Screen-shot-2013-06-18-at-2.49.42-PM-e1371560052887

Filmic Victory: The Taviani Brothers surprised themselves and others with the impact of their new film

/ Cinematic Italy, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Laura GIACALONE

The Berlinale’s Golden Bear to Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, two masters of Italian cinema (respectively 80 and 82), for Caesar Must Die, sheds a new light on the contemporary Italian film scene, and perhaps on Italy as a whole. In a moment when Italy seems to struggle to live up to its glorious past, this prestigious international recognition is felt not only as a well-deserved appreciation of the Taviani brothers’ outstanding work, but as a sign of encouragement to a whole country. “Many people, after the award ceremony, thanked us on behalf of Italy, as if this prize were a prize to Italy” – says Paolo Taviani. “One even called us on the phone and said: ‘Thanks! I’ve hung the Italian flag out of my window!’ This is a tricky moment for our country. People believe it’s time for a change, they hope for a turning point. So this film, which is quite anomalous, somehow complies with these wishes.”

Global-Appeal-Baaria-e1371560374426

Universal Appeal: Italian filmmakers whose work transcends nationality

/ Cinematic Italy, Columnists and Contributors, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Francesco DEL GROSSO

Italy boasts an extremely rich film tradition, which over the years has also become a burden difficult to bear and almost impossible to get rid of. In the last few decades, Italian filmmakers have made every effort to prove that Italian cinema has moved beyond the glories of the past, beyond the “Peplum” epics that dominated the Italian film industry from the first decade of the 20th century to the 1960s, beyond Neorealism and the Italian-style Comedy, beyond the Spaghetti Western and the Dolce Vita. Although the most recent productions “made in Italy” have not been able to live up to this glorious past, there is a variegated number of authors from different backgrounds, styles and ages whose work is particularly noteworthy: they are actually “mavericks” moving within an absent film industry that is neither financially sound nor effective in terms of regulations able to support technical and creative professionals.

Angels and Demons

Italy: Location as a Protagonist Recent films use the setting of Bel Paese to evoke emotion

/ Cinematic Italy, Columnists and Contributors, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Pierpaolo FESTA

Woody Allen calls it “an osmosis,” something that is not done on purpose. Something that little by little penetrates the subconscious. It can be about art or history. Of course, it is also about landscape – just like walking among the stones of Via Appia, sipping Chianti while enjoying the Tuscany countryside or swimming in the magnificent blue sea of Sicily. This dive into the Italian culture is like an epiphany, a big emotion that nowadays American cinema wants to find more and more.

State-of-Film-Francesco-Rosi-Leone-e1371562484216

The State and Status of Film: A study of the effect of politics on Italian filmmaking

/ Cinematic Italy, Columnists and Contributors, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Roberto SILVESTRI

The state of Italian film making comprises not only stalwarts like Nanni Moretti, Matteo Garrone, Francesco Rosi, Sabina Guzzanti, Paolo Sorrentino, Marco Tullio Giordana, but also names like Michelangelo Frammartino, Pietro Marcello, Alba Rohrwacher, Pippo Del Bono, Daniele Ciprì, Roberta Torre, Franco Maresco, and Stefano Savona; making the industry multi-faceted. The neo-realism of 1945-1948 saw a resurgence of a country in ruins and split by the European Recovery Program, which preferred American corporations taking advantage of low wages in a country beholden to the Western superpower. Today, that same country is still in ruin, spiritually and morally.

la-dolce-vita-22-e1371563007695

A Certain Age: The golden era of Italian cinema in 10 exemplars

/ Cinematic Italy, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Enrico AZZANO

There is an old saying which says that we must look to the past to reconstruct the future. The golden years of cinema seem so far away: the years of neorealism, peplum (sword-and-sandals), spaghetti-westerns, thriller and horror, comedies, melodramas, politics; and of the Oscar winners, Cannes Film Festival winners, Cinecittà stars, and the many other internationally known and recognized awards.

Italian Video Art, A Review: The curator of the exhibit Electronic Body reports

/ Cinematic Italy, Columns, Contemporary Art, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Gianluca MARZIANI

The topic of which I write arrives in the nick of time (perhaps I should say in the “flick” of time in honor of the filmatic subject). What follows is a general exploration of Italian video art, the subject of a fortunate concomitance with the exhibition I have just curated for the Rocco Guglielmo Foundation. Entitled Electronic Body, the show gathers together 16 artists using the video medium exclusively to express a range of issues, approaches and visions.

Gucci-Spring-2012-Flapper-Style-e1371634088907

Dressing the Part: 2012-2013 Italian collections have a vintage filmic quality

/ Cinematic Italy, Columns, Fashion, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Barbara ZORZOLI

When movies first began to be mass-marketed, right after the turn of the century, actors and actresses usually looked to their own closets for contemporary stories. For period pieces, of course, a wardrobe department was necessary, but it was not until 1916 that the first costume designer was credited on film, a certain Frenchman Louis J. Gasnier.

The Throne Room

Director’s Backstory, Dark and Light

/ Cinematic Italy, Columns, Literature, Volume 20. Number VII. 2012 / /

by Laura GIACALONE

If a maverick is, by his own admission, “a filmmaker who finds a way with the system of making the films he has chosen to make”, Martin Scorsese is certainly one. From his early works, directly emanating from the ethnic melting pot of New York’s Lower East Side where he grew up, to his latest Oscar-winning celebration of the dream factory, Hugo (2011), Scorsese has worked his way up in the film industry within and outside the system, “above ground” and “underground”, in and out of Hollywood, putting onto film his deepest obsessions.

«< 14 15 16 17 18 >»