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Commedia all'italiana (, pl. Commedie all'italiana, "Comedy in the Italian way") or Italian-style comedy is an Italian
The genre of Commedia all'italiana differs markedly from the light and disengaged comedy from the so-called "pink neorealism" trend, in vogue until all of the 1950s, since, starting from the lesson of neorealism, is based on a more frank adherence in writing to reality; therefore, alongside the comic situations and plots typical of traditional comedy, always combines, with irony, a biting and sometimes bitter satire of manners, which reflects the evolution of Italian society in those years.
Therefore, alongside the comic situations and plots typical of traditional farce, emerges a biting satire of manners, which highlights the contradictions of industrial society with sharp irony. Furthermore, comedies in which the stage setting is translated into different historical contexts, often with critical aims towards social current affairs, are not entirely infrequent.
Starting from the end of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Italy experienced numerous phases that radically changed the mentality and customs of Italians. The economic situation, student unrest and the search for new emancipations in the world of work and family, became the ideal place within which to project the characters of the comedy, ready to revive the changes in civil society on stage.
For Italy, these were the years of the economic boom, which were followed by those of social conquests, in which a radical change took place in the mentality and also in the sexual habits of the Italians, the birth of a new relationship with power and with religion, the search for new forms of economic and social emancipation, in the world of work, family and marriage, all themes that can be traced in the films belonging to this vein. During the 1970s, the Commedia all'italiana even touched on more complex social issues, with works with a basically dramatic background (for example, ''
It is generally believed that it was the director
Commedia all'italiana (, pl. Commedie all'italiana, "Comedy in the Italian way") or Italian-style comedy is an Italian film genre
A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film.
Drawing heavily from the theories of literary-genre cri ...
born in Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in the 1950s and developed in the 1960s and 1970s. It is widely considered to have started with Mario Monicelli
Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the '' Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was a ...
's ''Big Deal on Madonna Street
''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' ( it, I soliti ignoti; released in the UK as ''Persons Unknown'') is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Its original Italian ...
'' in 1958, and derives its name from the title of Pietro Germi
Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the neorealist and commedia all'Italiana genres.
His 1961 film '' Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a ...
's ''Divorce Italian Style
''Divorce Italian Style'' ( it, Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Italian dark comedy film directed by Pietro Germi. The screenplay is by Germi, Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti, and Agenore Incrocci, based on Giovanni Arpino's novel '' Un de ...
'' (1961). According to most of the critics, '' La Terrazza'' (1980) by Ettore Scola
Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film '' A Special Day'' and over the course of his film career was nominated for fiv ...
is the last work considered part of the Commedia all'italiana.
Rather than a specific genre, the term indicates a period (approximately from the late 1950s to the early 1970s) in which the Italian film industry was producing many successful comedies, with some common traits like satire of manners, farcical and grotesque overtones, a strong focus on "spicy" social issues of the period (like sexual matters, divorce, contraception, marriage of the clergy, the economic rise of the country and its various consequences, the traditional religious influence of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
) and a prevailing middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Com ...
setting, often characterized by a substantial background of sadness and social criticism
Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general.
Social criticism of the Enlightenment
The or ...
that diluted the comic contents.
Characteristics
The genre of Commedia all'italiana differs markedly from the light and disengaged comedy from the so-called "pink neorealism" trend, in vogue until all of the 1950s, since, starting from the lesson of neorealism, is based on a more frank adherence in writing to reality; therefore, alongside the comic situations and plots typical of traditional comedy, always combines, with irony, a biting and sometimes bitter satire of manners, which reflects the evolution of Italian society in those years.
Therefore, alongside the comic situations and plots typical of traditional farce, emerges a biting satire of manners, which highlights the contradictions of industrial society with sharp irony. Furthermore, comedies in which the stage setting is translated into different historical contexts, often with critical aims towards social current affairs, are not entirely infrequent.
Starting from the end of the 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Italy experienced numerous phases that radically changed the mentality and customs of Italians. The economic situation, student unrest and the search for new emancipations in the world of work and family, became the ideal place within which to project the characters of the comedy, ready to revive the changes in civil society on stage.
For Italy, these were the years of the economic boom, which were followed by those of social conquests, in which a radical change took place in the mentality and also in the sexual habits of the Italians, the birth of a new relationship with power and with religion, the search for new forms of economic and social emancipation, in the world of work, family and marriage, all themes that can be traced in the films belonging to this vein. During the 1970s, the Commedia all'italiana even touched on more complex social issues, with works with a basically dramatic background (for example, ''In Prison Awaiting Trial
''In Prison Awaiting Trial'' ( it, Detenuto in attesa di giudizio) is a 1971 Italian drama film directed by Nanni Loy. It was entered into the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival where Alberto Sordi won the Silver Bear for Best Actor award.
...
'' by Nanni Loy
Nanni Loy (born Giovanni Loi; 23 October 1925 – 21 August 1995) was an Italian film, theatre and TV director. Specifically, Nanni Loy was Sardinian, and one of several notable Sardinian film makers, including Franco Solinas.
Biography
Lo ...
or ''An Average Little Man
''An Average Little Man'' ( it, Un borghese piccolo piccolo, literally meaning ''a petty petty bourgeois'', also known in English as ''A Very Little Man'') is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Mario Monicelli. It is based on the novel of the s ...
'' by Mario Monicelli
Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the '' Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was a ...
).
The success of films belonging to the "Commedia all'italiana" genre is due both to the presence of an entire generation of great actors, who knew how to masterfully embody the vices (many) and virtues (few), and the attempts at emancipation but also the vulgarities of the Italians of the time, both to the careful work of directors, storytellers and screenwriters, who invented a real genre, with essentially new connotations, managing to find precious material for their cinematographic creations in the folds of a rapid evolution with many contradictions.
If one wanted to identify a manifesto of this kind, whose charm also rests, in part, on the vagueness of shared or in any case easily identifiable aesthetic canons, one could probably refer to three films out of all, ''I mostri
''I mostri'' (also known as ''Opiate '67'' or, in a cut version, ''15 from Rome'') is a 1963 commedia all'italiana film by Italian director Dino Risi. It was coproduced with France.
The film was a huge success in Italy. It was censored in Spain. ...
'' by Dino Risi
Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''.
Biography
Risi was born in Milan. He had an o ...
(with Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
and Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
, who during the various episodes of the film are transformed into a series of grotesque characters), '' Be Sick... It's Free'' by Luigi Zampa
Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director.
Biography
Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school Centro sperimentale di cinematografia in Rome.
He directed several ...
, and its sequel '' Il Prof. Dott. Guido Tersilli, primario della clinica Villa Celeste, convenzionata con le mutue'' by Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter.
Early life
Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...
, and Monicelli's ''Big Deal on Madonna Street
''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' ( it, I soliti ignoti; released in the UK as ''Persons Unknown'') is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Its original Italian ...
'', where Gassman is joined by Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...
, Totò
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...
, and a roundup of exceptional character actors. This last film, the first in chronological order among those mentioned (1958), is considered by many critics, due to its setting, themes, typology of characters and aesthetic settings, the starting point of the real Commedia all'italiana.
Directors and films
It is generally believed that it was the director Mario Monicelli
Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the '' Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was a ...
, progenitor and among the greatest exponents (with Dino Risi
Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''.
Biography
Risi was born in Milan. He had an o ...
, Luigi Comencini
Luigi Comencini (; 8 June 1916 – 6 April 2007)
''The Guardian'' was an Italian ,
In 1959, ''
The 1960s was the period of the Italian economic miracle and consequently the cinema is affected by the changes that modify Italian society. One of the first artists to document these changes was the Milanese filmmaker 
It should be highlighted how often the constituent elements of comedy have been artfully intertwined with different genres, giving rise to decidedly unclassifiable films. In inaugurating this technique, the filmmaker
''The Guardian'' was an Italian ,
Pietro Germi
Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the neorealist and commedia all'Italiana genres.
His 1961 film '' Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a ...
and Ettore Scola
Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film '' A Special Day'' and over the course of his film career was nominated for fiv ...
) of the Commedia all'italiana, who inaugurated this new phase with the feature film ''Big Deal on Madonna Street
''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' ( it, I soliti ignoti; released in the UK as ''Persons Unknown'') is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Its original Italian ...
'' (1958), written together with Suso Cecchi D'Amico
Suso Cecchi D'Amico (21 July 1914 – 31 July 2010) was an Italian screenwriter and actress. She won the 1980 David di Donatello Award for lifetime career. She worked with virtually all of the most celebrated post-war Italian film directors, and ...
and the screenwriting duo Agenore Incrocci
Agenore Incrocci (4 July 1919 – 15 November 2005), best known as Age, was an Italian screenwriter, considered one of the fathers of the ''commedia all'italiana'' as one of the two members of the duo Age & Scarpelli, together with Furio Scarpell ...
and Furio Scarpelli
Furio Scarpelli (16 December 1919 – 28 April 2010), also called ''Scarpelli'', was an Italian screenwriter, famous for his collaboration on numerous Commedia all'italiana films with Agenore Incrocci, forming the duo Age & Scarpelli.Obituary ''N ...
. The work combines grotesque cues with sequences typical of underclass drama, filming with great detail a peripheral and degraded Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, still extraneous to the economic processes of the Italian economic miracle
The Italian economic miracle or Italian economic boom ( it, il miracolo economico italiano) is the term used by historians, economists, and the mass media to designate the prolonged period of strong economic growth in Italy after the Second Worl ...
. The film proved to be a success (even across borders) so much so that it was nominated for an Oscar as best foreign film.
In 1959, ''The Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
'' by Monicelli was released in theaters, with Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter.
Early life
Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...
and Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
. The feature film, inspired by a story by Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...
, contaminates historical tragedy with comedy modules, the massacres of World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, taboo for all national cinema. After ''The Organizer
''The Organizer'' ( it, I compagni"''I compagni''" literally translates into "''The Comrades''.") is a 1963 Italian-French-Yugoslavian-produced drama film written by Mario Monicelli and Age & Scarpelli, and directed by Mario Monicelli. Set in Tu ...
'' (1963), in Monicelli directed '' L'armata Brancaleone'' (1966). The film is a mixture of fantasy and farcical adventures that unfold throughout an unbridled and carnivalesque Middle Ages, in clear controversy with the opposite vision of the middle age proposed by Hollywood cinema. Some time later, in full protest, he brought ''The Girl with the Pistol
''The Girl with the Pistol'' ( it, La ragazza con la pistola) is a 1968 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Monica Vitti won the David di Donatello as Best Actre ...
'' (1968) to the screens, sensing the comic qualities of the actress Monica Vitti
Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli; 3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. After working with Antonioni, Vitti changed fo ...
. Among subsequent films by Monicelli are ''We Want the Colonels
''We Want the Colonels'' ( it, Vogliamo i colonnelli) is a 1973 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. It was entered in the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. It is a satire of the attempted far-right Borghese Coup.
Cast
* Ugo Tognazzi as G ...
'' (1973), ''Come Home and Meet My Wife
''Romanzo popolare'' (internationally released as ''Come Home and Meet My Wife'') is a 1974 Italian comedy drama film directed by Mario Monicelli. The film won the David di Donatello for Best Script.
Cast
* Ugo Tognazzi: Giulio Basletti
*Ornel ...
'' (1974), '' My friends'' (1975) and ''An Average Little Man
''An Average Little Man'' ( it, Un borghese piccolo piccolo, literally meaning ''a petty petty bourgeois'', also known in English as ''A Very Little Man'') is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Mario Monicelli. It is based on the novel of the s ...
'' (1977). The latter work is explicitly affected by the repressive climate of the Years of Lead and gives the actor Alberto Sordi one of his darkest and most suffered characters.
The 1960s was the period of the Italian economic miracle and consequently the cinema is affected by the changes that modify Italian society. One of the first artists to document these changes was the Milanese filmmaker Dino Risi
Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''.
Biography
Risi was born in Milan. He had an o ...
. In his best known feature film ''Il Sorpasso
''Il sorpasso'' (, occasionally titled ''The Easy Life'') is a 1962 Italian cult comedy film co-written and directed by Dino Risi and starring Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Spaak. It is considered Risi's masterpiece and one ...
'' (1962), the director mixes, with acute sensitivity, comedy and seriousness of the subject, veering, in an unusual way, in a dramatic and chilling ending. The histrionics of Vittorio Gassman and the soundtrack, with pieces by Edoardo Vianello and Domenico Modugno
Domenico Modugno (; 9 January 1928 – 6 August 1994) was an Italian singer, actor and, later in life, a member of the Italian Parliament. He is known for his 1958 international hit song " Nel blu dipinto di blu", for which he received Grammy ...
, photograph the picture of the time, making the comedy genre reach full authorial maturity. Also directed by Dino Risi is the cult movie ''I mostri
''I mostri'' (also known as ''Opiate '67'' or, in a cut version, ''15 from Rome'') is a 1963 commedia all'italiana film by Italian director Dino Risi. It was coproduced with France.
The film was a huge success in Italy. It was censored in Spain. ...
'' (1963) and ''A Difficult Life
''A Difficult Life'' (Italian: ''Una vita difficile'') is a ''Commedia all'italiana'' or Italian-style comedy film directed by Dino Risi in 1961.
The film was included on the 100 Italian Films To Be Saved ( 100 film italiani da salvare).
Plot
T ...
'' (1961), which brings an intense Alberto Sordi to the scene. The film is an artistic document on post-war Italy and the nascent democracy, in a perfect balance between farce and drama, between sociological ambitions and political disillusionment. Other works worth mentioning are '' Il vedovo'' (1959), ''Il Mattatore
''Love and Larceny'' (in Italian, ''Il mattatore'', "The Showman") is a 1960 Italian comedy film directed by Dino Risi. It was entered into the 10th Berlin International Film Festival.
Plot
Gerardo is an aspiring actor, trying unsuccessfully ...
'' (1960), ''The Thursday
''The Thursday'' ( it, Il giovedì) is a 1963 Italian comedy film directed by Dino Risi. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.
Cast
* Walter Chiari as Dino Versini
* Michèle ...
'' (1964), ''Weekend, Italian Style
''L'ombrellone'' or ''Weekend, Italian Style'' is a 1966 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Dino Risi. It was co-produced with Spain and France. The soundtrack is full of Italian Pop songs from the 1960s.
Plot
Ferragosto in Rome. Everybod ...
'' (1965), '' Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses'' (1968), '' In the Name of the Italian People'' (1971) and the film '' Scent of a Woman'' (1974), fully supported by the acting verve of Vittorio Gassman.
It should be highlighted how often the constituent elements of comedy have been artfully intertwined with different genres, giving rise to decidedly unclassifiable films. In inaugurating this technique, the filmmaker Luigi Comencini
Luigi Comencini (; 8 June 1916 – 6 April 2007)
''The Guardian'' was an Italian was undoubtedly one of the most important authors. After having achieved popularity in the 1950s with some pink comedies (among all the well-known ''
Another leading figure for the development and imposition of the Commedia all'italiana is the director 
The latest protagonist of the great season of comedy was the Roman director 
A separate place is occupied by 
Also in this context, the work done by the director 
Of note is the artistic product of
Among the forerunners of the Commedia all'italiana are certainly two of the great actors of the 20th century,
The Commedia all'italiana was a creation of 
However, although the Roman setting was very frequent, the genre always represented Italian society in its most diverse facets and many films attributable to the genre were therefore set in other important Italian urban realities (for example 
Since the 1960s, there have also been numerous films portraying Italians struggling with the rest of the world, starting with the figures of emigrants abroad during the
The genre had great success for over 20 years, from the end of the 1950s to the end of the 1970s. In its climax, especially around the second half of the 1960s, the best Commedie all'italiana frequently found themselves at the top of the box office charts, not only in Italy, but also in various other European countries. The success in some cases was such that it allowed actors such as 
In some cases, due to the particular themes dealt with, even of significant social relevance, some Commedie all'italiana not only caused a stir at the time, but even contributed to animating the debate on the proposed themes. This is the case, for example, of '' Be Sick... It's Free'', on the mechanisms of the Italian health system, or ''
After the great public successes and critical acknowledgments, the Commedia all'italiana genre began to decline around the end of the 1970s, to run out almost completely at the beginning of the following decade. Due to the disappearance, in those years and in the immediate period precedent, of some of its most charismatic protagonists (this is the case, for example, of
The Commedia all'italiana on the RAI's site
*
Centro Studi Commedia all'italiana
*
La Comédie à l'italienne sur le site Comedie Italienne
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commedia All'italiana * Italian films by genre
''The Guardian'' was an Italian was undoubtedly one of the most important authors. After having achieved popularity in the 1950s with some pink comedies (among all the well-known ''
Bread, Love and Dreams
''Bread, Love and Dreams'' ( it, Pane, amore e fantasia) is a 1953 Italian romantic comedy film directed by Luigi Comencini. At the 4th Berlin International Film Festival it won the Silver Bear award.
Plot
The film is set in Sagliena, an imaginar ...
'' 1953), in 1960 he gave Italian cinema the war opera ''Everybody Go Home
''Everybody Go Home'' ( it, Tutti a casa) is a 1960 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Luigi Comencini. It features an international cast including the U.S. actors Martin Balsam, Alex Nicol and the Franco-Italian Serge Reggiani. Nino Manfred ...
''. The feature film, constantly poised between humor and drama, reconstructs the days following the Armistice of Cassibile
The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II.
It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Bri ...
, helping to break the wall of silence that had fallen on the Italian Civil War
The Italian Civil War ( Italian: ''Guerra civile italiana'', ) was a civil war in the Kingdom of Italy fought during World War II by Italian Fascists against the Italian partisans (mostly politically organized in the National Liberation Committ ...
, a topic hitherto ignored by a large part of national cinema. Among his best works are '' On the Tiger's Back'' (1961), ''La ragazza di Bube
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' (1963), ''The Scientific Cardplayer
''The Scientific Cardplayer'', also known as ''The Scopone Game'' ( it, Lo scopone scientifico), is a 1973 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Luigi Comencini. The screenplay was written by Rodolfo Sonego.
Plot
An aging and wealthy American w ...
'' (1972), the drama ''The Adventures of Pinocchio
''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' ( ; it, Le avventure di Pinocchio ; commonly shortened to ''Pinocchio'') is a children's fantasy novel by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It is about the mischievous adventures of an animated marionette named Pi ...
'' (1972), '' The Cat'' (1978) and '' Traffic Jam '' (1979), in which different genres and styles merge.
Another leading figure for the development and imposition of the Commedia all'italiana is the director Pietro Germi
Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the neorealist and commedia all'Italiana genres.
His 1961 film '' Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a ...
. After having ventured into works with an evident civil content, somehow attributable to the canons of neorealism, in the last phase of his career he directed films that could be inserted within the range of comedy, where components of criticism survive alongside the usual humorous tones on the customs of the middle class. The already mentioned ''Divorce Italian Style
''Divorce Italian Style'' ( it, Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Italian dark comedy film directed by Pietro Germi. The screenplay is by Germi, Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti, and Agenore Incrocci, based on Giovanni Arpino's novel '' Un de ...
'' opened the doors to Germi's success which materialized with '' Seduced and Abandoned'' (1964) and with the clear and caustic '' The Birds, the Bees and the Italians'' (1965). The film (a satire on the bourgeois hypocrisy of a small town in the upper Veneto region) won the Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films ...
equal to ''A Man and a Woman
''A Man and a Woman'' (french: Un homme et une femme) is a 1966 French film written and directed by Claude Lelouch and starring Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant. Written by Lelouch and Pierre Uytterhoeven, the film concerns a young widow ...
'' (1966) by Claude Lelouch
Claude Barruck Joseph Lelouch (; born 30 October 1937) is a French film director, writer, cinematographer, actor and producer. Lelouch grew up in an Algerian Jewish Family. He emerged as a prominent director in the 1960s. Lelouch gained critica ...
.
The latest protagonist of the great season of comedy was the Roman director Ettore Scola
Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film '' A Special Day'' and over the course of his film career was nominated for fiv ...
. Throughout the 1950s, he played the role of screenwriter, to then make his directorial debut in 1964 with the film ''Let's Talk About Women
''Se permettete parliamo di donne'' (internationally released as ''Let's Talk About Women'') is a 1964 Italian comedy film. It represents the directorial debut of Ettore Scola. The film consists of nine segments, all played by Vittorio Gassman ...
''. In 1974 he directed his best-known film, ''We All Loved Each Other So Much
''We All Loved Each Other So Much'' ( it, C'eravamo tanto amati) is a 1974 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Ettore Scola and written by Scola and the famous screenwriter duo of Age & Scarpelli. It stars Stefania Sandrelli, Vittorio Gassman, ...
'', which retraces 30 years of Italian history through the stories of three friends: the lawyer Gianni Perego (Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
), the porter Antonio ( Nino Manfredi) and the intellectual Nicola (Stefano Satta Flores
Stefano Satta Flores (14 January 1937 – 22 October 1985) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography
Born in Naples, Italy, Satta Flores graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in the Italian capital city of Rome. He bega ...
. Other important films are '' Ugly, Dirty and Bad'' (1976), led by Nino Manfredi, and ''A Special Day
''A Special Day'' ( it, Una giornata particolare) is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Ettore Scola and starring Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni and John Vernon. Set in Rome in 1938, its narrative follows a woman and her neighbor who stay h ...
'' (1977), where Sophia Loren
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...
and Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...
give one of their most high and poignant performances.
In 1980, the director sums up the Commedia all'italiana in the generational pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...
of '' La terrazza'', which effectively describes the bitter existential balance sheet of a group of left-wing intellectuals. According to most of the critics, the film is the last work still attributable to the Commedia all'italiana.
A separate place is occupied by Antonio Pietrangeli
Antonio Pietrangeli (19 January 191912 July 1968) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was a major practitioner of the Commedia all'italiana genre.
Biography
Pietrangeli was born in Rome. He started in the film industry by writing m ...
, who in almost all of his films has dealt with female psychology, outlining portraits of unhappy and tormented women with marked sensitivity, from ''Adua and Her Friends
''Adua and Her Friends'' ( it, Adua e le compagne), also known as ''Hungry For Love'', is a 1960 Italian film directed by Antonio Pietrangeli with a collaborative screenplay by the film's director together with Ruggero Maccari, Ettore Scola and ...
'' (1960) to ''La visita
''La visita'' is a 1963 Italian comedy film directed by Antonio Pietrangeli. It was entered into the 14th Berlin International Film Festival.
Cast
* Sandra Milo - Pina
* François Périer - Adolfo Di Palma
* Mario Adorf - Cucaracha
* Gastone M ...
'' (1963), from ''The Girl from Parma
''La parmigiana'' (internationally released as ''The Girl from Parma'') is a 1963 Italian comedy drama film directed by Antonio Pietrangeli. The film describes the disappointing sentimental experiences of an orphan girl (Catherine Spaak).
Cast
* ...
'' (1963) to ''I Knew Her Well
''I Knew Her Well'' ( it, Io la conoscevo bene) is a 1965 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Antonio Pietrangeli and starring Stefania Sandrelli.
In 2008 the film was selected to enter the list of the 100 Italian films to be saved.
Plot syn ...
'' (1965), considered his masterpiece. Other significant works are the timeless '' The Traffic Policeman'' (1960) and '' Be Sick... It's Free'' (1968) by Luigi Zampa
Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director.
Biography
Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school Centro sperimentale di cinematografia in Rome.
He directed several ...
, '' Crimen'' (1961) by Mario Camerini
Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
The cousin of Augusto Genina, he made the most well-known films in Italy during the 1930s, most of them comedies starring Vittorio De Sica. H ...
, ''Leoni al sole
''Leoni al sole'' is a 1961 Italian comedy drama film. It is the directorial debut of Vittorio Caprioli.
In 2008, the film was selected to enter the list of the 100 Italian films to be saved.
In 2008, it was restored and shown as part of the ret ...
'' (1961) by Vittorio Caprioli
Vittorio Caprioli (15 August 1921 – 2 October 1989) was an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He appeared in 109 films between 1946 and 1990, mostly in French productions.
Biography
Caprioli was born in Naples. Having graduated fr ...
, ''To Bed or Not to Bed
''To Bed or Not to Bed'' ( it, Il diavolo, also known as ''The Devil'') is a 1963 black-and-white Italian film directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro. It tells the story of an Italian merchant and his experiences during a visit to Sweden.
Cast
* Albert ...
'' (1963) by Gian Luigi Polidoro
Gian Luigi Polidoro (4 February 1927 – 7 September 2000) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 16 films between 1956 and 1998. His 1963 film '' Il diavolo'' won the Golden Bear at the 13th Berlin International Film Fes ...
, as well as some comedies by Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the Italian neorealism, neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Shoeshine (film), Sciuscià ...
, such as ''Il Boom
''Il Boom'' is a 1963 commedia all'italiana film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica.
The "boom" in the title was the Italian economic miracle which transformed the country in the span of a decade, from the late 1950s to the onset of the 1970s. ...
'' (1963), ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow'' ( it, Ieri, oggi, domani) is a 1963 comedy anthology film by Italian director Vittorio De Sica. It stars Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The film consists of three short stories about couples in different ...
'' (1963) and ''Marriage Italian Style
''Marriage Italian Style'' ( it, Matrimonio all'italiana ) is a 1964 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni.
The film was adapted by Leonardo Benvenuti, Renato Castellani, Piero ...
'' (1964).
Between the 1960s and 1970s, the cinema of Luciano Salce
Luciano Salce (25 September 1922 – 17 December 1989) was an Italian film director, comedian, tv host, producer, actor and lyricist. His 1962 film ''Le pillole di Ercole'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Ven ...
, author of many comedies with guaranteed box-office receipts, became famous. In addition to the comic cycle of films based on the adventures of the accountant Ugo Fantozzi, we can mention ''The Fascist
''The Fascist'' ( it, Il federale) is a 1961 Italian film directed by Luciano Salce.
It was coproduced with France. It was also the first feature film scored by Ennio Morricone.
Plot
The movie takes place in 1944, when Italy was divided ...
'' (1961), ''Crazy Desire
''Crazy Desire'' (originally titled as ''La voglia matta'', also known as ''The Crazy Urge'') is a 1962 Italian comedy film directed by Luciano Salce. It launched the film career of Catherine Spaak. The film initially was banned by the Italian cen ...
'' (1962), ''The Hours of Love
''The Hours of Love'' ( it, Le ore dell'amore) is a 1963 Italian comedy drama film directed by Luciano Salce.
Cast
* Ugo Tognazzi as Gianni
* Emmanuelle Riva as Maretta
* Barbara Steele as Leila
* Umberto D'Orsi as Ottavio
* Mara Berni as Mrs ...
'' (1963) and '' Duck in Orange Sauce'' (1975), all enriched by the recitative flair of Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
. Also is Franco Brusati's film ''Bread and Chocolate
''Bread and Chocolate'' ( it, Pane e cioccolata) is a 1974 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Franco Brusati. This film chronicles the misadventures of an Italian immigrant to Switzerland and is representative of the ''commedia all'italiana'' fi ...
'' (1973), which revisits the various problems of Italian diaspora
, image = Map of the Italian Diaspora in the World.svg
, image_caption = Map of the Italian diaspora in the world
, population = worldwide
, popplace = Brazil, Argentina, United States, France, Colombia, Canada, P ...
with biting intelligence, aided in this by the incisive interpretation of Nino Manfredi. Brusati himself directed '' To Forget Venice'' (1979).
Also in this context, the work done by the director Lina Wertmüller
Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich (14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021), known as Lina Wertmüller (), was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art house films '' Seven Beauti ...
, who together with the experienced couple of actors Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beauties ...
and Mariangela Melato gave life, in the first half of the 1970s, to successful films among ''The Seduction of Mimi
''The Seduction of Mimi'' ( it, Mimì metallurgico ferito nell'onore, lit=Mimi the Metalworker, Wounded in Honor) is a 1972 Italian comedy-drama film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini as Mimi and featuring Ma ...
'' (1972), ''Love and Anarchy
''Love and Anarchy'' ( it, Film d'amore e d'anarchia, ovvero: stamattina alle 10, in via dei Fiori, nella nota casa di tolleranza..., lit=Film of love and anarchy, or rather: this morning at 10, in via dei Fiori, in the well-known brothel ...) i ...
'' (1973) and '' Swept Away'' (1974). Two years later, with ''Seven Beauties
''Seven Beauties'' ( it, Pasqualino Settebellezze, "Pasqualino Sevenbeauties") is a 1975 Italian language film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller and starring Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, and Shirley Stoler.
Written by Wertmüller, the ...
'' (1976), she obtained four Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations, making her the first woman ever to receive a nomination for best director.
Of note is the artistic product of Sergio Citti
Sergio Citti (30 May 1933 – 11 October 2005) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, born in Rome. He often worked with Pier Paolo Pasolini, but also worked for others such as Ettore Scola. His own films include '' We Free Kings'', f ...
, who along the lines of certain Pasolinian cinema directs bizarre and surreal comedies, achieving convincing results in more than one film among which are '' Ostia'' (1970), ''Beach House
Beach House is an American musical duo formed in Baltimore, Maryland in 2004. The band consists of Victoria Legrand (vocals, keyboards) and Alex Scally (guitar, keyboard, backing vocals).
Their self-titled debut album was released in 2006 t ...
'' (1977) and ''Il minestrone
''Il minestrone'' is a 1981 Italian comedy film directed by Sergio Citti. It was entered into the 31st Berlin International Film Festival.
Plot
Francesco and Giovanni are two tramps on the outskirts of Rome, forced to rummage through the trash ...
'' (1981). Other directors worth mentioning are Nanni Loy
Nanni Loy (born Giovanni Loi; 23 October 1925 – 21 August 1995) was an Italian film, theatre and TV director. Specifically, Nanni Loy was Sardinian, and one of several notable Sardinian film makers, including Franco Solinas.
Biography
Lo ...
for the film '' The Four Days of Naples'' (1962), Steno in the successful film ''Febbre da cavallo
''Febbre da cavallo'' is a 1976 Italian comedy film directed by Steno and starring Gigi Proietti. It was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.
Plot
Bruno Fioretti, known as "Mandrak ...
'' (1976), Sergio Corbucci, Salvatore Samperi
Salvatore Samperi (26 July 1944 – 4 March 2009) was an Italian film director. His 1973 film ''Malicious (1973 film), Malicious'' was entered into the 23rd Berlin International Film Festival and his 1979 film ''Ernesto (film), Ernesto' ...
, Gianni Puccini
Gianni Puccini (9 November 1914 – 3 December 1968) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 32 films between 1940 and 1967. He also directed 18 films between 1951 and 1968.
Selected filmography
* '' Ossessione'' (1943)
* ...
and Marcello Fondato
Marcello Fondato (8 January 1924 – 13 November 2008) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 46 films between 1958 and 1986. He also directed ten films between 1968 and 1992. His 1970 film '' Ninì Tirabusciò: la donna ...
. Others are Pasquale Festa Campanile
Pasquale Festa Campanile (28 July 1927 – 25 February 1986) was an Italian screenwriter, film director and novelist, best known as a prominent exponent of the commedia all'italiana genre.
Life and career
Born at Melfi, in the province ...
, Luigi Filippo D'Amico
Luigi Filippo D'Amico (9 October 1924 – 28 April 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. His 1974 film ''Il domestico'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.
Sele ...
, Tonino Cervi Tonino is an Italian and Spanish given name, surname or nickname. As a given name it is a diminutive form of Antonio in use in Italy, Spain, parts of the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, C ...
, Flavio Mogherini
Flavio Mogherini (25 March 1922 – 23 April 1994) was an Italian production designer, art director and film director. His career spanned from 1947 to 1994.
His daughter Federica Mogherini was High Representative of the Union for Foreign Af ...
, Franco Rossi and Luigi Magni
Luigi Magni (21 March 1928 – 27 October 2013) was an Italian screenwriter and film director.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Magni started his career as a screenwriter, in 1956, with '' Tempo di villeggiatura''. In 1968 he collaborated w ...
, who in his small but significant production, outlined comedies set in papal and Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
Rome that often saw Nino Manfredi as the leading actor.
Actors and actresses
Among the forerunners of the Commedia all'italiana are certainly two of the great actors of the 20th century, Aldo Fabrizi
Aldo Fabrizi (; born Aldo Fabbrizi; 1 November 1905 – 2 April 1990) was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter and comedian, best known for the role of the heroic priest in Roberto Rossellini's '' Rome, Open City'' and as partner of Totò i ...
, who anticipated the genre with some successful films of the early 1950s, and Totò
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...
, forerunner of the Commedia all'italiana with the popular trend of "Totò e Peppino" in which another famous actor of Neapolitan comedy appeared as a sidekick, Peppino De Filippo
Peppino De Filippo (born Giuseppe De Filippo; 24 August 1903 – 27 January 1980) was an Italian actor.
De Filippo was born in Naples, brother of actor and dramatist Eduardo De Filippo and of Titina De Filippo. He made his stage debut at ...
. The two actors, in addition to playing leading roles in a large number of feature films of the genre, left an indelible mark, as guests of honor, in some masterpieces of the time. Totò for example, in ''Big Deal on Madonna Street
''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' ( it, I soliti ignoti; released in the UK as ''Persons Unknown'') is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Its original Italian ...
'' (1958) and Peppino de Filippo in Fellini
Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and most i ...
's episode ''The Temptations of Doctor Antonio'' in ''Boccaccio '70
''Boccaccio '70'' is a 1962 comedy anthology film directed by Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Mario Monicelli and Luchino Visconti from an idea by Cesare Zavattini. It consists of four episodes, each by one of the directors, all about a diff ...
(1962).
Among the actors, in addition to Totò and Aldo Fabrizi, the main representatives are Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter.
Early life
Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...
, Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
, Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
, Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...
and Nino Manfredi, while among the actresses is Monica Vitti
Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli; 3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. After working with Antonioni, Vitti changed fo ...
. However, there are numerous high-level interpreters working in the genre. Among these are Sophia Loren
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...
, Gina Lollobrigida
Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...
, Claudia Cardinale
Claude Joséphine Rose "Claudia" Cardinale (; born 15 April 1938) is an Italian actress. She has starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and 1970s, acting in Italian, French, and English.
Born and raised in La Goulette, a ...
, Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the Italian neorealism, neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Shoeshine (film), Sciuscià ...
, Franco and Ciccio
Franco () and Ciccio () were a comic comedy duo formed by Italian actors Franco Franchi (1928–1992) and Ciccio Ingrassia (1922–2003), particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s. Their collaboration began in 1954 in the theater field, and end ...
, Raimondo Vianello
Raimondo Vianello (7 May 1922 – 15 April 2010) was an Italian film actor, comedian, and television host. He was a well-known Italian television personality.
Biography
He was born in Rome, but spent his youth in Pula, where his father, an ...
, Gino Cervi
Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952-1965), and police detective Jules ...
, Walter Chiari
Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles.
Biography
Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...
, Aroldo Tieri
Aroldo Tieri (28 August 1917 – 28 December 2006) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1939 and 1969.
Life and career
Born in Corigliano Calabro, son of the journalist and playwright Vincenzo Tieri, Aroldo Tier ...
, Franca Valeri
Alma Franca Maria Norsa (31 July 1920 – 9 August 2020), known professionally as Franca Valeri, was an Italian actress, playwright, screenwriter, author, and theatre director.
Life and career
Born in Milan as Alma Franca Maria Norsa, she manage ...
, Stefania Sandrelli
Stefania Sandrelli (born 5 June 1946) is an Italian actress, famous for her many roles in the ''commedia all'Italiana'', starting from the 1960s. She was 14 years old when she starred in '' Divorce Italian Style'' as Angela, the cousin and love i ...
, Gastone Moschin
Gastone Moschin (8 June 1929 – 4 September 2017) was an Italian stage, television and film actor.
Career
Born in San Giovanni Lupatoto (Veneto), Moschin graduated from the Accademia Nazionale di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico and then began ...
, Silvana Mangano
Silvana Mangano (; 21 April 1930 – 16 December 1989) was an Italian film actress. She was one of a generation of thespians who arose from the neorealist movement, and went on to become a major female star, regarded as a sex symbol for the 19 ...
, Carla Gravina
Carla Gravina (born 5 August 1941) is an Italian actress and politician. She received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her role in '' La terrazza'' (1980). Her other notable roles were in '' Love and Chatter'' (1957), ''Esterina ...
, Adolfo Celi
Adolfo Celi (; 27 July 1922 – 19 February 1986) was an Italian film actor and director. Born in Curcuraci, Messina, Sicily, Celi appeared in nearly 100 films, specialising in international villains. Although a prominent actor in Italian ...
, Carlo Giuffré Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to:
*Carlo (name)
* Monte Carlo
*Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
*A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Ch ...
, Aldo Giuffré and Lando Buzzanca.
Subsequently (from the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the following decade), Paolo Villaggio, Gigi Proietti
Luigi "Gigi" Proietti (2 November 1940 – 2 November 2020) was an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian, musician, singer and television presenter.
Early life
He was born in Rome to Romano Proietti, originally from Umbria, and Giovanna Ceci, a ...
, Giancarlo Giannini
Giancarlo Giannini (born 1 August 1942) is an Italian actor and voice actor. He won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in '' Love and Anarchy'' (1973) and received an Academy Award nomination for '' Seven Beauties ...
, Michele Placido, Laura Antonelli
Laura Antonelli ( Antonaz; 28 November 1941 – 22 June 2015) was an Italian film actress who appeared in 45 films between 1964 and 1991.
Early years
Antonelli was born Laura Antonaz in Pola, Kingdom of Italy (in Croatian, Pula), former cap ...
, Stefano Satta Flores
Stefano Satta Flores (14 January 1937 – 22 October 1985) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography
Born in Naples, Italy, Satta Flores graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in the Italian capital city of Rome. He bega ...
, Mariangela Melato, as well as an infinite number of excellent character actors and supporting actors, among which are Gianni Agus
Gianni Agus (17 August 1917 – 4 March 1994) was an Italian actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1938. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1938 and 1991.
Life and career
Born in Cagliari, Sardinia, after his dip ...
, Tiberio Murgia
Tiberio Murgia (5 February 1929 – 20 August 2010) was an Italian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films between 1958 and 2009.
Biography
Born into a humble family, Murgia began working as a laborer from an early age. At the age of ...
, Carlo Pisacane
Carlo Pisacane, Duke of San Giovanni (22 August 1818 – 2 July 1857) was an Italian patriot and one of the first Italian socialist thinkers. He argued that violence was necessary not only to draw attention to, or generate publicity for, a c ...
(better known as "Capannelle"), Renato Salvatori
Renato Salvatori (20 March 1933 – 27 March 1988) was an Italian actor.
Born in Seravezza, Province of Lucca, Salvatori began his career in his teens playing juvenile, romantic roles. After working with directors such as Luchino Visconti, Ro ...
, Mario Carotenuto
Mario Carotenuto (30 June 1916 – 14 April 1995) was an Italian actor of film and theatre.
Biography
Carotenuto, the son of a silent film actor and younger brother of the actor Memmo Carotenuto, took various humble jobs for many years be ...
, Memmo Carotenuto
Memmo Carotenuto (23 August 1908 – 23 December 1980) was an Italian actor. He appeared in 125 films between 1941 and 1980.
Selected filmography
*'' The Wedding Trip'' (1969)
* ''Assassination in Rome'' (1965)
* '' Male Companion'' (1964 ...
, Tina Pica
Tina Pica (31 March 1884 – 15 August 1968) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage. Her film debut came in 1935 with '' The Three-Cornered Hat''.
In the 1950s, she became a celebrity thanks to her role as Carame ...
, Marisa Merlini
Marisa Merlini (6 August 1923 – 27 July 2008) was an Italian character actress active in Italy's post-World War II cinema. Merlini appeared in over fifty films during her career, which spanned from World War II to 2005. In Luigi Comencini's 19 ...
, Ave Ninchi
Ave Maria Ninchi (14 December 1914 – 10 November 1997) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage, television, and in over 98 feature films that included ''Tomorrow Is Too Late'' (1949) and Louis Malle's ''Murmur ...
, Carlo Delle Piane
Carlo Delle Piane (2 February 1936 – 23 August 2019) was an Italian film actor. From 1948 until his death, he appeared in more than 100 films.Leopoldo Trieste
Leopoldo Trieste (3 May 1917 – 25 January 2003) was an Italian actor, film director and script writer.
Trieste was born in Reggio Calabria. He worked with directors such as Pietro Germi, Francis Ford Coppola, Giuseppe Tornatore, Mario Bava, ...
, Giacomo Furia
Giacomo Matteo Furia (2 January 1925 – 5 June 2015) was an Italian film, television and stage actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1948 and 1998.
Life and career
Born in Arienzo, near Caserta, Furia started his acting career ...
, Luigi Pavese
Luigi Pavese (25 October 1897 – 13 December 1969) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography
Born in Asti, Pavese started his career in 1916 working as a silent film actor at 19 years of age. He then began his theatrical debut in 192 ...
and Raffaele Pisu. Even great actors who tend to be dramatic, such as Gian Maria Volonté
Gian Maria Volonté (9 April 1933 – 6 December 1994) was an Italian actor, including roles in four Spaghetti Western films: Ramón Rojo in Sergio Leone's ''A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964) and El Indio in Leone's '' For a Few Dollars More'' (19 ...
, Enrico Maria Salerno
Enrico Maria Salerno (September 18, 1926 – February 28, 1994) was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He was also the voice of Clint Eastwood in the Italian version of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy films, and the voice of Ch ...
and Salvo Randone
Salvatore "Salvo" Randone (25 September 1906 – 6 March 1991) was an Italian theatrical, television and film actor.
Born in Syracuse, Sicily, Randone debuted on stage in mid-1920s and, after some years in which he played roles of little we ...
, have sometimes successfully ventured into Commedia all'italiana. There are also many foreign performers who have often been protagonists or co-stars in films belonging to the Commedia all'italiana genre, including Catherine Spaak
Catherine Spaak (3 April 1945 – 17 April 2022) was a French-born Italian actress and singer who acted in mostly in Italian films with some Hollywood and international productions. She is best known for her roles in the films '' Il Sorpasso'' ( ...
, Louis de Funès
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza (; 31 July 1914 – 27 January 1983) was a French actor and comedian. He is France's favourite actor, according to a series of polls conducted since the late 1960s, having played over 150 roles in fil ...
, Fernandel
Fernand Joseph Désiré Contandin (8 May 1903 – 26 February 1971), better known as Fernandel, was a French actor and singer. Born near Marseille, France, to Désirée Bedouin and Denis Contandin, originating in Perosa Argentina, an Occitan t ...
, Sylva Koscina, Bernard Blier
Bernard Blier (11 January 1916 – 29 March 1989) was a French character actor.
He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, a researcher at the Pasteur Institute, was posted at the time.
Life and career
His rotund features and ...
, Mario Adorf
Mario Adorf (; born 8 September 1930) is a German actor, considered to be one of the great veteran character actors of European cinema. Since 1954, he has played both leading and supporting roles in over 200 film and television productions, am ...
, Tomas Milian
Tomas Milian (born Tomás Quintín Rodríguez-Varona Milián Salinas de la Fé y Álvarez de la Campa; 3 March 1933 – 22 March 2017) was a Cuban-born actor and singer with American and Italian citizenship, known for the emotional intensity and ...
, Philippe Noiret, Senta Berger
Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; ''Austrian German:'' , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film and television; her awards include three Bambi Awards, two Romys, an A ...
, Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Xavier Trintignant (; 11 December 1930 – 17 June 2022) was a French actor. He made his theatrical debut in 1951, and went on to be regarded as one of the best French dramatic actors of the post-war era. He starred in many classic fi ...
, Claudine Auger
Claudine Auger (born Claudine Oger; 26 April 1941 – 18 December 2019) was a French actress best known for her role as a Bond girl, Dominique "Domino" Derval, in the James Bond film '' Thunderball'' (1965). She earned the title of Miss F ...
, Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret.
She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...
and Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...
.
Settings
The Commedia all'italiana was a creation of Cinecittà
Cinecittà Studios (; Italian for Cinema City Studios), is a large film studio in Rome, Italy. With an area of 400,000 square metres (99 acres), it is the largest film studio in Europe, and is considered the hub of Italian cinema. The studio ...
and initially was often set in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, with Roman actors or, even more often, Roman by adoption (for example, Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
, born in Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, moved to Rome at a very young age, Ugo Tognazzi
Ugo Tognazzi (23 March 1922 – 27 October 1990) was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter.
Early life
Tognazzi was born in Cremona, in northern Italy but spent his youth in various localities as his father was a travelling clerk fo ...
, from Cremona
Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' ( Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...
, took his first steps in the avanspettacolo
Avanspettacolo (literally: "before the show") is an Italian theatrical genre that developed between the 1930s and 1950s. Closely related to revue and variety show, avanspettacolo features a diverse mixture of music, ballet, sketch comedy, and othe ...
of the capital, Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (28 September 1924 – 19 December 1996) was an Italian film actor, regarded as one of his country's most iconic male performers of the 20th century. He played leading roles for many of Italy's top di ...
and Nino Manfredi, both originally from the province of Frosinone
The Province of Frosinone ( it, Provincia di Frosinone) is a province in the Lazio region of Italy, with 91 '' comuni'' (singular: ''comune''; see Comuni of the Province of Frosinone). Its capital is the city of Frosinone. It has an area o ...
, trained artistically in Rome). After all, Italian public life of the time was mainly centered in the capital, where Via Veneto
Via Vittorio Veneto (), colloquially called Via Veneto, is one of the most famous, elegant, and expensive streets of Rome, Italy. The street is named after the Battle of Vittorio Veneto (1918), a decisive Italian victory of World War I. Federico F ...
, with its cafés frequented by artists, actors, adventurers and photographers (the so-called "paparazzi
Paparazzi (, ; ; singular: masculine paparazzo or feminine paparazza) are independent photographers who take pictures of high-profile people; such as actors, musicians, athletes, politicians, and other celebrities, typically while subjects ...
"), who made the social life of the Capitoline beau monde famous throughout the world.
Although, even a large and busy city such as Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
throughout the 1950s seemed to remain almost on the sidelines, perceived more as a center of business and work than of worldly events, only to return to a leading role with the Italian economic miracle
The Italian economic miracle or Italian economic boom ( it, il miracolo economico italiano) is the term used by historians, economists, and the mass media to designate the prolonged period of strong economic growth in Italy after the Second Worl ...
of the 1960s. Among the most genuinely Roman interpreters, Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, voice actor, singer, comedian, director and screenwriter.
Early life
Born in Rome to a schoolteacher and a musician and the last of five children, Sordi was named in hon ...
participated in over 140 cinematographic works, ended up embodying, perhaps better than any other, his city of origin, giving life to a vast range of characters representing situations and issues of society weather.
However, although the Roman setting was very frequent, the genre always represented Italian society in its most diverse facets and many films attributable to the genre were therefore set in other important Italian urban realities (for example Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...
in ''Seven Beauties
''Seven Beauties'' ( it, Pasqualino Settebellezze, "Pasqualino Sevenbeauties") is a 1975 Italian language film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller and starring Giancarlo Giannini, Fernando Rey, and Shirley Stoler.
Written by Wertmüller, the ...
'' and ''Treasure of San Gennaro
''Treasure of San Gennaro'' ( it, Operazione San Gennaro) is a 1966 Italian comedy film starring Nino Manfredi, Senta Berger, Totò and Claudine Auger. It is directed by Dino Risi and is a funny classic story of a perfect robbery plan gone wrong i ...
'', Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
in '' My Friends'', Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...
in '' Il vedovo'' and ''Come Home and Meet My Wife
''Romanzo popolare'' (internationally released as ''Come Home and Meet My Wife'') is a 1974 Italian comedy drama film directed by Mario Monicelli. The film won the David di Donatello for Best Script.
Cast
* Ugo Tognazzi: Giulio Basletti
*Ornel ...
'') or in the microcosm of the small Italian province (for example Veneto
Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona.
Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...
in ''Police Chief Pepe
''Il Commissario Pepe'' or ''Police Chief Pepe'' is a 1969 Italian comedy – drama film directed by Ettore Scola.
It is based on a Ugo Facco De La Garda's novel.
Filmed in Vicenza, the city is never mentioned.
Awards
Ugo Tognazzi was name ...
'' and '' The Birds, the Bees and the Italians'', Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
in ''Divorce Italian Style
''Divorce Italian Style'' ( it, Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Italian dark comedy film directed by Pietro Germi. The screenplay is by Germi, Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti, and Agenore Incrocci, based on Giovanni Arpino's novel '' Un de ...
'', the Lombard town of Vigevano
Vigevano (; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Avgevan) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pavia, Lombardy in northern Italy. A historic art town, it is also renowned for shoemaking and is one of the main centres of Lomellina, a rice-growing a ...
in '' The Teacher from Vigevano'' and the Marche
Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...
village of Sacrofante Marche in '' Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses'' and the Ascoli Piceno
Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city h ...
in ''Alfredo, Alfredo
''Alfredo, Alfredo'' is a 1972 Italian award-winning comedy film co-written and directed by Pietro Germi.
Plot
The film, told mostly in flashback, tells the story of a timid bank clerk (Dustin Hoffman) living in Ascoli Piceno (Italian town ...
'').
Since the 1960s, there have also been numerous films portraying Italians struggling with the rest of the world, starting with the figures of emigrants abroad during the Italian diaspora
, image = Map of the Italian Diaspora in the World.svg
, image_caption = Map of the Italian diaspora in the world
, population = worldwide
, popplace = Brazil, Argentina, United States, France, Colombia, Canada, P ...
. Nino Manfredi played an immigrant to Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
in ''Bread and Chocolate
''Bread and Chocolate'' ( it, Pane e cioccolata) is a 1974 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Franco Brusati. This film chronicles the misadventures of an Italian immigrant to Switzerland and is representative of the ''commedia all'italiana'' fi ...
'' and Alberto Sordi played an immigrant to Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
in '' A Girl in Australia''. Italians abroad find themselves, in the most diverse situations, also in ''The Girl with the Pistol
''The Girl with the Pistol'' ( it, La ragazza con la pistola) is a 1968 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Monica Vitti won the David di Donatello as Best Actre ...
'', '' Will Our Heroes Be Able to Find Their Friend Who Has Mysteriously Disappeared in Africa?'', ''To Bed or Not to Bed
''To Bed or Not to Bed'' ( it, Il diavolo, also known as ''The Devil'') is a 1963 black-and-white Italian film directed by Gian Luigi Polidoro. It tells the story of an Italian merchant and his experiences during a visit to Sweden.
Cast
* Albert ...
'', '' Fumo di Londra'', '' An Italian in America'', '' Run for Your Wife'', ''My Brother Anastasia
''My Brother Anastasia'' (Italian: ''Anastasia mio fratello'') is a 1973 Italian drama crime film directed by Steno.
Cast
* Alberto Sordi as Don Salvatore Anastasia
* Richard Conte as Albert Anastasia
* Luciano Pigozzi as Pasquale
* Edoar ...
'', and many others.
Comedies in which the Italian setting is transposed into different historical contexts are also not infrequent. From the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
by Mario Monicelli
Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the '' Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was a ...
in '' L'armata Brancaleone'' and ''Brancaleone at the Crusades
''Brancaleone at the Crusades'' ( it, Brancaleone alle Crociate) is an Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli and released in 1970, the sequel to ''L'armata Brancaleone''.
Plot
The film starts where ''L'armata Brancaleone'' has ended. B ...
'', to the papal Rome of the Risorgimento
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
by Luigi Magni
Luigi Magni (21 March 1928 – 27 October 2013) was an Italian screenwriter and film director.
Life and career
Born in Rome, Magni started his career as a screenwriter, in 1956, with '' Tempo di villeggiatura''. In 1968 he collaborated w ...
in '' The Conspirators'' and ''In the Name of the Pope King
''In the Name of the Pope King'' or ''In nome del papa re'' is a 1977 Italian drama film written, and directed by Luigi Magni. Starring Nino Manfredi, it was not released in USA until 1986. The score was composed by Armando Trovajoli.
Plot
In ...
'', to the numerous films that portray Italians grappling with the ups and downs over the years of the fascist regime
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
and World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, such as ''The Fascist
''The Fascist'' ( it, Il federale) is a 1961 Italian film directed by Luciano Salce.
It was coproduced with France. It was also the first feature film scored by Ennio Morricone.
Plot
The movie takes place in 1944, when Italy was divided ...
'', ''Roaring Years
''Roaring Years'' ( it, Gli anni ruggenti) is a 1962 Italian comedy film directed by Luigi Zampa, set in the 1930s during the Fascist period of Benito Mussolini. It stars Nino Manfredi and Gino Cervi, and was inspired by the satirical comedy "Th ...
'', ''We All Loved Each Other So Much
''We All Loved Each Other So Much'' ( it, C'eravamo tanto amati) is a 1974 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Ettore Scola and written by Scola and the famous screenwriter duo of Age & Scarpelli. It stars Stefania Sandrelli, Vittorio Gassman, ...
'', ''The Two Marshals
''The Two Marshals'' ( it, I due marescialli) is a 1961 Italian comedy film written and directed by Sergio Corbucci. The film was a hit at the Italian box office, with 2.765.531 spectators and a total gross of 536.513.000 lire.Matilde Amorosi, ...
'', ''Everybody Go Home
''Everybody Go Home'' ( it, Tutti a casa) is a 1960 Italian comedy-drama film directed by Luigi Comencini. It features an international cast including the U.S. actors Martin Balsam, Alex Nicol and the Franco-Italian Serge Reggiani. Nino Manfred ...
'', or even '' Polvere di stelle'', the story of a shabby avanspettacolo
Avanspettacolo (literally: "before the show") is an Italian theatrical genre that developed between the 1930s and 1950s. Closely related to revue and variety show, avanspettacolo features a diverse mixture of music, ballet, sketch comedy, and othe ...
company struggling with the upheavals of the Badoglio Proclamation The Badoglio Proclamation was a speech read on Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR) at 19:42 on 8 September 1943 by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Italian head of government, announcing that the Armistice of Cassibile between Italy and th ...
, and many other films.
Success and decline
The rise of a successful genre
The genre had great success for over 20 years, from the end of the 1950s to the end of the 1970s. In its climax, especially around the second half of the 1960s, the best Commedie all'italiana frequently found themselves at the top of the box office charts, not only in Italy, but also in various other European countries. The success in some cases was such that it allowed actors such as Sophia Loren
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress. She was named by the American Film Institute as one of the greatest female stars of Classical Hollywood ci ...
, Walter Chiari
Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles.
Biography
Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...
, Vittorio Gassman
Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director and screenwriter.
He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important productions ...
, Gina Lollobrigida
Luigia "Gina" Lollobrigida (born 4 July 1927) is an Italian actress, photojournalist, and politician. She was one of the highest-profile European actresses of the 1950s and early 1960s, a period in which she was an international sex symbol. As o ...
, Virna Lisi to attempt cinematic experiences in Hollywood as well. In fact, the genre, together with neorealism and spaghetti westerns
The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most of ...
, was the only one that could be successfully exported and also appreciated abroad, despite the fact that the situations and contexts represented were sometimes so typically "Italian" as not to always be fully perceived by the foreign public.
In some cases, due to the particular themes dealt with, even of significant social relevance, some Commedie all'italiana not only caused a stir at the time, but even contributed to animating the debate on the proposed themes. This is the case, for example, of '' Be Sick... It's Free'', on the mechanisms of the Italian health system, or ''In Prison Awaiting Trial
''In Prison Awaiting Trial'' ( it, Detenuto in attesa di giudizio) is a 1971 Italian drama film directed by Nanni Loy. It was entered into the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival where Alberto Sordi won the Silver Bear for Best Actor award.
...
'', on the judicial and prison system, or ''Divorce Italian Style
''Divorce Italian Style'' ( it, Divorzio all'italiana) is a 1961 Italian dark comedy film directed by Pietro Germi. The screenplay is by Germi, Ennio De Concini, Alfredo Giannetti, and Agenore Incrocci, based on Giovanni Arpino's novel '' Un de ...
'', on the law concerning crimes of honour.
Even after many years, even Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
has rediscovered some Commedie all'italiana, making more or less successful remake
A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...
s of them. This is the case, for example, of '' Once upon a Crime'' by Eugene Levy
Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. From 1976 until 1984, he appeared in the Canadian television sketch comedy series '' SCTV''. He has also appeared in the '' American Pie'' series of films and the Canadian ...
, a remake of '' Crimen'' by Mario Camerini
Mario Camerini (6 February 1895 – 4 February 1981) was an Italian film director and screenwriter.
The cousin of Augusto Genina, he made the most well-known films in Italy during the 1930s, most of them comedies starring Vittorio De Sica. H ...
, or '' Crackers'' by Louis Malle
Louis Marie Malle (; 30 October 1932 – 23 November 1995) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Described as "eclectic" and "a filmmaker difficult to pin down," Malle's filmogr ...
and ''Welcome to Collinwood
''Welcome to Collinwood'' is a 2002 American caper comedy film written and directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and starring William H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, Sam Rockwell, Michael Jeter (in his last movie, during his lifetime), Luis Guzmán, Pa ...
'' by Russo brothers
Anthony Russo (born February 3, 1970) and Joseph Russo (born July 18, 1971), collectively known as the Russo brothers (), are American directors, producers, and screenwriters. They direct most of their work together. They are best known for dir ...
, with George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, four Golden Globe Awards, and two Academy Awards, one for his acting and the ot ...
, both remakes of ''Big Deal on Madonna Street
''Big Deal on Madonna Street'' ( it, I soliti ignoti; released in the UK as ''Persons Unknown'') is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and considered to be among the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Its original Italian ...
'', or '' Swept Away'' by Guy Ritchie
Guy Stuart Ritchie (born 10 September 1968) is an English film director, producer and screenwriter. His work includes British gangster films, and the ''Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes'' films starring Robert Downey Jr.
Ritchi ...
, remake of '' Swept Away'' by Lina Wertmüller
Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spanol von Braueich (14 August 1928 – 9 December 2021), known as Lina Wertmüller (), was an Italian film director and screenwriter. She is best known for her 1970s art house films '' Seven Beauti ...
, as well as the more famous '' Scent of a Woman'' by Martin Brest
Martin Brest (born August 8, 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.
Education
Brest was born in the Bronx, New York, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1969, from New York University's School of the Arts in 1 ...
, starring Al Pacino
Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
, remake of '' Scent of a Woman'' by Dino Risi
Dino Risi (23 December 1916 – 7 June 2008) was an Italian film director. With Mario Monicelli, Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola, he was one of the masters of ''commedia all'italiana''.
Biography
Risi was born in Milan. He had an o ...
.
The decline
After the great public successes and critical acknowledgments, the Commedia all'italiana genre began to decline around the end of the 1970s, to run out almost completely at the beginning of the following decade. Due to the disappearance, in those years and in the immediate period precedent, of some of its most charismatic protagonists (this is the case, for example, of Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the Italian neorealism, neorealist movement.
Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: ''Shoeshine (film), Sciuscià ...
, Totò
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi de Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il Principe della risata ...
, Peppino De Filippo
Peppino De Filippo (born Giuseppe De Filippo; 24 August 1903 – 27 January 1980) was an Italian actor.
De Filippo was born in Naples, brother of actor and dramatist Eduardo De Filippo and of Titina De Filippo. He made his stage debut at ...
, Pietro Germi
Pietro Germi (; 14 September 1914 – 5 December 1974) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor, noted for his development of the neorealist and commedia all'Italiana genres.
His 1961 film '' Divorce Italian Style'' earned him a ...
, Antonio Pietrangeli
Antonio Pietrangeli (19 January 191912 July 1968) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He was a major practitioner of the Commedia all'italiana genre.
Biography
Pietrangeli was born in Rome. He started in the film industry by writing m ...
, Gino Cervi
Luigi Cervi (3 May 1901 – 3 January 1974), better known as Gino Cervi (), was an Italian actor. He was best known for portraying Peppone in a series of comedies based on the character ''Don Camillo'' (1952-1965), and police detective Jules ...
, Tina Pica
Tina Pica (31 March 1884 – 15 August 1968) was an Italian supporting actress who played character roles on stage. Her film debut came in 1935 with '' The Three-Cornered Hat''.
In the 1950s, she became a celebrity thanks to her role as Carame ...
, Camillo Mastrocinque
Camillo Mastrocinque (11 May 1901 – 23 April 1969) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than 60 films between 1937 and 1968, and is known to horror film fans for directing '' Terror in the Crypt'' (1964) starring ...
), the inevitable aging of a whole generation of directors and actors who had been the architect in the first years and, above all, the changing socio-economic and political conditions of Italy at the time.
The progressive escalation of social and political conflict in Italy in the 1970s, with the eruption of terrorism, the economic crisis, and a widespread sense of insecurity, in fact ended up extinguishing that drive towards an ironic smile which had been the dominant feature of the Commedia all'italiana in the best years, replaced little by little by an ever more crude and dramatic vision of reality.
Already in 1975, Mario Monicelli
Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the '' Commedia all'Italiana'' (Comedy Italian style). He was nominated six times for an Oscar, and was a ...
, with his '' My Friends'', gave a fundamental turning point to comedy in this sense as the happy ending and the light ending definitively disappear, the characters remain comical but become bitter and pathetic, in an atmosphere of general bitterness and disenchantment. Even further, between 1977 and 1980, some of the best films of the period seem to go, such as ''An Average Little Man
''An Average Little Man'' ( it, Un borghese piccolo piccolo, literally meaning ''a petty petty bourgeois'', also known in English as ''A Very Little Man'') is a 1977 Italian drama film directed by Mario Monicelli. It is based on the novel of the s ...
'' or '' La Terrazza'', considered by many critics to be among the last fully attributable in the genre of "Commedia all'italiana", which they mark a rather decisive inversion from the comic to the dramatic in the first case, and from the comic to a bitter historical-cultural reflection in the second. ''La terrazza'' in particular, from 1980, constitutes according to most of the critics last works still attributable to the Commedia all'italiana.
Aftermath
The genre of "Commedia all'italiana" in a broad sense, albeit with characteristics that are by now profoundly different from those of the 1950s and 1970s, found its place in the Italian film scene in the early 1980s with filmmakers such asCarlo Verdone
Carlo Gregorio Verdone (born 17 November 1950) is an Italian actor, screenwriter and film director.
Verdone is best known for his comedic roles in Italian classics, which he also wrote and directed. His career was jumpstarted by his first thre ...
, Nanni Moretti
Giovanni "Nanni" Moretti (; born 19 August 1953) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
His films have won accolades including a Palme d'Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival for ''The Son's Room'', a Silver Bear at the ...
, Maurizio Nichetti
Maurizio Nichetti (born 8 May 1948) is an Italian film screenwriter, actor and director. His 1989 film '' The Icicle Thief'' won the Golden St. George at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival. In 1998 he was a member of the jury at the ...
, Roberto Benigni
Roberto Remigio Benigni (; born 27 October 1952) is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing and starring in the Holocaust comedy-drama film ''Life Is Beautiful'' (1997), f ...
, Francesco Nuti
Francesco Nuti (born 17 May 1955) is an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Born in Prato, Nuti began his professional career as an actor in the late 1970s, when he formed the cabaret group ''Giancattivi'' together with A ...
, Alessandro Benvenuti
Alessandro Benvenuti (born 31 January 1950) is an Italian actor, film director and screenwriter. He was co-founder, together with Francesco Nuti and Athina Cenci, of the comedy ensemble "GianCattivi" with whom he achieved his first successes on ...
and Massimo Troisi
Massimo Troisi (; 19 February 1953 – 4 June 1994) was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his works in the films ''I'm Starting from Three'' (1981) and '' Il Postino: The Postman'' (1994) ...
. Starting from the 1990s, feature films by Gabriele Salvatores
Gabriele Salvatores (born 30 July 1950) is an Italian Academy Award-winning film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Born in Naples, Salvatores debuted as a theatre director in 1972, founding in Milan the Teatro dell'Elfo, for which he directe ...
, Paolo Virzì
Paolo Virzì (; born 4 March 1964) is an Italian film director, writer and producer.
Early life and work
Virzì was born in Livorno, Italy in 1964, as the son of a Sicilian police officer in the Carabinieri and a former singer. After spending ...
, Francesca Archibugi
Francesca Archibugi (; born 16 May 1960) is an Italian film director and scriptwriter.
Life and career
Born and raised in Rome in an intellectual family (her elder brother is the political and economic theorist Daniele Archibugi), she started t ...
, Daniele Luchetti
Daniele Luchetti (; born 25 July 1960) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and actor.
Life and career
Luchetti was born in Rome. He debuted as assistant director for Nanni Moretti in '' Bianca'' (1983) and '' The Mass Is Ended'' (1985) ...
and Silvio Soldini
Silvio Soldini (born 1958, in Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...
, joined by more disengaged comedies such as those by Leonardo Pieraccioni
Leonardo Pieraccioni (born 17 February 1965) is an Italian film director, actor, comedian and screenwriter.
Born in Florence, he made his directorial debut with '' The Graduates'' (1995). In 1996 he directed his breakthrough film '' The Cyclone ...
, Vincenzo Salemme
Vincenzo Salemme (born 24 July 1957) is an Italian actor, playwright, director and screenwriter.
Life and career
Born in Bacoli, Province of Naples, Salemme began his career in 1976, with the stage company of Tato Russo.
The following year ...
, Giovanni Veronesi
Giovanni Veronesi (born 1962) is an Italian film screenwriter, actor and director. Born in Prato, he is the brother of the writer Sandro Veronesi.
He started his career writing scripts for directors such as Francesco Nuti, Leonardo Pieraccio ...
and others. These artists represent the ideal heirs of the film genre, even if for the majority of critics the true and proper "Commedia all'italiana" is to be considered by now definitively waned since the beginning of the 1980s, giving way, at most, to an "Commedia italiana" ("Italian comedy"). The stylistic differences between the various filmmakers would be excessive, such as to be able to trace a common "school", and the socio-cultural conditions with which current Italian cinema
The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film ha ...
is confronted are too different by now, for one to think to a continuity with the period in which this genre was born and developed (1958–1980). It is no coincidence that the very term "Commedia all'italiana" now unanimously identifies an era which, with rare exceptions, does not go beyond the early 1980s, so much so that, from then on, it has almost never been used by critics and journalists to tag newly produced comedies.
Notable films
See also
*Cinema of Italy
The cinema of Italy (, ) comprises the films made within Italy or by Italian directors. Since its beginning, Italian cinema has influenced film movements worldwide. Italy is one of the birthplaces of art cinema and the stylistic aspect of film ha ...
* Commedia sexy all'italiana
The commedia sexy all'italiana (, lit. "sex comedy Italian style"), also known as commedia scollacciata or commedia erotica all'italiana, is a subgenre of Italian ''commedia all'italiana'' film genre.
Style
''Commedia sexy'' is characterized typ ...
* Italian neorealism
Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...
Bibliography
* *References
External links
*The Commedia all'italiana on the RAI's site
*
Centro Studi Commedia all'italiana
*
La Comédie à l'italienne sur le site Comedie Italienne
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Commedia All'italiana * Italian films by genre