Italian movies tell about eras, trends, love and art
The history of Italian cinema is made of excellence, with directors, actors, movies, and genres that joined the Olympus of the seventh art (as the critic Ricciotto Canudo described the art of cinematography away back in 1921). Here as follow, only five Italian movies famous all around the world, which nowadays represent the made in Italy and that and are still seen, appreciated and emulated today.
La Dolce Vita
Directed by Federico Fellini in 1960, with the performance of Marcello Mastroianni, who is a reflection of the Dolce Vita in Rome during the economic boom of the Sixties.
The Dolce Vita stages with figurative strength the whole world of filmmaking, of scandal, of the sad idleness of the richest people and religious fanaticism. Marcello Rubini (played by M. Mastroianni), a roman tabloid journalist, is the guiding character who makes a journey through the Rome of the Sixties, consisting in the seven episodes of the plot.
Without his presence the chaotic, crowded and confusing scenery would not be fully understood because he is on a journey based on understanding and personal redemption.
Federico Fellini here represented the thoughts, the attitudes, the trends of Italians of that period which are still famous for tourists (the scene with Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg in the Trevi Fountain is unforgettable).
8 e mezzo
Another achievement for the couple Federico Fellini and Marcello Mastroianni is 8 e mezzo (1963) where Mastroianni is the alter ego of the director.Guido is a 43-year-old director who is tired of everything, of his work, of his life, of his friends. He wants to make a new film and he decided to build a big circus scaffolding.The film is a mixture of the real and the oneiric, mirroring Guido's fears, namely the fear of aging, abandonment, and failure. The circus represents the creativity and relationships with Italian cinema workers, whose importance is crucial for its success.
Once Upon a Time in America
The movie came out in 1984 with the direction of Sergio Leone. The colossal represents the final evolution of the far west current, conceived after a long reflection.The story tells about moments in the lives of members of a small group of New York gangsters over a period of forty years (from the 1920s to the 1960s) with the use of flashbacks and flash-forwards.A long, complex, “baroque” movie with detailed stage customs and scenographies. Once Upon a Time in America, with Robert De Niro’s performance, is a treasure of Made in Italy movie production not only for the direction of Sergio Leone but also for the soundtrack written by the “Maestro„ Ennio Morricone.
This is a simple story, but not an easy one, to tell. Like a fable, there is sorrow, and like a fable, it is full of wonder and happiness.
Life is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. The movie won three Academy Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film, Best Actor for Benigni and Best Original Music Score (by Maestro Nicola Piovani) out of seven nominations in 1999.This movie is and will forever be in everyone's heart for the sensitivity used by Benigni told about of the tragedy of the Holocaust, the deportation, and the massacre of Jews during the Second World War.
The Great Beauty
The Great Beauty is a 2013 Italian art drama film co-written and directed by Paolo Sorrentino. In the setting of a beautiful and indifferent Rome, politicians, the high society, actors and actresses, decayed nobles and artists are swallowed up in a labyrinth of parties, luxury and sadness. Observing them all is Jep Gambardella, (starring Tony Servillo), a 65 year old writer, tired of that type of life who reflects on his past, present, and future by taking us on a tour of Rome, crossing squares, streets, observing glimpses and wonders that seems almost surreal.
