Francesco Rosi (; 15 November 1922 – 10 January 2015) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. His film ''
The Mattei Affair'' won the
Palme d'Or
The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at the
1972 Cannes Film Festival. Rosi's films, especially those of the 1960s and 1970s, often appeared to have political messages, while the topics of his later films became less politically oriented and more angled toward literature. He made his debut with his first self-directed film in 1958 and continued to direct until 1997, his last film being the adaptation of
Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works i ...
's book, ''
The Truce''.
In 2008, 13 of his films were screened at the
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
. He received the
Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement, accompanied by the screening of his 1962 film ''
Salvatore Giuliano''. In 2012 the
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
awarded Rosi the
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
Biography
Origins and early career
Rosi was born in
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
in 1922. His father worked in the shipping industry, but was also a cartoonist and had, at one time, been reprimanded for his satirical drawings of
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
and
King Vittorio Emmanuel III.
[
During the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Rosi went to college alongside Giorgio Napolitano
Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...
who was to become Italian President. He studied law and then embarked on a career as an illustrator of children's books. At the same time he began working as a reporter for . There he became friendly with Raffaele La Capria, Aldo Giuffrè
Aldo Giuffrè (10 April 1924 – 26 June 2010) was an Italian film actor and comedian who appeared in over 90 films between 1948 and 2001. He was the brother of actor Carlo Giuffrè.
He is known for his roles in '' The Four Days of Naples'', ...
and Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, with each of whom he would later often collaborate.
His show business career began in 1946 as an assistant to Ettore Giannini for the stage production of a work by Salvatore Di Giacomo. He then entered the film industry and worked as an assistant to Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...
on '' La Terra Trema'' ("The Earth Trembles", 1948) and '' Senso'' ("Sense", 1954). He wrote several screenplays, including '' Bellissima'' ("Beautiful", 1951) and ''The City Stands Trial
''The City Stands Trial'' () is a 1952 Italian crime film, crime drama film directed by Luigi Zampa and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Silvana Pampanini and Paolo Stoppa. It is based on a revisiting of the Cuocolo Trial, Cuocolo murders and the strugg ...
'' ("Processo alla città", 1952), and shot a few scenes of the film '' Red Shirts'' ("Camicie rosse", 1952) by Goffredo Alessandrini
Goffredo Alessandrini (20 November 1904 – 16 May 1978) was an Italian scriptwriter and film director. He also acted, edited, and produced some films.
He practiced athletics (sport), athletics in his youth, and won a title of Italian Athletics ...
. In 1956 he co-directed, 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 producti ...
, the film ''Kean – Genio e sregolatezza'' ("Kean – Genius and recklessness"), about the Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean.[
His emergence as a director was his 1958 film '']La sfida
''La sfida'' ("the challenge") is a 1958 Italian film by Francesco Rosi. It stars José Suárez as a gang leader who challenges a local Camorra boss for supremacy. It won the Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
The film is based on the real- ...
'' (''The Challenge''), based on the story of boss Pasquale Simonetti, known as ''Pasquale 'e Nola'', and Pupetta Maresca. The realist nature of this film caused a stir in alluding to mafia control of the government. Of the film, Rosi himself said, "A director makes his first film with passion and without regard for what has gone before". But David Shipman comments "... but this is in fact a reworking of ''La Terra Trema'', with the Visconti arias replaced by Zavattini's naturalism."
The following year he directed '' The Magliari'' ("I magliari"), in which the main character, an Italian immigrant in Germany, travels between Hamburg and Hanover and clashes with a Neapalitan mafioso boss over control of the fabric market. Shipman writes:
''I magliari'' (1959) also concerns racketeers, and they are rival con-men (Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, comedian, voice dubber, director, singer, composer and screenwriter.
Sordi is considered one of the most important actors in the history of Italian cinema and one of the b ...
, 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, Rob ...
) preying on their compatriots, immigrant workers in Germany. Sordi, like the protagonist in ''La sfida'', manages to antagonise his colleagues more than his rivals – and this was to be a continuing theme in Rosi's films. For the moment it means that both films end dispiritedly, and they are further weakened by an uncertain grasp of narrative – though that is partly hidden in the vigorous handling of individual scenes and the photography of Gianni Di Venanzo.
1960s
Rosi was one of the central figures of the politicised post- neorealist 1960s and 1970s of Italian cinema, along with Gillo Pontecorvo
Gilberto Pontecorvo (; 19 November 1919 – 12 October 2006) was an Italian filmmaker associated with the political cinema movement of the 1960s and 1970s. He is best known for directing the landmark war docudrama '' The Battle of Algiers'' (19 ...
, Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...
, the Taviani brothers, Ettore Scola
Ettore Scola (; 10 May 1931 – 19 January 2016) was an Italian screenwriter and film director. He received a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1978 for his film ''A Special Day'' and over ...
and Valerio Zurlini. Dealing with a corrupt postwar Italy, Rosi's movies take on controversial issues, such as '' Salvatore Giuliano'', a film that won the Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director () is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition ...
at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival in 1962. The film examined the life of the Sicilian gangster Giuliano, using the technique of a long series of flashbacks. Shipman suggests that the film, with a "superb unity of the landscape and people of Sicily" ... "made Rosi's international reputation."
In 1963 he directed Rod Steiger
Rodney Stephen Steiger ( ; April 14, 1925 – July 9, 2002) was an American actor, noted for his portrayal of offbeat, often volatile and crazed characters. Ranked as "one of Hollywood's most charismatic and dynamic stars", he is closely associ ...
in the film '' Hands over the City'' ("Le mani sulla città"), in which he denounced the collusion between the various government departments and the urban reconstruction programmes in Naples. The film was awarded the Golden Lion
The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...
at the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
. The film, together with ''Salvatore Giuliano'', is generally considered the first of his films concerning political issues, later to be expressed in the flexible and spontaneous acting of Gian Maria Volonté. Rosi himself explained the film's purpose: "What interests me passionately is how a character behaves in the relation to the collectivity of society. I'm not making a study of character but of society. To understand what a man is like in his private drama you must begin to understand him in his public life".
In '' The Moment of Truth'' ("Il momento della verità", 1965), Rosi changed what was planned as a documentary about Spain in to a film about bullfighter Miguel Marco Miguelin. Shipman comments: "The wide screen and colour footage of the corrida were incomparably superior to those seen outside Spain hitherto."
After this Rosi moved into the unfamiliar world of the movie fable with '' More Than a Miracle'' (also titled ''Cinderella Italian Style'' and ''Happily Ever After'', Italian: "C'era una volta" – "Once Upon a Time ..."). The film starred Sophia Loren
Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone (; born 20 September 1934), known professionally as Sophia Loren ( , ), is an Italian actress, active in her native country and the United States. With a career spanning over 70 years, she is one of the ...
and Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif (, ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub ; 10 April 1932 – 10 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s. He is bes ...
, although Rosi had initially asked for the part to be played by Marcello Mastroianni
Marcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni (26 September 1924Come da lui stesso dichiarato a 1'10" dquesta intervista/ref> – 19 December 1996) was an Italian actor. He is generally regarded as one of Italy's most iconic male performers of the 20t ...
.
1970s
His 1970 film '' Many Wars Ago'' ("Uomini contro") dealt with the futility of war, focusing on the Trentino Front of 1916–17 during World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, where Italian officers made unrealistic demands of the men under their command. It was based on the novel ''Un anno sull'altopiano'' by Emilio Lussu
Emilio Lussu (4 December 1890 – 5 March 1975) was a Sardinian people, Sardinian and Italian writer, anti-fascist intellectual, military officer, Italian resistance movement, partisan, and politician. He is also the author of the novel ''One Yea ...
. The lead is played by Mark Frechette and the cost of the film was such that Rosi needed to secure Yugoslavian collaboration. Shipman writes: "The Alpine battlefield has been imaginatively and bloodily re-created, and photographed in steely colours by Pasqualino De Santis, but Rosi's urge to say something important – doubtless intense after the last two films – resulted only in cliché: that military men are fanatics and war is hell."
The years 1972 to 1976 cemented Rosi's reputation internationally as a director who dealt with controversial subjects such as the mysterious death of oil magnate Enrico Mattei ('' The Mattei Affair'', 1972, which won the Palme d'Or
The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
);[ the political machinations around gangster ]Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...
(''Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...
'', 1974), and corruption in the judiciary, '' Illustrious Corpses'' ("Cadaveri Eccellenti", 1976).[John Patterso]
"Made in Italy"
''The Guardian'', 14 February 2009 During the preparation of ''The Mattei Affair'' Rosi was in contact with Mauro De Mauro, the Sicilian journalist murdered in mysterious circumstances for reasons which, it is suspected, included an investigation on behalf of Rosi, into the death of the president of the Italian state-owned oil and gas conglomerate Eni
Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation.
Eni or ENI may refer to:
Businesses and organisations
* Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy
* Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
.[
'']Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...
'' (1973) starred Gian Maria Volonté with Steiger in a sub-plot about another Italo-American. Edmond O'Brien featured as a UN man. Norman Mailer
Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American writer, journalist and filmmaker. In a career spanning more than six decades, Mailer had 11 best-selling books, at least ...
described the film as "the most careful, the most thoughtful, the truest, and the most sensitive to the paradoxes to a society of crime".
In 1976 followed ''Illustrious Corpses'' ("Cadaveri eccellenti"), based on the novel '' Equal Danger'' by Leonardo Sciascia, with Lino Ventura
Angiolino Giuseppe Pasquale Ventura (14 July 1919 – 22 October 1987), known as Lino Ventura, was an Italian-born actor and philanthropist, who lived and worked for most of his life in France. He was considered one of the greatest leading men ...
. The film is praised highly by Shipman, who describes it as: "a film so rich, so powerful and so absorbing that it leaves the spectator breathless. ... This is a film, rare in the history of cinema, in which location – as opposed to decor – is a character in its own right, commenting on the action." Writing in ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.
In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', Russell Davies said, "Few directors select their shots with such flamboyant intelligence as this".
In 1979 Rosi directed ''Christ Stopped at Eboli
''Christ Stopped at Eboli'' () is a memoir by Carlo Levi, published in 1945, giving an account of his exile from 1935–1936 to Grassano and Aliano, remote towns in Southern Italy, in the region of Lucania which is known today as Basilicata. In ...
'', based on the memoir of the same name by Carlo Levi
Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, Independent Left (Italy), independent leftist politician, and doctor.
He is best known for his book ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (novel), Cristo si è fe ...
, again with Volonté as the protagonist. It won the Golden Prize at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival
The 11th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 14 to 28 August 1979. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian-French film ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (film), Christ Stopped at Eboli'' directed by Francesco Rosi, the Spanish film ''S ...
and was to win BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1983. Rosi had been invited by the state-owned television service RAI to select a subject for filming, and the four-part television programme was cut into a 141-minute feature film which he described as "a journey through my own conscience". Shipman writes, "the film retains all the mystery of Rosi's best work – an enquiry where at least half the answers are withheld. In this enquiry there is a respect for the historical process, but the usual magisterial blend of art and dialectic is softened by a sympathy much deeper than that of '' Il Momento Della Verità''. The occasional self-conscious shot that we associate with peasantry cannot mar it."
1980s and 1990s
After another successful film '' Three Brothers'' ("Tre fratelli", 1981), with Philippe Noiret
Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor.
Life and career
Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student a ...
, Michele Placido
Michele Placido (; born 19 May 1946) is an Italian actor, director and screenwriter. He began his career on stage, and first gained mainstream attention through a series of roles in films directed by the likes of Mario Monicelli and Marco Belloc ...
and Vittorio Mezzogiorno, Rosi wanted to film the novel '' The Truce'' by Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works i ...
, but the writer's suicide, in April 1987, forced the cancellation of the project. The film was finally made in 1997. He directed a film adaptation of ''Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'' (1984) with Plácido Domingo
José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
and subsequently he worked on '' Chronicle of a Death Foretold'' (1987), adapted from the novel by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...
, which starred Gian Maria Volonté, Ornella Muti
Francesca Romana Rivelli (born 9 March 1955), professionally known as Ornella Muti, is an Italian actress.
Among the best-known Italian actresses, in her career, she has worked across various genres, working alongside Italian directors such as ...
, Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...
, Anthony Delon and Lucia Bosè. The film was shot in Mompox, Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
.[
In 1990 he directed '' The Palermo Connection'' ("Dimenticare Palermo") with Jim Belushi, ]Mimi Rogers
Miriam Rogers (née Spickler; born January 27, 1956) is an American actress.
Her notable film roles are '' Gung Ho'' (1986), '' Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1987), '' Desperate Hours'' (1990), and '' Full Body Massage'' (1995). She garnered the g ...
, 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 producti ...
, Philippe Noiret and 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 Beaut ...
. He then returned to the theatre direction with the comedies of Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo OMRI (; 26 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan language, Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and ...
: ''Napoli milionaria!'', ''Le voci di dentro'' and ''Filumena Marturano
''Filumena Marturano'' (; ), sometime performed in English as ''The Best House in Naples'', is a play written in 1946 by Italian playwright, actor and poet Eduardo De Filippo. It is the basis for the 1950 Spanish-language Argentine musical film ' ...
'', all performed by Luca De Filippo.
His last film as director was 1997's '' The Truce'', based on holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
survivor Levi's memoir, and starring John Turturro
John Michael Turturro ( ; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award a ...
. Rosi described the film in a 2008 interview with '' Variety'' as being about "the return to life."[
]
Recognition, later life and death
In 2008 his 1963 film '' Hands over the City'' was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage's 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."
The 58th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
in 2008 played tribute to Rosi by screening 13 films in its ''Homage'' section, a feature being reserved for film-makers of outstanding quality and achievement. He received the Honorary Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement on 14 February 2008, accompanied by the screening of ''Salvatore Giuliano''.
In 2009 he was awarded the Cavaliere della Legion d'Onore, in 2010 the "Golden Halberd" at the Trieste Film Festival and in May 2012 the Board of the Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...
unanimously approved the proposal of its director Alberto Barber, to award Rosi the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at its 69th show. Barber praised Rosi for his "absolute rigor in historic reconstruction, never making any compromises on a political or ethical level, combined with engaging storytelling and splendid visuals."[
On 27 October 2010 he became an honorary citizen of ]Matelica
Matelica is a (municipality) of the Province of Macerata in the Italian region of Marche. Located about southwest of Ancona and west of Macerata, it extends over an area of .
Geography
Matelica lies in an ample valley where the Braccano ...
, the birthplace of Enrico Mattei, while in 2013, in the presence of the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage Massimo Bra, he was given the honorary citizenship of Matera
Matera (, ; Neapolitan language, Materano: ) is a city and the capital of the Province of Matera in the regions of Italy, region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy. With a history of continuous occupation dating back to the Palaeolithic (10th mi ...
, where he had shot three of his films. In 2014 he took part in the film ''Born in the USE'', co-produced by Renzo Rossellini and directed by Michele Dioma.
In the last part of his life he lived on the Via Gregoriana in Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
near the Spanish Steps
The Spanish Steps () in Rome, Italy, climb a steep slope between Piazza di Spagna at the base and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, dominated by the Trinità dei Monti church, at the top.
The monumental stairway of 135 steps is linked with the Trinit� ...
. In April 2010, his wife Giancarla Mandelli died.
Rosi died on 10 January 2015 at the age of 92,[ whilst at home, as a result of complications from ]bronchitis
Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
.
A memorial service was held in Rome on 10 January with the viewing of the body taking place at the Casa del Cinema, and with many fellow Italian film-makers, including fellow director Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore (born 27 May 1956) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is considered one of the directors who brought critical acclaim back to Italian cinema.Katz, Ephraim, "Italy," ''The Film Encyclopedia'' (New York: HarperRes ...
, in attendance. The President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano
Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...
, Rosi's friend from their schooldays sent roses. The director Giuseppe Piccioni
Giuseppe Piccioni (born 2 July 1953) is an Italian film director and screenwriter
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting ...
said Rosi's work gave Italy "identity and dignity" continuing, "Rosi was one of those artists who lived his work like a mission."
Director Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino (; ; born 31 May 1970) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and writer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Italian cinema working today. He is known for visually striking and complex dramas and has of ...
dedicates his 2015 movie ''Youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...
'' with a simple end credit "For Francesco Rosi".
Legacy
The '' Variety Movie Guide'' says of Rosi: "Most films by Francesco Rossi probe well under the surface of people and events to establish a constant link between the legal and the illegal exercise of power."
Writing Rosi's obituary in ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', David Robinson and John Francis Lane said:
In his best films, the director Francesco Rosi ... was essentially a crusading, investigative journalist concerned with the corruption and inequalities of the economically depressed Italian south. He believed that “the audience should not be just passive spectators”: he wanted to make people think and question.[
]
The British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
, recognising that Rosi had made historical films, war pictures and family dramas, in a directorial career that spanned almost four decades, said "he will be remembered above all as the master of the ‘cine-investigation’ and an influence on several generations of artists, including the likes of Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
, Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...
, Roberto Saviano and Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino (; ; born 31 May 1970) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and writer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Italian cinema working today. He is known for visually striking and complex dramas and has of ...
.[
Interviewed by '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' after Rosi's death, actor John Turturro
John Michael Turturro ( ; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award a ...
who played Primo Levi in Rosi's last film '' The Truce'', called Rosi "something of a mentor". He said, "I would never have read all of Primo Levi’s work if not for him. There are a lot of films I never would have otherwise seen... He was a wonderful actor. He helped you physically as an actor. If he had trouble explaining something, he could act it out, and all the actors understood."[
]
Awards
BAFTA
Awarded by British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...
:
*1983 : BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film – ''Christ Stopped at Eboli''[
*1986 : nominated for Best Foreign Language Film – ''Carmen''][
]
Cannes Film Festival
Awarded at the Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
:
*1972 : Palme d'Or
The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
– ''The Mattei Affair''[
]
Venice Biennale
*1963 : Golden Lion
The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...
– ''Hands over the City''[
*2012 : Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement][
]
David di Donatello Award
*1965 : Best Director – ''The Moment of Truth''
*1976 : Best Director – ''Illustrious Corpses''
*1976 : Best Film – ''Illustrious Corpses''
*1979 : Best Director – ''Christ Stopped at Eboli''
*1979 : Best Film – ''Christ Stopped at Eboli''
*1981 : Best Director – ''Three Brothers''
*1981 : Best Screenplay – ''Three Brothers''
*1985 : Best Director – ''Carmen''
*1981 : Best Film – ''Carmen''
*1985 : Best Cinematography – ''Carmen''
*1997 : Best Film – ''The Truce''
*1997 : Best Director – ''The Truce''
Moscow International Film Festival
*1979 : Grand Prix – ''Christ Stopped at Eboli''
Silver Ribbon
The Nastro d'Argento
The (plural: ''Nastri d'Argento''; English: Silver Ribbon) is an Italian film award, held since 1946 by the ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani'' (Italian National Union of Film Journalists). Awards are given annually in ...
, awarded by the Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani:
*1959: Best Original Film – ''The Challenge''
*1963: Best Director – ''Salvatore Giuliano''
*1981: Best Director – ''Three Brothers''
*2014: Lifetime Achievement Award
Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions.
Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include:
A
* A.C. ...
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
*1981 : nomination for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
– ''Three Brothers''
Berlin Film Festival
Awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...
:
*1962 : Silver Bear for Best Director
The Silver Bear for Best Director () is an award presented annually at the Berlin International Film Festival since 1956. It is given for the best achievement in directing and is chosen by the International Jury from the films in the Competition ...
– ''Salvatore Giuliano''
*2008 : Honorary Golden Bear
BIF (Bari International Film Festival)
*2010 : "Premio Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (; 20 January 1920 – 31 October 1993) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He is known for his distinctive style, which blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness. He is recognized as one of the greatest and ...
" for artistic excellence
Honours
* * 1995: Cavaliere di gran croce dell'Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana
* * 1987: Grande ufficiale dell'Ordine al merito della Repubblica Italiana
* * 2009: Officier de la Légion d'honneur
Filmography
Director
Rosi directed 20 films, starting with some scenes in Goffredo Alessandrini
Goffredo Alessandrini (20 November 1904 – 16 May 1978) was an Italian scriptwriter and film director. He also acted, edited, and produced some films.
He practiced athletics (sport), athletics in his youth, and won a title of Italian Athletics ...
's ''Red Shirts''. His last film was ''The Truce'' in 1997.
* 1952 – '' Red Shirts'' (Camicie rosse)
* 1956 – '' Kean'' (Kean – Genio e sregolatezza), co-directed 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 producti ...
.
* 1958 – '' The Challenge'' (La sfida)
* 1959 – '' The Magliari'' (I magliari)
* 1962 – '' Salvatore Giuliano''
* 1963 – '' Hands over the City'' (Le mani sulla città)
* 1965 – '' The Moment of Truth'' (Il momento della verità)
* 1967 – '' More than a Miracle'' (C'era una volta...)
* 1970 – '' Many Wars Ago'' (Uomini contro)
* 1972 – '' The Mattei Affair'' (Il caso Mattei)
* 1973 – ''Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...
''
* 1976 – '' Illustrious Corpses'' (Cadaveri eccellenti)
* 1979 – ''Christ Stopped at Eboli
''Christ Stopped at Eboli'' () is a memoir by Carlo Levi, published in 1945, giving an account of his exile from 1935–1936 to Grassano and Aliano, remote towns in Southern Italy, in the region of Lucania which is known today as Basilicata. In ...
'' (Cristo si è fermato a Eboli)
* 1981 – '' Three Brothers'' (Tre fratelli)
* 1984 – ''Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
''
* 1987 – '' Chronicle of a Death Foretold'' (Cronaca di una morte annunciata)
* 1989 – '' 12 registi per 12 città'', a collaboration work with 11 other directors.
* 1989 – '' The Palermo Connection'' (Dimenticare Palermo)
* 1992 – '' Neapolitan Diary'' (Diario napoletano)
* 1997 – '' The Truce'' (La tregua)
Writer
* '' Bellissima'' (1951)
* ''The City Stands Trial
''The City Stands Trial'' () is a 1952 Italian crime film, crime drama film directed by Luigi Zampa and starring Amedeo Nazzari, Silvana Pampanini and Paolo Stoppa. It is based on a revisiting of the Cuocolo Trial, Cuocolo murders and the strugg ...
'' (1952)
* '' Racconti romani'' (1955)
* '' The Bigamist'' (1956)
Director and screenwriter
;Original subjects
* ''La sfida
''La sfida'' ("the challenge") is a 1958 Italian film by Francesco Rosi. It stars José Suárez as a gang leader who challenges a local Camorra boss for supremacy. It won the Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.
The film is based on the real- ...
'' (1958)
* '' The Magliari'' (1959)
* '' Salvatore Giuliano'' (1962)
* '' Hands over the City'' (1963)
* '' The Moment of Truth'' (1964)
* '' More Than a Miracle'' (1967)
* '' The Mattei Affair'' (1971)
* ''Lucky Luciano
Charles "Lucky" Luciano ( ; ; born Salvatore Lucania ; November 24, 1897 – January 26, 1962) was an Italian gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the ...
'' (1973)
* ''Diario napoletano'' (1992)
;Non-original subjects
*''Kean – Genio e sregolatezza'' (1956, subject by Dumas and Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French ph ...
)
* '' Many Wars Ago'' (1970, subject by Emilio Lussu
Emilio Lussu (4 December 1890 – 5 March 1975) was a Sardinian people, Sardinian and Italian writer, anti-fascist intellectual, military officer, Italian resistance movement, partisan, and politician. He is also the author of the novel ''One Yea ...
)
* '' Illustrious Corpses'' (1976, from the novel by Leonardo Sciascia)
* ''Christ Stopped at Eboli
''Christ Stopped at Eboli'' () is a memoir by Carlo Levi, published in 1945, giving an account of his exile from 1935–1936 to Grassano and Aliano, remote towns in Southern Italy, in the region of Lucania which is known today as Basilicata. In ...
'' (1979, taken from the eponymous novel by Carlo Levi
Carlo Levi () (29 November 1902 – 4 January 1975) was an Italian painter, writer, activist, Independent Left (Italy), independent leftist politician, and doctor.
He is best known for his book ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (novel), Cristo si è fe ...
)
* '' Three Brothers'' (1981, based on the story ''The Third Son'' by Andrei Platonov")
* ''Carmen
''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'' (1984, taken from the opera by Bizet)
* '' Chronicle of a Death Foretold'' (1987, based on the novel by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...
)
* '' The Palermo Connection'' (1990, taken from the eponymous novel of Edmonde Charles-Roux)
* '' The Truce'' (1997, taken from the eponymous novel by Primo Levi
Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works i ...
)
Theatre
Director
*''In Memory of a Lady Friend'' ( Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, 1963)
*''Naples Millionaire'' (Eduardo De Filippo
Eduardo De Filippo OMRI (; 26 May 1900 – 31 October 1984), also known simply as ''Eduardo'', was an Italian actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright, best known for his Neapolitan language, Neapolitan works ''Filumena Marturano'' and ...
, 2003)
*''The Voices Within'' (Eduardo De Filippo, 2006)
*''Filumena Marturano
''Filumena Marturano'' (; ), sometime performed in English as ''The Best House in Naples'', is a play written in 1946 by Italian playwright, actor and poet Eduardo De Filippo. It is the basis for the 1950 Spanish-language Argentine musical film ' ...
'' (Eduardo De Filippo, 2008)
References
Further reading
* Testa, C. (ed.) (1996), ''Poet of Civic Courage: The Films of Francesco Rosi'', Greenwood Press,
* Gieri, M. (1996), "Hands Over the City: Cinema as Political Indictment and Social Commitment" (in Testa, 1996)
*
58th Berlinale – Homage 2008 Francesco Rosi
" at the 58th Berlinale
*
Uncensured Ballet: revisiting Francesco Rosi’s film, Il momento della verità
2015 feature article at ArtsEditor.com
* Annarita Curcio, Salvatore Giuliano: una parabola storica,
External links
Q&A with Rosi
from ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
''
Biography of Francesco Rosi
from ''Senses of Cinema
''Senses of Cinema'' is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, ''Senses of Cinema'' publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career ...
''
*
Literature on Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi, 1922–2015
– obituary at BFI
ROSI, Francesco
at treccani.it Film Encyclopedia (2004) (with Bibliography)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosi, Francesco
1922 births
2015 deaths
Italian film directors
David di Donatello Career Award winners
David di Donatello winners
Directors of Palme d'Or winners
Directors of Golden Lion winners
Filmmakers who won the Best Foreign Language Film BAFTA Award
Honorary Golden Bear recipients
Nastro d'Argento winners
Silver Bear for Best Director recipients
Film people from Naples
People of Calabrian descent
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipients