  Denise De Rôme Asen has curated a series of wonderful films that between them represent 40 years of Italian cinema. Golden Oldies she calls them - their directors were all born within half a dozen years of each other. In several cases they contributed to each other's early films - Fellini wrote scripts for Rossellini for example - but their work is very individual and they have each made a distinctive contribution to world cinema. We are fortunate that Criterion have recently issued DVDs of most of their films so, quite apart from their dramatic qualities, the remastered prints are very beautiful to look at. Our programme starts with the Neorealism of the war and immediate post war years. We progress into the "new cinema" of the Italy of the economic miracle, seen as a society in a state of decomposition.  April 30th: Ossessione (Obsession) (Luchino Visconti 1942) Ossessione was Visconti's first film and the first that defied the Fascist government's insistence that films should portray a wholesome version of Italian life. It tells the story of a love affair between a labourer and a married woman. The film is an adaptation of James M Cain's hard boiled novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice. Visconti had originally wanted to adapt L'Amante di Gramigna by the Italian writer Verga, but a story about brigands was considered unsuitable by the Fascist authorities. Two American versions with the original name and one French version have been made but none of them has the electricity of this film. The Fascists destroyed the prints but fortunately Visconti managed to hold onto one negative. An excellent review can be found in the DVD Times May 21st: Voyage to Italy (Roberto Rossellini 1953) Voyage to Italyis partly based on James Joyce's short story The Dead. It tells the story of a visit to Naples by an English couple played by George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman. The film portrays the contrast between their reserved English mentalities and the gusto and sexuality of the Neapolitans. In this film Rossellini has moved away from his early Neorealism to focus on universal aspects of character conflict seen largely through the eyes of the protagonists themselves. I recommend this review.  June 25th: Amarcord (Federico Fellini 1973) Amarcord is Fellini's account of growing up under Fascism. It is essentially a comic collective portrait of Italian Fascism but with serious undertones. It is both true to life and larger than life, earthy, sometimes bawdy and yet deeply poetic. A lovely nostalgic melody washes over vignettes from a year in the life of Rimini, a small provincial seaside town in the 30s. The Fascist regime appears first as ridiculous then as vicious, yet mostly people are shown to get along with it very well, sometimes thrilling to it, only very occasionally rebelling. Amarcord plays fast and loose with the norms of cinema: tunes on the soundtrack suddenly start being played by the characters themselves; people in this 30s setting address us directly via the camera; the great set-piece of the townspeople going out to see a vast illuminated ocean liner obviously takes place in the studio on a sea of undulating blue plastic sheets. Yet all this probing at history and memory, this playing with convention, never stops it being an utter treat and it was a hugh box office hit in Italy. My favourite review is from dvdtimes.co.uk. July 23rd: L'Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni 1960) Few directors have had as profound an impact on the language of cinema, marking the shift between generations, as Michelangelo Antonioni. L'Avventura is unlike anything that had come before, and highly influential on everything that came after. It tells the story of a holiday trip during which a girl disappears from the island they visit - and from the film itself. The problem becomes not so much the disappearance of Anna as the disappearance of the disappearance of Anna. The film caused a riot at the Cannes Film Festival but is now recognised as a classic. The Criterion DVD is exceptionally beautiful. There's an interesting review of the film at dvdverdict.com. The distinguished American critic Roger Ebert asks the interesting question: "Why don't we have movies like L'Avventura anymore? Because we don't ask the same kinds of questions anymore. We have replaced the 'purpose of life' with the 'choice of lifestyle.'" The films will be introduced by Denise and followed by coffee, desserts and discussion. Please come at 7.30 for a drink. We will start the films at 8pm. |
Springtime in Italy
