Honorary Award non-recipient Marlene Dietrich. Honorary Award: Academy ‘snubbed’ Gloria Swanson & Rita Hayworth + Marlene Dietrich & dozens of other women (See previous post: “Honorary Oscars: Doris Day &…
Senso with Alida Valli and Farley Granger. Critical consensus regards Luchino Visconti’s Senso as a radical departure, a sign of the director’s shift in focus from the gritty world of downtrodden…
Marcello Mastroianni, Renato Salvatori, Vittorio Gassman in Mauro Monicelli’s Big Deal on Madonna Street. Mario Monicelli, the (co)writer-director of Italian cinema classics such as I soliti ignoti / Big Deal on…
Suso Cecchi D’Amico, the only top female screenwriter in the post-World War II Italian cinema, died today in Rome. She had turned 96 on July 14. According to reports, no…
Anna Magnani in Bellissima. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (website) began a mini Anna Magnani retrospective, Mamma Roma: The Films of Anna Magnani, on Friday, Nov. 3. Twelve…
White Nights movie (1957) review: Luchino Visconti gives romantic Dostoevsky tale the un-Hollywood treatment. Marcello Mastroianni + Maria Schell + Jean Marais star.
Silvio Berlusconi attack: The Caiman with Silvio Orlando. The Caiman / Il Caimano, described by the Roman daily La Repubblica as a “dark portrait of Berlusconian Italy,” won four of the…
Francesco Rosi political drama Salvatore Giuliano. This year’s Berlin Film Festival will present the Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement to the unabashedly political Italian filmmaker Francesco Rosi, 85, on Feb.…
Nastri d’Argento: Gianni Amelio’s father-son drama The Keys to the House topped two categories: Best Director (the top prize; there’s no Best Film) and Best Cinematography (Luca Bigazzi, also for…