Ever wondered what started the Oscar for Best Foregin Language Film category? It was Shoeshine, Vittorio De Sica‘s fifth film that initially received a Special Academy Award in 1948 and two years later for his masterpiece The Bicycle Thief. Shoeshine is a special film for many reasons. First, it marks the start of one of… Continue reading Shoeshine – Sciuscià (Vittorio De Sica – 1946)
Category: Neorealism
Sonetaula (Salvatore Mereu – 2008)
From Los Angeles Independent Festival in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles. Great excitement for this movie which is again from and about Sardinia. The fact that the director was there presenting the film and holding the discussion makes it even more interesting. Sonetaula is a book by Giuseppe Fiori that he… Continue reading Sonetaula (Salvatore Mereu – 2008)
Big Deal on Madonna Street – I Soliti Ignoti (Mario Monicelli – 1958)
On one hand you can look at this film and say it’s all about men camaraderie in effort to solve an economical problem, and indeed the relationships among the protagonists run the gamut from support, anger, humor, and compassion. And yet, this film is known as the first to usher the Italian Comedy (Commedia All’Italiana)… Continue reading Big Deal on Madonna Street – I Soliti Ignoti (Mario Monicelli – 1958)
Bicycle Thieves – Ladri di biciclette (Vittorio De Sica – 1948)
Stories about the common man emphasizing social issues, scenes shot in actual locations, and the use of non-professional actors – are the key ingredients of the Neorealist film movement in postwar Italy, which this film is one of its prominent expressions. Directed by Vittorio De Sica and adapted for the screen by Cesare Zavattini based… Continue reading Bicycle Thieves – Ladri di biciclette (Vittorio De Sica – 1948)
Rome Free City – Roma Città Libera (Marcello Pagliero – 1946)
Where have you been during winter 1946? Since some of us would likely say – nowhere, here is a time capsule from that period in Rome, right after WW2 is over. The American GI’s are still in town and the people wake up into the rough realities of making a living in a battered economy.… Continue reading Rome Free City – Roma Città Libera (Marcello Pagliero – 1946)