La stanza del figlio) received thePalme d'Or at theCannes Film Festival. Other noteworthy recent Italian films include:Jona che visse nella balena directed byRoberto Faenza,Il grande cocomero byFrancesca Archibugi,The Profession of Arms (Il mestiere delle armi) by Olmi,L'ora di religione byMarco Bellocchio,Il ladro di bambini,Lamerica,The Keys to the House (Le chiavi di casa) byGianni Amelio,I'm Not Scared (Io non-ho paura) byGabriele Salvatores,Le Fate Ignoranti,Facing Windows (La finestra di fronte) byFerzan Özpetek,Good Morning, Night (Buongiorno, notte) byMarco Bellocchio,The Best of Youth (La meglio gioventù) byMarco Tullio Giordana,The Beast in the Heart (La bestia nel cuore) byCristina Comencini.In 2008Paolo Sorrentino'sIl Divo, a biographical film based on the life ofGiulio Andreotti, won the Jury prize andGomorra, acrime drama film, directed byMatteo Garrone won the Gran Prix at theCannes Film Festival.
Paolo Sorrentino'sThe Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) won the2014Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The two highest-grossing Italian films in Italy have both been directed byGennaro Nunziante and starredChecco Zalone:Sole a catinelle (2013) with €51.8 million, andQuo Vado? (2016) with €65.3 million.[200][201]
They Call Me Jeeg, a 2016 critically acclaimed superhero film directed by Gabriele Mainetti and starringClaudio Santamaria, won many awards, such as eightDavid di Donatello, twoNastro d'Argento, and aGlobo d'oro.
Gianfranco Rosi's documentary filmFire at Sea (2016) won theGolden Bear at the66th Berlin International Film Festival.They Call Me Jeeg andFire at Sea were also selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the89th Academy Awards, but they were not nominated.[202]
Other successful 2010s Italian films include:Vincere andThe Traitor byMarco Bellocchio,The First Beautiful Thing (La prima cosa bella),Human Capital (Il capitale umano) andLike Crazy (La pazza gioia) byPaolo Virzì,We Have a Pope (Habemus Papam) andMia Madre byNanni Moretti,Caesar Must Die (Cesare deve morire) byPaolo and Vittorio Taviani,Don't Be Bad (Non essere cattivo) byClaudio Caligari,Romanzo Criminale byMichele Placido (that spawned a TV series,Romanzo criminale - La serie),Youth (La giovinezza) by Paolo Sorrentino,Suburra byStefano Sollima,Perfect Strangers (Perfetti sconosciuti) byPaolo Genovese,Mediterranea andA Ciambra byJonas Carpignano,Italian Race (Veloce come il vento) andThe First King: Birth of an Empire (Il primo re) byMatteo Rovere, andTale of Tales (Il racconto dei racconti),Dogman andPinocchio by Matteo Garrone.
Call Me by Your Name (2017), the final installment inLuca Guadagnino's thematicDesire trilogy, followingI Am Love (2009) andA Bigger Splash (2015), received widespread acclaim andnumerous accolades, including theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the nomination for Best Picture in 2018.
Perfect Strangers byPaolo Genovese was included in theGuinness World Records as it became the most remade film in cinema history, with a total of 18 versions of the film.[199]
Successful 2020s Italian films include:The Life Ahead byEdoardo Ponti,Hidden Away byGiorgio Diritti,Bad Tales byDamiano and Fabio D'Innocenzo,The Predators byPietro Castellitto,Padrenostro byClaudio Noce,Notturno byGianfranco Rosi,The King of Laughter byMario Martone,A Chiara byJonas Carpignano,Freaks Out byGabriele Mainetti,The Hand of God byPaolo Sorrentino,Nostalgia byMario Martone,Dry byPaolo Giordano,The Hanging Sun byFrancesco Carrozzini,Bones and All byLuca Guadagnino,L'immensità byEmanuele Crialese andRobbing Mussolini byRenato De Maria.
The list of the100 Italian films to be saved (Italian:100 film italiani da salvare) was created with the aim to report "100 films that have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978". The project was established in 2008 by theVenice Days festival section of the65th Venice International Film Festival, in collaboration withCinecittà Holding and with the support of theMinistry of Cultural Heritage.
The list was edited by Fabio Ferzetti,[203] film critic of the newspaperIl Messaggero, in collaboration with film directorGianni Amelio and the writers and film criticsGian Piero Brunetta,Giovanni De Luna, Gianluca Farinelli, Giovanna Grignaffini,Paolo Mereghetti,Morando Morandini,Domenico Starnone and Sergio Toffetti.[204][205]
Cineteca Nazionale is afilm archive located inRome. Founded in 1949, here are 80,000 films on file, 600,000 photographs, 50,000 posters and the collection of the Italian Association for the History of Cinema Research (AIRSC).[206] It arose from the archival heritage of theCentro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, which in 1943, had been removed by theNazi occupiers, losing unique materials.[207][208][209]Cineteca Italiana is a privatefilm archive located inMilan. Established in 1947, and as afoundation in 1996, the Cineteca Italiana houses over 20,000 films and more than 100,000 photographs from the history of Italian andinternational cinema.[210]Cineteca di Bologna is afilm archive inBologna. It was founded in 1962.[211]
TheNational Museum of Cinema (Italian:Museo Nazionale del Cinema) located inTurin is a motion picture museum inside theMole Antonelliana tower. It is operated by theMaria Adriana Prolo Foundation, and the core of its collection is the result of the work of the historian and collectorMaria Adriana Prolo. It was housed in thePalazzo Chiablese. In 2008, with 532,196 visitors, it ranked 13th among the most visited Italian museums.[212] The museum houses pre-cinematographic optical devices such asmagic lanterns, earlier and current film technologies, stage items from early Italian movies and other memorabilia. Along the exhibition path of about 35,000 square feet (3,200 m2) on five levels, it is possible to visit some areas devoted to the different kinds offilm crew, and in the main hall, fitted in the temple hall of the Mole (which was a building originally intended as a synagogue), a series of chapels representing severalfilm genres.[213]
TheMuseum of Precinema (Italian:Museo del Precinema) is a museum in the Palazzo Angeli,Prato della Valle,Padua, related to the history of precinema, orprecursors of film. It was created in 1998 to display the Minici Zotti Collection, in collaboration with the Comune ofPadova. It also produces interactive touring exhibitions and makes valuable loans to other prestigious exhibitions such asLanterne magique et film peint at theCinémathèque Française in Paris and theNational Museum of Cinema inTurin.
The Cinema Museum ofRome is located inCinecittà. The collections consist of movie posters and playbills, cine cameras, projectors, magic lanterns, stage costumes and the patent ofFiloteo Alberini's "kinetograph".[214] TheMilan Cinema Museum, managed by theCineteca Italiana, is divided into three sections, the precinema, animation cinema and "Milan as a film set", as well as multimedia and interactive stations.[215]
TheCatania Cinema Museum exhibits documents concerning cinema, its techniques and its history, with particular attention to the link between cinema andSicily.[216] The Cinema Museum ofSyracuse collects more than 10,000 exhibits on display in 12 rooms.[217]
Italy is the most awarded country at theAcademy Awards forBest Foreign Language Film, with 14 wins, 3Special Awards and 31nominations. Winners with the year of the ceremony:
In 1961,Sophia Loren won theAcademy Award for Best Actress for her role as a woman who is raped duringWorld War II, along with her adolescent daughter, inVittorio De Sica'sTwo Women. She was the first actress to win an Academy Award for a performance in any foreign language, and the second Italian leading lady Oscar-winner, afterAnna Magnani forThe Rose Tattoo. In 1998,Roberto Benigni was the first Italian actor to win theBest Actor forLife Is Beautiful.
Italian-born filmmakerFrank Capra won three times at the Academy Award for Best Director, forIt Happened One Night,Mr. Deeds Goes to Town andYou Can't Take It with You.Bernardo Bertolucci won the award forThe Last Emperor, and also Best Adapted Screenplay for the same movie.
Ennio De Concini,Alfredo Giannetti andPietro Germi won the award for Best Original Screenplay forDivorce Italian Style. The Academy Award for Best Film Editing was won byGabriella Cristiani forThe Last Emperor and byPietro Scalia forJFK andBlack Hawk Down.
The award for Best Original Score was won byNino Rota forThe Godfather Part II;Giorgio Moroder forMidnight Express;Nicola Piovani forLife is Beautiful;Dario Marianelli forAtonement; andEnnio Morricone forThe Hateful Eight. Giorgio Moroder also won the award for Best Original Song forFlashdance andTop Gun.
The Italian winners at the Academy Award for Best Production Design areDario Simoni forLawrence of Arabia andDoctor Zhivago;Elio Altramura andGianni Quaranta forA Room with a View;Bruno Cesari,Osvaldo Desideri andFerdinando Scarfiotti forThe Last Emperor;Luciana Arrighi forHowards End; andDante Ferretti andFrancesca Lo Schiavo forThe Aviator,Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street andHugo.
The winners at theAcademy Award for Best Cinematography are:Tony Gaudio forAnthony Adverse;Pasqualino De SantisforRomeo and Juliet;Vittorio Storaro forApocalypse Now,Reds andThe Last Emperor; andMauro Fiore forAvatar.
The winners at the Academy Award for Best Costume Design arePiero Gherardi forLa dolce vita and8½;Vittorio Nino Novarese forCleopatra andCromwell;Danilo Donati forThe Taming of the Shrew,Romeo and Juliet, andFellini's Casanova;Franca Squarciapino forCyrano de Bergerac;Gabriella PescucciforThe Age of Innocence; andMilena Canonero forBarry Lyndon,Chariots of Fire,Marie Antoinette andThe Grand Budapest Hotel.
Special effects artistCarlo Rambaldi won three Oscars: oneSpecial Achievement Academy Award for Best Visual Effects forKing Kong[219] and twoAcademy Awards for Best Visual Effects forAlien[220] (1979) andE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.[221] TheAcademy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling was won byManlio Rocchetti forDriving Miss Daisy, andAlessandro Bertolazzi andGiorgio Gregorini forSuicide Squad.
Sophia Loren, Federico Fellini,Michelangelo Antonioni,Dino De Laurentiis, Ennio Morricone, andPiero Tosi also received theAcademy Honorary Award.
... allo stato attuale delle ricerche, la prima proiezione nelle Marche viene ospitata al Caffè Centrale di Ancona: ottobre 1896[... The present state of research, the first screening will be hosted in the Marches of Ancona at the Café Central: October 1896][ISBN unspecified]
He frequently appeared as part of a double act alongside Terence Hill
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