|
|
Now Playing
4th Annual Italian Retrospective
"Signore e Signore: Leading Ladies of Italian Cinema" |
|
 return
|
"Postwar Italian cinema is enshrined in film history books for its neorealist movement, but it produced another phenomenon that also had an enormous impact on world cinema: the arrival of a new generation of Italian actresses who revolutionized the image of women on screen. Actresses such as Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren, and Anna Magnani were the first Italian-based screen performers to become international superstars. With their legendary physiques and earthy manner, they contributed mightily to the more mature depiction of sexuality in postwar cinema, defining an image of womanhood that was as emotionally full-blooded as it was often physically full-bodied."
—Marty Rubin, Gene Siskel Film Center
The film series continues through September 20. Unless otherwise noted, film descriptions provided by the Gene Siskel Film Center.
Made possible by Cinecittą International, a division of Cinecittą Holding; the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Consulate General of Italy in Houston (Cristiano Maggipinto, consul general); Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Los Angeles (Francesca Valente, director); and the Italian Film Commission (Paola Bellusci, director). Special thanks to Rosaria Focarelli, Cinecittą Holding; Lori Donnelly and Todd Hitchcock, AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center; James Quandt, Cinematheque Ontario; Marty Rubin, Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago; Jim Sinclair, Vancouver Cinematheque; Giorgio Borlenghi; and Giuseppe Risi.
Cosponsored by Women in Film & Television/Houston.
|
|
Italian Cinema "I Knew Her Well"
Io la conoscevo bene
1965, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Antonio Pietrangeli
Introductory remarks by Italian Consul General Cristiano Maggipinto
I Knew Her Well is a genuine discovery from ...
 view film details
Show Times:
Friday, August 21 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "The Seduction of Mimi"
Mimģ metallurgico ferito nell´onore
1972, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Lina Wertmüller
Lina Wertmüller (Swept Away) satirizes "the peculiar Sicilian confluence of honor and hypocrisy, illegality and sanctimony. ...
view film details
Show Times:
Saturday, August 22 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "The Widower"
Il vedovo
1959, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Dino Risi
Dino Risi´s (1916—2008) black comedy stars Alberto Sordi as a man who only achieves success after ...
view film details
Show Times:
Sunday, August 23 5:00 PM
|
Italian Cinema "Oh! Sabella"
La nonna Sabella
1957, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Dino Risi
Buxom, Croatian-born Sylva Koscina is top-billed in this rustic farce by prolific comedy director Dino Risi (The Widower), but the film is dominated by veteran character actress Tina Pica in the ...
view film details
Show Times:
Friday, August 28 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Open City"
Roma, cittą aperta
1945, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Anna Magnani was already an experienced stage and screen actress when her stunning performance in this ...
view film details
Show Times:
Saturday, August 29 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Sandra"
Vaghe selle dell´orsa
1965, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Luchino Visconti
35mm archival print courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment
Newly married to an American, a young woman (Claudia ...
view film details
Show Times:
Saturday, August 29 9:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "The Leopard"
Il gattopardo
1963, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Luchino Visconti
"Based on a 1958 book by Giuseppe Lampedusa, which is still one of the best-selling books ...
view film details
Show Times:
Sunday, August 30 5:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Old-Fashioned World"
Piccolo mondo antico
1941, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Mario Soldati
One of Mario Soldati´s most highly regarded films established the career of his favorite actress, Alida ...
view film details
Show Times:
Friday, September 4 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Teorema"
Theorum
1968, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
One of the key films of the 1960s, Teorema stars Terence Stamp as a Christ-like figure ...
view film details
Show Times:
Saturday, September 5 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Juliet of the Spirits"
Giulietta degli spiriti
1965, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Federico Fellini
Fellini´s first color feature unleashed something in the director, the result being one of his most ...
view film details
Show Times:
Sunday, September 6 5:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Vanina Vanini"
1961, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Restored 35mm print
A grand, sumptuous romance based on a Stendhal short story, Vanina Vanini is set ...
view film details
Show Times:
Friday, September 11 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Bread, Love, and Dreams"
Pane, amore, e fantasia
1953, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Luigi Comencini
The biggest hit of "comedy Italian style," Bread, Love, and Dreams inspired an entire series of ...
view film details
Show Times:
Sunday, September 13 5:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "A Drama of Jealousy"
Dramma della gelosia
1970, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Ettore Scola
"A film I am very attached to; for me it is a real masterpiece," Marcello Mastroianni ...
view film details
Show Times:
Friday, September 18 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "Two Women"
La ciociara
1960, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Vittorio De Sica
Based on a novel by Alberto Moravia, scripted by Cesare Zavattini, directed by Vittorio De Sica, ...
view film details
Show Times:
Saturday, September 19 7:00 PM
|
|
|
Italian Cinema "The Girl with a Suitcase"
La ragazza con la valigia
1960, Italian with English subtitles
Directed by Valerio Zurlini
Supernatural and sultry, Claudia Cardinale plays a nightclub singer seduced and abandoned by a wealthy playboy ...
view film details
Show Times:
Sunday, September 20 5:00 PM
|
Be sure to check back for additional screenings or changes in the Films schedule. You can also contact us with questions about future films at film@mfah.org.
 Back To Top
|
|
|
|
