La vita provvisoria (Provisional Life, 1963)

Director: Vincenzo Gamna (with Enzo Battaglia and Christopher Broadbent)
Starring: Paolo Graziosi, Kristina Stipulkowska, Gigi Zerbinati, Enzo Cerusico
Label:  Ripley's Home Video (2015)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 0
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 b/w
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: English

Bonus:

* Short Giovedì: passeggiata (13 minutes)
* Alternative credit sequence

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

An omnibus film, where the common theme is the conflict between modern lifestyle and traditional values. The film is made up of eight segments, each one with a different mood, so you have both Nouvelle Vague and comedy Italia style, an intimate love story and the chronicle of a massacre, a Fellini-esque sketch and even a science-fiction finale. Hit-and-miss but interesting.

Recommendations
...if you are looking for oddities from the golden era of Italian cinema.

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Le bambole (Bambole, 1965)

Directors: Mauro Bolognini, Luigi Comencini, Dino Risi, Franco Rossi
Starring: Gina Lollobrigida, Elke Sommer, Virna Lisi, Monica Vitti
Label:  Sony Pictures (2006)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 b/w
Audio: Italian, English (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: English, Italian

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

In the mid '60s, Italian cinema faced a change in audience attitudes, reflecting the evolution of Italian society (especially the shift toward urbanization). As a response, Italian filmmakers created new genres (sexy comedy, spaghetti western, spy story) and adopted new technical process (zoom, color, Techniscope), also exploring modernity-oriented themes (pop culture, youth protest, sexual revolution). The omnibus film, consisting of various segments by various directors, thus became a very popular genre, also because it allowed filmmakers to experiment different styles. Bambole is a typical example of this trend, showcasing four popular female stars, each one directed by a talented director. While Risi and Comencini's sketches are quite lame, episodes by Rossi and Bolognini are still enjoyable in their own way: The Soup (starring Monica Vitti) is a black comedy set in a low-class district of Rome; Monsigor Cupid (starring Gina Lollobrigida and inspired by Boccaccio) features a rare portrait of female lust, very unusual in comedy Italian style. The DVD also provides an English dubbing, but subtitles are to be preferred.

Recommendations
...if you don't want to miss a rare Italian comedy centered on female charachters.

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Virna Lisi

Monica Vitti

Gina Lollobrigida

Assassination (1967)

Director: Emilio Miraglia (aka Hal Brady)
Starring: Henry Silva, Fred Beir, Evelyn Stewart, Peter Dane
Label: Ripley's Home Video (2006)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English, Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: None

Bonus:

* English trailer
* Photogallery (33 b/w stills)

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

Sentenced to death, a CIA agent takes over his brother's identity in order to go undercover in Europe and enter a hitman gang. As usual in Italian thrillers, the plot is somehow a bit fuzzy, but the film is redeemed by its striking visual style, deeply indebted to modern art. Just add that main charachters are named Chandler (after Raymond?) and Lang (after Fritz?), and you have mannerism in its purest form.

Recommendations
...if you want to find out where Robert Rodriguez's Machete comes from.

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Ad ogni costo (Grand Slam, 1967)

Director: Giuliano Montaldo
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Janet Leigh, Klaus Kinski, Adolfo Celi
Label:  Ripley's Home Video (2005)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Italian, English, French (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: None

Bonus:

* English trailer
* Photogalleries (60 stills)

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

Retired school teacher assembles a team of professional thieves and attempts to carry out the perfect crime, stealing 10,000,000 $ in diamonds. A nice entry in the classic heist trend, enhanced by an international cast and shot in Rome, New York and Rio de Janeiro. Giuliano Montaldo is better-known for his historical films (Sacco and Vanzetti), but his genre flicks still have plenty of energy, colour and humour. Well suited soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. "One of the best heist movies" (Roger Ebert).

Recommendations
...if you love the Rififi/Topkapi kind of film, just get your popcorn ready.

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Il Federale (The Fascist, 1961)

Director: Luciano Salce
Starring: Ugo Tognazzi, George Wilson, Elza Vazzoler, Stefania Sandrelli
Label:  Medusa Video (2007)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 b/w
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono/5.1 remix)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, Italian

Available on Amazon.it.

What's the film about?

A fascist fanatic is entrusted with the task of bringing an anti-Fascist professor to Rome in the last days of Fascism. Starting with Monicelli's The Great War (1959), Italian comedies acquired a new social dimension, often dealing with low class situation. After Monicelli's hit, however, the most immediate result was a bunch of "historical" comedies, most of them set during Fascist era. Luciano Salce's road movie, starring Tognazzi at his best, represents one the most popular and most successful entry in this sub-genre. "A modest anecdote that blossoms beautifully into stature and significance" (Andrew Sarris).

Recommendations
...if you enjoyed Comencini's Everybody Go Home, here you have a pleasing follow-up.

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La calda vita (The Warm Life, 1964)

Director: Florestano Vancini
Starring: Catherine Spaak, Jacques Perrin, Fabrizio Capucci, Gabriele Ferzetti
Label:  Ripley's Home Video (2005)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 letterbox
Audio: Italian, English, French (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles: None

Bonus:

* Photogallery (25 stills)

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

Based on a P.A. Quarantotti Gambini novel, this is an "end of the innocence" story, where a 18 year old girl spends a brief vacation with two male friends, who are both in love with her. While the title echoes Fellini's La dolce vita, the main location clearly recalls Antonioni's L'avventura. However, director Florestano Vancini looks for an individual style, and he often succeeds, also because of a lively, delicate performance by his actor quartet. Despite the letterboxed transfer, the DVD still highlights a remarkable use of colour.

Recommendations
...if you want to see an Italian response to Preminger's Bonjour tristesse.

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Sansone (Samson, 1961)

Director: Gianfranco Parolini
Starring: Brad Harris, Mara Berni, Alan Steel, Serge Gainsbourg
Label: Ripley's Home Video (2006)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 0
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Italian, English (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: None

Bonus:
* Interview with director Gianfranco Parolini (18 minutes, with English subtitles)

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

Not strictly related to the Biblical story: mighty Samson and his pals fight against Warkalla, dictator of Sullan... Apart from its inherent silliness, this is a childish but rather competently made peplum, with a nice humorous touch. Not surprisingly, Parolini will later enjoy a second career in Spaghetti westerns. His tongue-in-cheek interview is a must-see for genre aficionados.

Recommendations
...if you are a sword-and-sandal enthusiast, you're going to want to see this.

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Gli ultimi (The Last, 1963)

Director: Vito Pandolfi
Label: La Cineteca del Friuli (2012)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 0
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 b/w
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Bonus:
* Contains both the theatrical version (86 minutes) and the director's cut (92 minutes)

* 1963 interview with screenwriter Father David Maria Turoldo (18 minutes, in English)
* Screen tests (20 minutes, mostly silent footage)

Available on ibs.it and Amazon.it

What's the film about?

Set in Northern Italy during the '30s, the film depicts the drama of emigration as seen through the eyes of a child shepherd. Shot entirely on location, with no professional actors, this is a moving piece of anthropological cinema, but its images also have a highly lyrical quality, well served by Armando Nannuzzi's cinematography.

Recommendations
...if you enjoyed Ermanno Olmi's The Tree of Wooden Clogs, you should have a look at this.

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