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.

Screenshots

Virna Lisi

Monica Vitti

Gina Lollobrigida

Titanus. Family Diary of Italian Cinema

I am glad to report that the Titanus Retrospective for the Locarno Film Festival has been a real hit, and our bilingual book, Titanus. Family Diary of Italian cinema, has been warmly greeted both by press and public. Anyone interested can buy his own copy on Amazon.it.

The book covers Italian cinema evolution from 1904 to 2014, ranging from early silent cinema to post-modern television, featuring original essays, interviews and production papers. Despite being focused on Italian most important major company, we have chosen an auterist perspective, investigating how directors' and producers' contributions melt together during the 1945-1964 golden age of Italian cinema.

Carlo Chatrian talks about our book on MUBI.

Some highlights from the book:
* Neapolitan silents
* Matarazzo's melodramas
* Mastro5's revue films and musical extravaganzas
* Risi and Comencini's early comedies
* Tourneur and Corbucci's peplums
* Ava Gardner's Italian films
* nouvelle vague Italian style (Olmi, Zurlini, Petri)
* confessions of Visconti's editor
* Aldrich's Sodom and Gomorrah backstory
* De Santis on The Wolves director's cut
* memo from producer Goffredo Lombardo
* unfilmed projects
* 150+ photos

* essays by Roberto Turigliatto, Simone Starace, Bernard Eisenschitz, Sergio Toffetti, Sergio M. Germani, Miguel Marías, Chris Fujiwara, Olaf Möller, Jean Douchet, Stefania Parigi.

L'invenzione di Morel (Morel's Invention, 1974)

Director: Emidio Greco
Starring: Giulio Brogi, Anna Karina, John Steiner
Label:  Ripley's Home Video (2012)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 0
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0 mono)
Subtitles: English, French

Available on Amazon.it

What's the film about?

A fugitive lands on an apparently deserted island, but soon some strange tourists arrive... Based on Adolfo Bioy Casares' science fiction novel, the film reduces the plot to its bare essentials, focusing on the metaphorical level.  The style is both minimalist (no word is spoken in the first 30 minutes) and surrealist, with a dreamlike quality of mise-en-scène. Very demanding but also very inspiring.

Recommendations
...if you enjoy arthouse cinema, here you have a sci-fi fantasy in form of Borgesian paradox.

Screenshots

Sangue bleu (The Princess of Monte Bello, 1914)

Director: Nino Oxilia
Starring: Francesca Bertini, Angelo Gallina, André Habay
Label:  Cineteca di Bologna (2014)
Format: DVD / PAL / Region 2
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Subtitles: Italian, English, Dutch

Bonus:

* Featurette on Nino Oxilia (11 minutes, with English subtitles)
* 1913 short, Kri Kri e il tango (5 minutes, with English subtitles)
* Photogalleries
* 28 page bilingual booklet

Available from Cineteca di Bologna and Amazon.it.

What's the film about?

A noble lady divorces from her husband and gets blackmailed, losing her child's custody. Among the greatest divas of Italian cinema, Francesca Bertini stars as a fallen woman in this maternal melodrama. Perhaps not on the same level with Assunta Spina or Mariute, but Nino Oxilia's tableaux are alway enriched by his mastery in blocking and lighting. The 1913 comedy short, starring Raymond Frau, is also quite enjoyable.

Recommendations
...if you are interested in Diva-films, this is an indispensable release.

Screenshots