Italian Alphabet. Tribute to Dino Risi
For the occasion of the restoration of I mostri, in the programme at the 72nd Venice Film Festival and also coming soon at the Cinema Massimo, the National Cinema Museum and the National Film Archive will feature ITALIAN ALPHABET with nine screenings at the Cinema Massimo from 4 to 12 September 2015, offering a tribute to one of the masters of the commedia all’italiana. Admission 6.00/4.00/3.00 euro.
Dino Risi was born in Milan on 23 December in 1916. He began working in the world of cinema by collaborating with directors such as Alberto Lattuada and Mario Soldati, before debuting with the feature-length film Vacanza col gangster (Vacation with a gangster, 1951). His first great success was Pane, amore e... (Scandal in Sorrento, 1955), followed by Poveri, ma belli (Poor but beautiful, 1956) and by titles like Una vita difficile (A difficult life, 1961), Il sorpasso (The easy life, 1962) and I mostri (Opiate '67, 1963) with which he established himself amongst the masters of the commedia all’italiana. Some of his subsequent films are In nome del popolo italiano (In the name of the Italian people, 1971), Profumo di donna (Scent of a woman,1974), I nuovi mostri (Viva l'Italia!, 1977) and La stanza del vescovo (The Bishop's room, 1977) from the eponymous novel written by Piero Chiara and published in 1976.
In 2002 he was awarded the lifetime achievement Venice Golden Lion and two years later he published his autobiography, I miei mostri (My monsters). He died in Rome on 7 June 2008.
The film I mostri photographs Rome in the early Sixties and this is the common historical context acting as a background for the 20 episodes composing the film, and providing as many scenarios from true life.
Its restoration was made possible thanks to the crowdfunding campaign on the MakingOf.it website organised by the National Cinema Museum and the Bologna Film Archive, and was carried out in collaboration with RTI-Mediaset, Lyon Film and Surf Film at L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratory in Bologna.
SCREENINGS PROGRAMME
Fri 4, 4.30 p.m./Sat 5, 8.30 p.m.
Il vedovo (The widower)
(Italy 1959, 100’, 35mm, b/w)
Commendatore Nardi (Alberto Sordi) is an unscrupulous businessman, who always manages to get off scot-free in spite of many failures, thanks to his wife’s fortune. One day she decides not to help him any more and Nardi studies an alternative plan. Written, amongst the others, by Sonego and Fabio Carpi.
Fri 4, 6.30 p.m./Sat 5, 10.30 p.m.
Il mattatore (Love and larceny)
(Italy/France 1959, 104’, 35mm, b/w)
An ex music-hall actor has made his way up within the criminal world, becoming a legendary con-man. An extraordinary performance by Gassman, next to actress Dorian Gray. Story by Age and Scarpelli.
Fri 4, 10.30 p.m./Sun 6, 4.30 p.m.
Il giovedì (Thursday)
(Italy 1964, 105’, 35mm, b/w)
Dino, a rather braggart forty year-old with pockets to let, and with a failed marriage behind him, spends a day with his son Robertino, aged 8, whom he has not seen for a while. Following initial coldness, the boy becomes aware of his father’s defects and starts feeling affection for him. with Walter Chiari.
Sat 5, 4.30 p.m./Sun 6, 6.30 p.m.
Viale della speranza (Hope street)
(Italy 1952, 100’, 35mm, b/w)
Luisa, Franca and Giuditta live in the same boarding house in Rome and all aspire to be film actresses. Only one of them will show she possesses true talent. With a very young Mastroianni and photography by the great Mario Bava.
Mon 7, 4.30 p.m./Wed 9, 10.30 p.m./Sat 12, 4.15 p.m.
In nome del popolo Italiano (In the name of the Italian people)
(Italy 1971, 103’, 35mm, col.)
An unimpeachable magistrate (Ugo Tognazzi) in leading an inquiry into the death of a young female drug addict, which leads him to an industry tycoon (Vittorio Gassman), who tries to hold him up in every possible way. After discovering his innocence, he decides to proceed against him anyway in a strike against the rot in a corrupt society.
Mon 7, 8.30 p.m./Sat 12, 6.15 p.m.
Una vita difficile (A difficult life)
(Italy 1961, 118’, 35mm, b/w)
In the winter of ’44, Silvio Magnozzi (Alberto Sordi), a Roman partisan, is saved by Elena. Silvio hides for a while inside an abandoned windmill, Elena brings him food and an affair starts between them. They will meet again after the war and will live through key events in the Italy of those years together.
Tue 8, 4.30 p.m./Fri 11, 8.30 p.m.
Il sorpasso (The easy life)
(Italy 1962, 105’, 35mm, b/w)
On the festivity of Ferragosto, a rather shy university student and an immature forty year-old spend the day together moving around by car. The hours pass quickly, in a succession of tragicomical episodes, up to the unexpected and dramatic epilogue. Risi’s most famous film, with Gassman and Trintignant.
Tue 8, 6.30 p.m./Wed 9, 8.30 p.m./Fri 11, 6.30 p.m.
Poveri ma belli (Poor but beautiful)
(Italy/France 1957, 101’, 35mm, b/w)
Romolo is a lifeguard in a bathing establishment along the Tiber, while his friend Salvatore is an assistant in a record shop. In spite of their two sisters being in love with each other’s brother, the arrival in the neighbourhood of sultry Giovanna will make every balance explode. With Marisa Allasio.
Fri 11, 10.30 p.m./Sat 12, 8.30 p.m.
Profumo di donna (Scent of a woman)
(Italy 1974, 103’, 35mm, col.)
Soldier and student Giovanni Bertazzi finds himself accompanying Fausto (Vittorio Gassman), a blind captain on furlough, along an eventful itinerary from Turin to Naples. Intelligent, proud, and full of zest in spite of his handicap, Fausto reveals his great passion from his very first cues: women.