Post Italian Neorealism
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”
Mike Nichols
A few weeks ago I recommended several outstanding films from the Italian Neorealism period. These were films made shortly after the end of World War II. Filmmakers like Rossellini, De Sica, Visconti, and Fellini had to work on tight budgets filming mostly on location, in working-class neighborhoods, and using many non-professional actors. But as Italy rebuilt and became more prosperous, these same filmmakers now had the money to make more expensive films and hire well-known actors. Happily, prosperity did not diminish their achievements. In fact, many film critics gave huge praise to their films made after the Italian Neorealism period ended.
Here are six recommendations:
A Special Day
On May 6, 1938, Hitler visits Mussolini in Rome. The event is huge as the Italians overwhelmingly cheer their two “heroes.” While Antonietta…
Rocco and his Brothers
The Parondi family consists of the matriarch Rosaria and her five sons. They move from the poor rural village of Lucani…
Two Women
In war-torn Rome, 1943, Cesira, a widowed shopkeeper and her daughter Rosetta, flee Rome after an Allied bombing. They head…
Garden of the Finzi-Continis
In the late 1930s, in Ferrara, Italy, young Italian Jews are barred by the Fascist government from local tennis clubs. They gravitate…
La Strada
Gelsomina, a young Italian woman, is forced to join Zampano, a street performer, as his assistant. Zampano’s payment to the mother is a meager 10,000 lire…
Vincere
It’s 1907 in Rome and Ida Dalser is captivated by a dynamic young socialist named Benito Mussolini. They fall in love and begin a torrid love affair…
Coming Soon, Can’t Wait
News Briefs & Commentary
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