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Post by petrolino on Feb 26, 2021 23:49:41 GMT
🇫🇷 ~ 🇮🇹 'The Romantics' : France, Italy, Portugal & Spain 🇵🇹 ~ 🇪🇸
{ft. Belgium, Croatia, Luxembourg, Monaco, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Switzerland & Vatican City ...}
🟡 Spanish vs. Italian vs. French vs. Portuguese | Romance Languages Comparison [Language Of Earth | 4:32] 🟡
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Le Cinéma : Ludivine Sagnier (born 3 July 1979, La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France)
I've been thinking about who I consider to be the greatest French actress of this century so far. For me, personally, I would choose Ludivine Sagnier, and for a multitude of reasons. I think she's been near note-perfect in the films I've seen her in. She's consistently worked with interesting filmmakers, challenging herself constantly, and she's created a diverse line-up of characters in the process. She's worked across a range of genres, and I feel she's equally adept at heavy drama and light comedy, with a flair for capturing something in between.
For good measure, she's also a member of Francois Ozon's stock company. They initially bonded over a shared love of the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Ozon's my favourite French filmmaker of the 21st century thus far. I'm actually planning on recording one of his movies tonight that I'd like to see, the war drama 'Frantz' (2016), which is being screened by the British Broadcasting Corporation as the second half of a Friday night double-bill, with Francis Coppola's war drama 'Apocalypse Now' (1979) screening first. Sagnier has said about working with Ozon, "We're like children playing with dolls".
'Ludivine Sagnier’s second outing with new wave film veteran Claude Chabrol has finally made it across the Channel. In the sly melodrama 'The Girl Cut in Two', she plays Gabrielle, a TV weathergirl torn between a famous novelist and a suave libertine. Exuding the sprightly effervescence that makes the character so appealing to men, she also manages to bring out Gabrielle’s naivety. Unsurprisingly, she wasted little time deliberating about whether to work with Chabrol. ‘He’s part of the history of cinema, like Hitchcock, Bergman, Truffaut and Godard, so working with him was like entering this great pantheon of directors,’ she says. ‘It’s the cinema I worship, so I said yes immediately.’ The 78-year-old Chabrol doesn’t bother with casting sessions. Instead, Sagnier met him in a café where she realised her list of questions was redundant. ‘Claude told me about the catering on-set,’ she says. ‘He talked about it for an hour, so I knew I would be well-fed.’ Chabrol himself has described The Girl Cut in Two as a ‘chaste film about perversity’. Inspired by a real-life crime of passion in early 20th century America, it takes a peek behind the closed doors of a swingers club."
- The List
Ludivine Sagnier, Claude Chabrol & Julie Depardieu at the Grand Siecle Laurent Perrier Gala
'Papa T’es Plus Dans Le Coup'
Sagnier comes from a family of musicians. I believe this is reflected in some her work. She studied classical music as a young girl and her father envisioned her having a career as a concert pianist. Her first love, however, was for the theatre, so when she pursued a career in the arts, she instantly took to the stage. She's said in interviews that she had no intention of working in cinema as theatre was her primary passion. She did however gain film work as a child actress, notably on Alain Resnais' dry comedy 'I Want To Go Home' (1989) and Jean-Paul Rappeneau's poetic drama 'Cyrano De Bergerac' (1990). This enabled her to draw upon early experience.
"I remember that there was this book I read, Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke, and so this young poet was asking Rilke whether he should go and have an artistic career, and Rilke was saying to him, ask yourself about the necessity. If you cannot live without expressing yourself and expressing your feelings and interpreting human nature, if you can't live without it, then your duty is to achieve it. And, when I read it, I remember it was really striking, and that's what gave me the impulse to go on."
- Ludivine Sagnier, Under The Radar
Ludivine Sagnier & Virginie Ledoyen
'Les Yeux Au Ciel' - Alex Beaupain, Clotilde Hesme & Ludivine Sagnier
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My 13 Favourite Ludivine Sagnier Movies
'Water Drops On Burning Rocks' (2000 - Francois Ozon) '8 Women' (2002 - Francois Ozon) 'Little Lili' (2003 - Claude Miller)
'Small Cuts' (2003 - Pascal Bonitzer)
'Swimming Pool' (2003 - Francois Ozon) 'Paris, je t'aime' (2006 - Alfonso Cuaron segment) 'A Girl Cut In Two' (2007 - Claude Chabrol) 'Les Chansons d'Amour' (2007 - Christophe Honore) 'A Secret' (2007 - Claude Miller)
'Lily Sometimes' (2010 - Fabienne Berthaud) 'Love Crime' (2010 - Alain Corneau) 'Love Is In The Air' (2013 - Alexandre Castagnetti) 'Lou!' (2014 - Julien Neel)
{Need to see ... Laurent Tuel's 'Children's Play' (2001), Jacques Fieschi's 'French California' (2006), Laurent Tirard's 'Moliere' (2007), Hirokazu Kore-eda's 'The Truth' (2019) ...}
Ludivine Sagnier, Jessica Chastain & Marie-Josee Croze
Interview with Juliette Binoche & Ludivine Sagnier
These last few years, Sagnier's not worked so much in film. She has acted in theatre and television, where she's worked on 'The Young Pope' and 'The New Pope', as well as 'Lupin'. She has commitments to her family and French filmmaking schedules have been severely disrupted by the global pandemic of late.
Still, I'm glad to learn that Sagnier is planning to make a return to cinema very soon. She has two new projects in the pipeline. One is a comedy about migration and the other is a domestic drama. It's been so long already, I think I might have to watch those 'Pope' dramas with Jude Law in explosive speedos.
"Cinema is my religion and France is the Vatican."
- Quentin Tarantino
Ludivine Sagnier & Julie Depardieu
Belgian performers often work in France, and vice versa. It's interesting to consider the work of a leading German actress like Diane Kruger (born 15 July 1976, Algermissen, Lower Saxony, Germany). Kruger left home and went to Paris where she became a model. She became fluent in French and embarked upon a career in acting. Due to circumstance as much as anything, Kruger is now better known for her film work in France than the films she's made in Germany. The same couldn't be said for some of her compatriots and contemporaries like Christiane Paul (born 8 March 1974, Berlin, Germany), Franka Potente (born 22 July 1974, Münster, Germany), Julia Jentsch (born 20 February 1978, Berlin, Germany), or Antje Monning (born 2 February 1978, Münster, Germany).
"I don’t know what I would be if the Lumiere brothers’ mother and father had never met. I’d probably be selling royales with cheese at McDonalds.”
- Quentin Tarantino at the Lumiere Awards
Diane Kruger & Ludivine Sagnier
'Do It In Paris' with Ludivine Sagnier
If I were to guess which European peformer might be heading to France some time soon, my money would be on Swedish actress Alicia Vikander. Typically, Swedish performers have tended to gravitate more towards Italy, or Germany, but were she to go to France, she could follow in the footsteps of Anna Karina and Sara Forestier, two of France's finest actresses, both of whom were born in neighbouring Denmark.
Alicia Vikander
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21st Century : 30 Great Performances from 30 Gifted Performers
01) Aissa Maiga (Born 25 May 1975, Dakar, Senegal) : 'Mood Indigo' (2013, Michel Gondry)
02) Marie Gillain (Born 18 June 1975, Liège, Belgium) : 'Female Agents' (2008, Jean-Paul Salome)
03) Cecile De France (Born 17 July 1975, Andenne, Belgium) : 'A Secret' (2007, Claude Miller)
04) Marion Cotillard (Born 30 September 1975, Paris, France) : 'Innocence' (2004, Lucile Hadzihalilovic)
05) Audrey Tautou (Born 9 August 1976, Beaumont, France) : 'A Very Long Engagement' (2004, Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
06) Sophie Quinton (Born 31 August 1976, Villedieu-les-Poêles, France) : 'April In Love' (2006, Gerald Hustache-Mathieu)
07) Virginie Ledoyen (Born 15 November 1976, Aubervilliers, Seine-Saint-Denis, France) : 'House Of Voices' (2004, Pascal Laugier)
08) Virginie Efira (Born 5 May 1977, Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium) : 'An Impossible Love' (2018, Catherine Corsini)
09) Melanie Laurent (Born 21 February 1983, Paris, France) : 'Don't Worry, I'm Fine' (2006, Philippe Lioret)
10) Lea Seydoux (Born 1 July 1985, Passy, Paris, France) : 'Farewell, My Queen' (2012, Benoit Jacquot)
11) Roxanne Mesquida (Born 1 October 1981, Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France) : 'The Last Mistress' (2007, Catherine Breillat)
12) Louise Bourgoin (Born 28 November 1981, Rennes, France) : 'The Extraordinary Adventures Of Adèle Blanc-Sec' (2010, Luc Besson)
13) Julie-Marie Parmentier (Born 13 June 1981, Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France) : 'Marie-Jo And Her Two Lovers' (2002, Robert Guediguian)
14) Melanie Thierry (Born 17 July 1981, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France) : 'The Princess Of Montpensier' (2010, Bertrand Tavernier)
15) Emelie Dequenne (Born 29 August 1981, Belœil, Wallonia, Belgium) : 'The Girl On The Train' (2009, Andre Techine)
16) Josephine De La Baume (Born 8 October 1984, Paris, France) : 'Kiss Of The Damned' (2012, Xan Cassavetes)
17) Lizzie Brochere (Born 22 March 1985, Paris, France) : 'One To Another' (2006, Pascal Arnold & Jean-Marc Barr)
18) Sara Forestier (Born 4 October 1986, Copenhagen, Denmark) : 'The Names Of Love' (2010, Michel Leclerc)
19) Vimala Pons (Born 15 March 1986, Thiruvananthapuram, India) : 'Struggle For Life' (2016, Antonin Peretjatko)
20) Deborah Francois (Born 24 May 1987, Rocourt, Liège, Belgium) : 'Populaire' (2012, Regis Roinsard)
21) Anais Demoustier (Born 29 September 1987, Lille, France) : 'The New Girlfriend' (2014, Francois Ozon)
22) Noemie Merlant (Born November 27, 1988 in Paris, France : 'Curiosa' (2019, Lou Jeunet)
23) Pauline Etienne (Born 26 June 1989, Ixelles, Belgium) : 'Eden' (2014, Mia Hansen-Love)
24) Izia Higelin (Born 24 September 1990, Paris, France) : 'Summertime' (2015, Catherine Corsini)
25) Alice Isaaz (Born 26 July 1991, Bordeaux, France) : 'One Wild Moment' (2015, Jean-Francois Richet)
26) Christa Teret (Born 25 June 1991, Paris, France) : 'Renoir' (2012, Gilles Bourdos)
27) Marine Vacth (Born 9 April 1991, Paris, France) : 'Young & Beautiful' (2013, Francois Ozon)
28) Mathilde Warnier (Born 22 October 1991, Rosny-sous-Bois, France) : 'Curiosa' (2019, Lou Jeunet)
29) Lola Creton (Born 16 December 1993, Paris, France) : 'Goodbye First Love' (2011, Mia Hansen-Love)
30) Lou-Roy Lecollinet (Born 1 August 1996, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Paris, France) : 'My Golden Days' (2015, Arnaud Desplechin)
'Je Peux Vivre Sans Toi' - Ludivine Sagnier
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Post by petrolino on Feb 27, 2021 22:56:02 GMT
Al Cinema : Claudia Gerini (born 18 December 1971, Rome, Italy)
Having considered who I'd nominate as the greatest French actress of this century so far, my thoughts then immediately turned to Italian cinema, and I asked myself the very same question. I fear Italian cinema is in a tough spot for a number of reasons. While there are world-renowned filmmakers in Italy like Matteo Garone, Paolo Sorrentino and Luca Guadagnino - all of whom were born during the psychedelic tumult of the counterculture years (late 1960's - early 1970's) - they are also noted for having directed significant works for television. I'm not sure this is true of their French contemporaries, so in Italy, they now seem keen to maintain a foot in each house. I'd like to see them put more focus on their filmmaking, but television is a lucrative business.
Italian genre cinema has never recovered since the bottom fell out of the industry in the late 1980's. The "peplum" is practically defunct, the "spaghetti western" is a thing of the past, "macaroni combat" pictures are no longer made, and the "fumetti" has mutated beyond all recognition. The "giallo" crime format is continually revived but the new versions rarely reach the level of the subgenre's heyday. The great days of "commedia all'italiana" are also long behind us. These comedies were replaced in the late 1980's with more calculated, family-friendly, moneymaking franchise machines developed by filmmakers like Enrico Oldoini (the 'Anni' series), Neri Parenti (the 'Natale' franchise), Christian De Sica and the late Carlo Vanzina. While I don't wish to be too down about the current state of Italian cinema (it's still streets above what we're producing in the U K at the moment), I do believe this great old film industry could benefit from a change of direction.
"My father always loved cinema, especially the films of neorealism."
- Claudia Gerini, Italian Cinema Today
Sean Connery & Claudia Gerini at the American-Italian Cancer Foundation Annual Benefit Gala
'Around The World (Reverse Remix)' - Daft knuP
As a result of Italy's steep decline, I firmly believe the French film industry is pretty much untouchable at this point, for the very reasons I've outlined in relation to Italy. For 125 years, the French have been making innovative, imaginative and influential works of cinema, and I don't think they've ever experienced a weak decade up to this point. They've aways excelled at making genre films because they've long believed in the Roger Corman idea of embracing cross-genre work through cross-pollination; it's in their DNA and this philosophy is taught in art schools up and down the country.
I think the French film industry is a tried and trusted industry model everybody else in Europe can learn from, and arguably the strongest all-round European fim industry of cinema's first century and a quarter. Still, there's always exciting things happening in European film, and French cinema has serious competition at the moment from Germany, Greece, Spain and Sweden among others.
"Our history and our culture from the past to the present ... We have such amazing cities, beautiful land and culture, but I don't like the way our leaders are running the country. There is no organization here and too much corruption. Italy is such an amazing, incredible place and could be so much more if our leaders would just give it a chance."
- Claudia Gerini, Italian Cinema Today
"France and Italy are like two female cousins, each of whom thinks she is the prettier."
- Franco Venturini, Corriere Della Sera
Claudia Gerini takes a break from shooting
'Newjack' - Justice
Something that compounds my problematic view of Italian cinema is that I don't yet see who the next generation of potentially great actors and actresses are, or where they're coming from. So, my choice for the greatest Italian actress of the 21st century (so far) feels old school because it is. It's Claudia Gerini, who entered movies as part of the genre director Sergio Corbucci's stock company. To put this in some kind of time perspective, Corbucci died in 1990 at the age of 63, and his fellow director Sergio Leone died in 1989 at the age of 60. These two filmmakers are now widely acknowledged as being undisputed masters of the "spaghetti western" and Corbucci was also a master of "commedia all'italiana".
Gerini worked as a professional dancer and a showgirl in the early 1990's. This wasn't unusual for an aspiring actress during the "era atteggiamento" ushered in by the success of 'Drive-In', Antonio Ricci's popular television variety show which helped bring Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to power. Gerini became a member of the teenage girls' television dance academy 'Non E La Rai' at the age of 19, but the show became embroiled in scandal over its radical political allegiances and alleged exploitation of minors. Gerini sends up her dance image in the knockabout romantic comedy 'Love Is in the Air' (2012), one of three films she's made with comedy director Fausto Brizzi who often casts her to play alongside her friend and fellow actress Cristiana Capotondi.
"She is a stunning Italian superstar who sings, dances and acts. But this triple threat is a self proclaimed tomboy at heart and enjoyed a simple, normal life growing up in the suburbs of Rome. Claudia Gerini always had a desire to be in front of the camera, and knew that one day her dream would come true. That confidence along with the support of her family led her down a path that has made her a household name in Italy. Gerini launched her career as a showgirl before landing her first television and movie roles. Every star has a breakout role, and for Gerini that role was in Carlo Verdone's 1995 comedy, Viaggi di nozze (Honeymoon). The film was released at Christmastime in Italy and catapulted her to fame. Verdone was so taken with Gerini's talent, that he invited her not long afterward to team up with him again in Sono pazzo di Iris Blond (Iris Blond).
Although she has a great talent for comedy, Gerini also enjoys doing drama and has pursued that interest on both sides of the Atlantic. She played the role of Claudia in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ and also had a part in Audrey Wells's Under the Tuscan Sun. But her two most high profile roles were in the Italian blockbusters, Non ti muovere (Don't Move) and Sono pazzo di Iris Blond. The films were created by two of Italy's most beloved and respected filmmakers, Verdone and Sergio Castellitto. The reach of both films extended beyond the borders of Italy and were seen by audiences around the world. Gerini's characters in these films are polar opposite, validating her skills as an actor."
- Jeannine Guilyard, Italian Cinema Today
Cinzia Mascoli, Veronica Pivetti, Carlo Verdone & Claudia Gerini
Claudia Gerini auditions for filmmaker Tinto Brass
Gerini moved to Paris to learn French and she pursued academic studies, travelling regularly between Italy and France early in her career. Back home in Italy, she studied acting at the prestigious Beatrice Bracco school ('Teatro Blu') in Rome, where her fellow students and stage performers included Stafania Rocca (born 24 April 1971, Turin, Italy) and Paola Cortellesi (born 24 November 1973, Rome, Lazio, Italy). They were looking to emulate the success of a generation of formidable Italian actresses being led by the likes of Elena Sofia Ricci (born 29 March 1962, Florence, Tuscany, Italy), Francesca Neri (born 10 February 1964, Trento, Italy), Isabella Ferrari (born 31 March 1964, Ponte dell'Olio, Emilia-Romagna, Italy), Sabrina Ferilli (born 28 June 1964, Rome, Lazio, Italy), Monica Bellucci (born 30 September 1964, Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy), Valeria Bruni Tedeschi (born 16 November 1964, Turin, Piedmont, Italy), Claudia Koll (born 17 May 1965, Rome, Lazio, Italy), Valeria Golino (born 22 October 1965, Naples, Campania, Italy) and Tosca D'Aquino (born 10 June 1966, Naples, Campania, Italy). In France, Gerini became a member of American filmmaker Bob Swaim's stock company, allowing her to experience work in two of Europe's leading film industries. She's said in interviews that she feels this helped her improve as a performer while developing her craft, though she also credits her theatre training with making her the multi-faceted performer she is today.
"There are technical differences in acting for the theatre, TV and cinema. My theatrical experience was a very important experience for me as on the stage you have to keep up the same level of emotion, to maintain your voice and guarantee continuity in your performance; sometimes for 2 to 3 hours. All of this in front of a live audience. This is an opportunity not to be missed and is real training. The theatre is like a gym and is the ideal place to increase belief in yourself and your own acting or communicative skills. In cinema or in television, everything is done in bits and pieces; the same scene is shot various times from different angles and even the emotional part is syncopated, whereas on stage everything is or has to be a single, flowing, continuous act."
- Claudia Gerini, Flickering Myth
Ricardo Scarmacio, Keanu Reeves & Claudia Gerini
Claudia Gerini demonstrates her taekwondo skills on Rai
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My 14 Favourite Claudia Gerini Movies
'Stuff For Rich People' (1987 - Sergio Corbucci) 'Wedding Trips' (1995 - Carlo Verdone) 'I'm Crazy About Iris Blond' (1996 - Carlo Verdone) 'Deceit' (1999 - Claudia Florio) 'Lucignolo' (1999 - Massimo Ceccherini) 'Francesca And Nunziata' (2001 - Lina Wertmuller) 'The Passion Of The Christ' (2004 - Mel Gibson) 'The Unknown Woman' (2006 - Giuseppe Tornatore) 'A Dream House Nightmare' (2007 - Federico Zampaglione) 'Big, Big And ... Verdone' (2008 - Carlo Verdone)
'Love Is In The Air' (2012 - Fausto Brizzi) 'Reality' (2012 - Matteo Garrone) 'Tulpa' (2012 - Federico Zampaglione) 'John Wick : Chapter 2' (2017 - Chad Stahelski)
{Need to see ... Roberto Leoni's 'Dark Tale' (1991), Antonio Rezza's 'Escoriandoli' (1996), Sergio Castellitto's 'Don't Move' (2004) ...}
Arts and media reporter Claudia Gerini on Rai
J'ai Dormi Sous L'eau' - Air
To draw to a conclusion, I predict the day when the Italian film industry comes roaring back is almost upon us, and I'm confident we will see many new talents emerge from this most artistic of ancient nations. But until that day comes, the inimitable Claudia Gerini remains one of the only actresses to have made great Italian genre films in the 21st century, including fantasy and horror movies which is something worth celebrating. Even better, Gerini's recently completed filming her scenes for 'Diabolik' (scheduled for 2021), a follow-up to Mario Bava's comic book classic 'Danger : Diabolik' (1968), so there's hope for the "fumetti" yet. Long may she continue.
"I was more inspired by the typical Hitchcock female protagonist; blonde, cool and calm. I know Edwige Fenech very well as she was the producer of a film that I made about four years ago and I think that not only is she a wonderful actress but she is one of the most beautiful women that I know – even now. So, in answer to your question, my inspiration goes a little further back to more mysterious yet vulnerable actresses such as Kim Novak in Vertigo or Janet Leigh in the role of Marion Crane in Psycho."
- Claudia Gerini, This Is Horror
'Nervous (As A Girl Can Be)' - Claudia Gerini & Lele Marchitelli
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Post by petrolino on Feb 28, 2021 0:08:09 GMT
No Cinema : Maria De Medeiros (born 19 August 1965, Lisbon, Portugal)
My knowledge of Portuguese cinema is exceptionally poor. My list of my favourite Portuguese movies currently consists of about eight films, seven of which were directed by Manoel De Oliveira (the other was directed by the Dane Bille August). It's not entirely my fault as distribution of Portuguese films has been woeful in the U K and was virtually non-existant when I was growing up. There's also the issues of censorship, conservatism and paid studio informants that dogged the national film industry for decades, particularly during the reign of Prime Minister Antonio De Oliveira Salazar.
This year, I'm hoping to remedy this situation, so I've put together a shortlist of primary Portuguese targets I'm hoping to locate on dvd (escalating Brexit costs might put paid to this but hope springs eternal to the independent film collector). Strictly speaking, my favourite Portuguese actress of the 21st century would be Catarina Wallenstein (born 23 August 1986 - some sources say in Lisbon, Portugal, others in London, England) who's superb in De Oliveira's 'Eccentricities Of A Blonde-Haired Girl' (2009), but it's the only film I've seen her in to date.
"European cinema has an extraordinary variety. It is made in many languages, reflecting different realities because Europe is full of contrasts and very ancient cultures. There is also a system of government funding that allows directors and screenwriters to come up and make films that dare to explore other languages. To my eyes, that makes it very exciting."
- Maria De Medeiros, Euro Channel
Bulle Ogier & Maria De Medeiros get their boogie on
My favourite Portuguese actress is Maria De Medeiros who's also a filmmaker and composer. I've long been a fan of hers, but that's because she's lived and worked in France, Spain and Italy over the years. She's fluent in French and has directed some of her films in France.
"You'll remember Maria de Medeiros as Bruce Willis's girlfriend in Pulp Fiction. Or as Anaïs Nin, coiled around Uma Thurman in Henry and June. She has been in dozens of other films - French, British, Canadian, Spanish and Portuguese. And earlier this year, she directed her first feature, April Captains, Portugal's most expensive film ever, which chronicles the defining moment in recent Portuguese history: the April Revolution of 1974. De Medeiros's crime, for certain Portuguese critics, is to have treated seismic political events in a light-hearted and even flippant way. The actress-director is dismissive of such accusations. She argues that the revolution was every bit as chaotic as she portrays it: the mutineering soldiers really didn't know whether to stop their tanks at the traffic lights; they really did manage to lock themselves out of the car that had all the weapons in it; and, en route to topple dictator Marcello Caetano, they really were harassed by gays. All this, de Medeiros insists, is a matter of historical record. It was written about by the army leaders behind the coup. She interviewed them and they confirmed the old stories. "I would be untrue to this revolution if I didn't show the funny aspect of it," de Medeiros says."
- Geoffrey Macnab, The Guardian
Maria De Medeiros
De Medeiros was awarded the UNESCO Artist for Peace award in 2008, becoming the first Portuguese national to earn the distinguished title, "Artiste de l’UNESCO". She's very musically minded and comes from a family of classical musicians. An accomplished musician herself, she performed a concert that same March night.
Maria De Medeiros isn't just a great actress - she's a great artist and a great person. I hope I can see some of her Portuguese films someday soon.
"I wouldn't define myself as the girl from Pulp Fiction."
- Maria De Medeiros
Samuel L. Jackson, Maria De Medeiros, Quentin Tarantino, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman & John Travolta
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5 Maria De Medeiros Movies I'd Recommend To Anybody
'The Reader' (1988 - Michel Deville)
'Henry & June' (1990 - Philip Kaufman) 'Meeting Venus' (1991 - Istvan Szabo)
'The Man Of My Life' (1992 - Jean-Charles Tacchella)
'Pulp Fiction' (1994 - Quentin Tarantino)
{Need to see ... Manoel De Oliveira's 'The Divine Comedy' (1991), Gonzalo Suarez's 'The Detective And Death' (1994), Pascal Rabate's 'Not For Sale Or For Rent' (2011) ...}
David Wenham, Maria De Medeiros, Pan Nalin, Ludivine Sagnier, Jamel Debbouze, Sandrine Bonnaire, Yousry Nasrallah & Paz Vega at the Marrakech Film Festival
'La Dolce Vita' ~ Maria De Medeiros
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Post by petrolino on Feb 28, 2021 23:04:03 GMT
En El Cine : Macarena Gómez (born 2 February 1978, Córdoba, Spain)
There's been great Spanish filmmakers since the inception of film. Spain had one of the big four European horror film industries in the 1960s and 1970s, a position it held alongside Italy, the United Kingdom and France. However, it was the death of General Francisco Franco in 1975 that allowed Spanish cinema to find its voice on the international stage. The creative reaction in Spain was to push back boundaries and test the limits of state censorship, leading to works of subversion.
The face of Spanish cinema in recent decades has been filmmaker Pedro Almodovar and most of the country's best-known performers have passed through his stock company. Thankfully, the Spanish success story continues to this day; Spain lies at the heart of European cinema.
"Gone with the Wind is widely regarded as one of the most influential movies all time, and Macarena Gomez would agree. She considers the movie to be her favorite film and told The Actors Awards, “Scarlet O’Hara is the most powerful female character of all times.”
- Camille Moore, TV Over Mind
Fashion designer Teresa Helbig with one of her favourite models Macarena Gomez
'Aeroplane' - Petite Meller
My favourite Spanish actress of the 21st century (so far) would be Macarena Gomez. I've read that Gomez has become a household name in Spain due to her involvement in the popular soap opera 'La Que Se Avecina', which began airing in 2013. In addition to acting, she's also a professional model, a ballerina and a musician. She's one of Spain's top amateur skiers too, and can often be seen in her favourite red jumpsuits out on the slopes.
Gomez's contemporaries in the acting field include Penelope Cruz (born 28 April 1974, Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain), Elena Anaya (born 17 July 1975, Palencia, Castile and León, Spain), Elsa Pataky (born 18 July 1976, Madrid, Spain), Leonor Watling (born 28 July 1975, Madrid, Spain), Paz Vega (born 2 January 1976, Seville, Andalusia, Spain) and Pilar Lopez De Ayala (born 18 September 1978, Madrid, Spain).
"I had an uncle writer, my uncle Antonio Pereira, who was a little artist, was a storyteller, told stories. And my father has always been very theatrical. To such an extent that in the filming of directors who are my friends I always put my parents to make special figurations, they always have their plans. But I think it all comes because, when I was four years old, my parents pointed my sister and me to ballet classes. To dance, I started to climb from a very young age to a stage, and I loved it. I also liked to interpret the music, the great classics that the teacher gave us. Not only did I dance to them, but I was very excited about music and played it, I lived it a lot. My teacher put me many times alone, not because of my qualities as a dancer, but because she told me I was the most theatrical of all. In addition, my parents have always instilled in me the love for art. As a child I was going to see poetry, flamenco, opera, cinema recitals ..."
- Macarena Gomez, Teller Report
Macarena Gomez on the ski slopes
From her early days, Gomez has been greatly respected by fans of science-fiction, fantasy and horror for her work in genre movies. This feeling's now stronger than ever due to her continued dedication to her craft and commitment to genre.
The Sitges Film Festival (Catalan: 'Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya') is one of the world's foremost international festivals specialising in science-fiction, fantasy and horror films. It was established in 1968, when Spain was one of the leading contributors to gothic horror filmmaking, a tradition that continues to this day. The festival takes place annually in the coastal town of Sitges, which is about 34 kilometers away from Barcelona. Gomez is a regular attendee of the festival and has lent the event organisers her support in a myriad of ways.
"I love all genres, but in a way when I do horror it is more amusing because I feel like a kid playing a game with friends."
- Macarena Gomez, The Actors Awards
Macarena Gomez attends the High Technology Gadgetry Convention on Mont Blanc
'Dynabeat' - Jain
Gomez works mostly in Spain though she has filmed co-productions in neighbouring France. In recent years, she's become a member of filmmaker Alex De La Iglesia's stock company which seems fitting due to his stature within horror circles. De La Iglesia's directed Gomez in 'Witching & Bitching' (2013). He's also co-produced some of her movies including Juanfer Andres & Esteban Roel's psychological horror 'Shrew's Nest' (2014) which I'm keen to see, Zoe Berriatua's crime drama 'The Heroes Of Evil' (2015), and Eduardo Casanova's surreal shocker 'Skins' (2017) which evolved from his short subject film 'Bath Time' (2014) starring Gomez. More recently, Gomez has been appearing in De La Iglesia's television series '30 Monedas'.
"Horror fans will recognise Macarena Gomez from her many iconic performances in the genre, from the mesmerizing sea priestess in Dagon to the deranged shut-in in Shrew’s Nest, and the psychotic murderess in Sexy Killer. She is known for her intense and memorable performances, but her role in The Black Gloves might be her most extreme yet. In this Hitchcock-inspired horror, Macarena plays Lorena Velasco, a formidable ballet mistress obsessed with the recovery of her troubled student."
- Sheri White, Hellnotes
Macarena Gomez & Aldo Comas
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5 Macarena Gómez Movies I'd Recommend To Anybody
'Dagon' (2001 - Stuart Gordon) 'Romasanta : The Werewolf Hunt' (2004 - Paco Plaza)
'Hot Milk' (2005 - Ricardo Bofill Maggiora) 'Sexy Killer' (2008 - Miguel Marti) 'Witching And Bitching' (2013 - Alex De La Iglesia)
{Need to see ... Oscar Aibar's 'Flying Saucers' (2003), Juanfer Andres & Esteban Roel's 'Shrew's Nest' (2014), Lawrie Brewster's 'The Black Gloves (2017)' ...}
Barbara Lennie, Maria Leon, Macarena Gomez & Elena Anaya at the Goya Awards
Interview with Macarena Gomez
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Post by petrolino on Mar 6, 2021 20:23:02 GMT
^ Latin Spirit : < Ludivine Sagnier, Claudia Gerini, Maria De Medeiros & Macarena Gomez >
: Short Subject Films
Ludivine Sagnier appeared in a handful of short subject films early in her career, including Freddy Busso's popular mini-drama 'The Helias Brothers' (2002) which helped him secure financing for his first feature.
Dario Albertini's energetic short subject film 'Maniac' (2009) stars Claudia Gerini in a tribute to Adrian Lyne's musical 'Flashdance' (1983).
'Vostok' (2015 - Miquel Casals)
Maria De Medeiros has a diverse resume when it comes to short films. Guy Maddin's 'A Trip To The Orphanage' (2004) is popular with film critics. I like Chantal Akerman's 'I'm Hungy, I'm Cold' (1984) which features De Medeiros in one of her earliest screen performances. Another film I enjoy is Ken McMullen's 'The Strange Encounters And Timeless Wanderings Of A Man Called R' (1992).
'Behind' (2016 - Angel Gomez Hernandez)
Macarena Gomez has appeared in many short subject films in the science-fiction, fantasy and horror genres. Her sterling work on the independent scene and continued support of young filmmakers is appreciated by genre fans the world over.
'Affection' (2018 - Angel Gomez Hernandez)
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Post by petrolino on Mar 6, 2021 22:48:34 GMT
125 Years ~ 125 Filmmakers
This pandemic year, I'm trying to take up a challenge posed by the Society of Film in Metz, France. In celebration of the 125th anniversary of horror cinema, and in honour of Georges Melies' 'The House Of The Devil' (1896), I shall attempt to highlight some work by 125 different filmmakers from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain. This will be directors who were active in cinema within the period, 1896 - 2021.
By limiting entries to just 125, this means you have to think about which directors have made their mark. In some cases, they might have only made one film you enjoy, in others they may have made many, but in the spirit of the task, I'd like to consider carefully some of the great contributors to French, Italian, Portugese and Spanish cinema. Of course, any contributions on this subject from the good people of IMDB2 are greatly appreciated, and anybody posting here is obviously more than welcome to take up this challenge.
For the record, 'The House Of The Devil' was not the first film ever made, but it was an important progression into the world of "cinema fantastique" which combines elements of science-fiction, fantasy and horror. Melies himself went on to make 'The Haunted Castle' (1897). He also made 'A Trip To The Moon' (1902) which is the earliest science-fiction fantasy I know of.
'In 1908, Camille Saint-Saëns became the first famous name to provide a score to a film. The 18-minute-long motion picture, ‘The Assassination of the Duke of Guise’, was made by a team who also encouraged well-known stage actors to perform in their films to give them some kudos. Saint-Saëns later developed his music into a concert work - the Opus 128 for strings, piano and harmonium.'
- Classic FM
'Danse Macabre' (1874) - Camille Saint-Saëns
I should like to begin by mentioning a few milestones from the early years of film. These films and filmic inventions were among the first examples of their kind, created by photographers and filmmakers whose work we're still studying today. These experimental artists were often inventors also, and they were among the true pioneers of film. "Dancer Johnny Hudgins is actually black, with white make-up around his lips. He is an "aeronaut," from Africa, with an advanced flying machine. If you watch the whole movie 'Charleston Parade' (1927), it's progressive for it's time. Hell, it's progressive for modern America even now, as the white woman leaves with the black man to a place more civilized than war-torn France (set in the year 2028)."
- Rum Cookie on Jean Renoir's science-fiction fantasy 'Charleston Parade', Youtube
'La Parade' (1896) - Maurice Ravel
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French Film Pioneers ~ Une Douzaine De Boulanger (avec abridged wikipedia notes)
Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (born 18 November 1787, Cormeilles-en-Parisis, Val-d'Oise, France), better known as Louis Daguerre, was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photography. Though he is most famous for his contributions to photography, he was also an accomplished painter and a developer of the diorama theatre.
Antoine Claudet (born 18 August 1797, La Croix-Rousse, France) was a French photographer and artist active in London who produced daguerreotypes. Early in his career Claudet headed a glass factory at Choisy-le-Roi, Paris, together with Georges Bontemps, and moved to England to promote the factory with a shop in High Holborn, London. Having acquired a share in L. J. M. Daguerre's invention, he became one of England's first commercial photographers using the daguerreotype process for portraiture, improving the sensitizing process by using chlorine (instead of bromine) in addition to iodine, thus gaining greater rapidity of action. Claudet invented the red darkroom safelight, and it was he who suggested the idea of using a series of photographs to create the illusion of movement. The idea of using painted backdrops has also been attributed to him.
Pierre Jules César Janssen (born 22 February 1824, Paris, France), also known as Jules Janssen, or Julie Cesar, was a French astronomer who, along with English scientist Joseph Norman Lockyer, is credited with discovering the gaseous nature of the solar chromosphere, and with some justification the element helium.
Janssen also came up with the idea for a "revolver photographic". This huge camera system used a Maltese cross-type mechanism, very similar to the system that would later be of great importance in the development of movie cameras. He successfully captured both transits of Venus, 1874 in Japan, that of 1882 at Oran in Algeria. The motion picture was known as Passage de Venus.
Étienne-Jules Marey (born 5 March 1830, Beaune, Côte-d'Or, France) was a French scientist, physiologist and chronophotographer. His work was significant in the development of cardiology, physical instrumentation, aviation, cinematography and the science of laboratory photography.
Marey was a pioneer of photography who directly influenced the history of cinema. In 1882, he developed the Chronophotographe, which could take 12 pictures per second.
Louis Le Prince (born 28 August 1841, Metz, France) was a French artist and the inventor of an early motion picture camera, possibly the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and a strip of (paper) film. Although some have credited him as the "Father of Cinematography", his work did not influence the commercial development of cinema — owing at least in part to the great secrecy surrounding it.
A Frenchman who also worked in the United Kingdom and the United States, Le Prince's motion-picture experiments culminated in 1888 in the city of Leeds, England. In October of that year, he filmed moving-picture sequences of family members in Roundhay Garden and his son playing the accordion, using his single-lens camera and Eastman's paper negative film. At some point in the following eighteen months he also made a film of Leeds Bridge. This work may have been slightly in advance of the inventions of contemporaneous moving-picture pioneers such as the British inventors William Friese-Greene and Wordsworth Donisthorpe, and was years in advance of that of Auguste and Louis Lumière, and William Kennedy Dickson (who did the moving image work for Thomas Edison).
Le Prince was never able to perform a planned public demonstration in the US because he mysteriously vanished; he was last known to be boarding a train on 16 September 1890. The reason for his disappearance is not known and his family and supporters invented a series of conspiracy theories, including: a murder set up by Edison, secret homosexuality, disappearance in order to start a new life, and a murder by his brother over their mother's will. No evidence exists for any of these and the most likely explanation remains that he committed suicide, overcome by the shame of heavy debts and the failure of his experiments.
Charles-Émile Reynaud (born 8 December 1844, Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis, France) was a French inventor, responsible for the praxinoscope (an animation device patented in 1877 that improved on the zoetrope) and the first projected animated films. His Théâtre Optique film system, patented in 1888, is notable as the first known instance of film perforations being used.
On 28 October 1892 Reynaud gave the first public performance of a moving picture show at the Musée Grévin in Paris, the Théâtre Optique. The show, billed as Pantomimes Lumineuses, included three cartoons, Pauvre Pierrot, Un bon bock, and Le Clown et ses chiens, each consisting of 500 to 600 individually painted images and lasting about 15 minutes. The film was the first to use perforations. The performances predated Auguste and Louis Lumière's first paid public screening of the cinematographe on 26 December 1895, often seen as the birth of cinema.
William Kennedy Dickson (born 3 August 1860, Le Minihic-sur-Rance, Brittany, France) was a Franco-Scottish inventor who devised an early motion picture camera under the employment of Thomas Edison. Blacksmith Scene, by Dickson, is the first Kinetoscope film shown in public exhibition on May 9, 1893 and is the earliest known example of actors performing a role in a film. The Dickson Experimental Sound Film is the first known film with live-recorded sound and appears to be the first motion picture made for the Kinetophone, the proto-sound-film system developed by Dickson and Thomas Edison.
History of the Kinetograph, Kinetoscope, and Kinetophonograph by Antonia and William Kennedy Dickson is considered the first book of history on film. It was published in 1895. In the same year, Dickson made the first hand-colored film, Annabelle Serpentine Dance.
Marius Sestier (born 8 August 1861, Sauzet, Drôme, France) was a French cinematographer, best known for his work in Australia, where he shot some of the country's first films. A pharmacist by profession, Sestier was employed by early filmmakers the Lumière brothers (Auguste and Louis Lumière) to demonstrate their cinématographe abroad. In this capacity he travelled to India in June 1896, where he held a showcase of six short films made by the Lumière brothers at Watson's Hotel, Bombay on 7 July 1896; this was the first time moving pictures had been shown in India. Sestier also shot his own films while in Bombay, but the Lumière brothers rejected these for their catalogue as they were not satisfied with the quality as French customs had opened the package of undeveloped film. Sestier's short subject documentary Passengers Alighting from Ferry Brighton at Manly (1896) was the first film shot and screened in Australia. Sestier, together with Australian photographer Henry Walter Barnett, made approximately 19 films in Sydney and Melbourne between October and November 1896, these being the very first films recorded in Australia. In September 1896, Sestier and Barnett opened Australia's first cinema, the Salon Lumière in Pitt Street, Sydney.
Victorin-Hippolyte Jasset (born 30 March 1862, Fumay, Ardennes, France) was an early film pioneer in France, active between the years 1905 and 1913. He worked on many genres of film and was particularly associated with the development of detective or crime serials, such as the Nick Carter (possibly the first in history) and Zigomar series. The most immediate influence of Jasset's work was seen in the films of Louis Feuillade, who was working at the Gaumont Film Company and took the film serial to new heights with Fantômas (1913–14), Les Vampires (1915–16) and Judex (1916). These variously developed the roles of the resourceful detective, the master-criminal, and the mysterious woman of action who had previously appeared in Jasset's Nick Carter, Zigomar and Protéa films.
The Lumière brothers were Auguste Lumière (born 19 October 1862, Besançon, France) and Louis Lumière (born 5 October 1864, Besançon, France). They were manufacturers of photography equipment, best known for their Cinématographe motion picture system and the short films they produced between 1895 and 1905. Their screening of a single film on 22 March 1895 for around 200 members of the "Society for the Development of the National Industry" in Paris was probably the first presentation of projected film. Their first commercial public screening on 28 December 1895 for around 40 paying visitors and invited relations has traditionally been regarded as the birth of cinema, although it had in fact been preceded by paying shows to thousands of people in the USA and Germany. L'Arroseur Arrosé (also known as The Waterer Watered and The Sprinkler Sprinkled) is an 1895 French short black-and-white silent comedy film directed and produced by Louis Lumière and starring François Clerc and Benoît Duval. It was first screened on June 10, 1895. It is the earliest known instance of film comedy, the first use of film to portray a fictional story, and the first use of a promotional film poster. The film was originally known as Le Jardinier ("The Gardener") or Le Jardinier et le petit espiègle, and is sometimes referred to in English as The Tables Turned on the Gardener, and The Sprinkler Sprinkled.
Michel-Antoine Carré (born 7 February 1865, Paris, France) was a French actor, stage and film director, and writer of opera librettos, stage plays and film scripts. He was the son of the librettist Michel Carré (père) (1821–1872) and cousin of the theatre director Albert Carré (his father's nephew). His libretto for André Messager's 1894 opera Mirette was never performed in France but was performed in an English adaptation in London at the Savoy Theatre.
L'Enfant prodigue ("The Prodigal Son") was the first feature-length motion picture produced in Europe, running 90 minutes. Directed by Michel Carré, from his own three-act stage pantomime, the film was basically an unmodified, filmed record of his play. It was filmed at the Gaumont Film Company studios in May 1907 and the movie premiered at the Théâtre des Variétés on the Boulevard Montmartre, in Paris, on 20 June 1907.
Ferdinand Zecca (born 19 February 1864, Paris, France) was a pioneer French film director, film producer, actor and screenwriter. He worked primarily for the Pathé company, first in artistic endeavors then in administration of the internationally based company. Zecca's Histoire d'un crime (1901), stylistically innovative in its use of superimposition, was the first film to use flashbacks to create a non-linear narrative. Zecca explored many themes from the mundane to the fantastic. In À la conquête de l'air (1901), a strange flying machine, called Fend-l'air, was seen flying over the rooftops of Belleville. By using trick photography, the one-minute short was notable in being the first aviation film, predating the flight by the Wright Brothers by two years.
Alice Guy-Blaché (born 1 July 1873, Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, France) was a French pioneer filmmaker, active from the late 19th century, and one of the first to make a narrative fiction film. She was the first woman to direct a film. From 1896 to 1906, she was probably the only female filmmaker in the world. She experimented with Gaumont's Chronophone sync-sound system, and with color-tinting, interracial casting, and special effects. In 1896, Guy-Blaché directed La Fée aux Choux (The Fairy of the Cabbages) which is significant in the history of cinema. The Cabbage Fairy is often acknowledged as the first narrative fiction film. This movie is also credited as having introduced screenplays for the first time. In 1912, Guy-Blaché made the film A Fool and His Money, probably the first to have an all-African-American cast. The film is now at the National Center for Film and Video Preservation at the American Film Institute.
'Images' (1901 - 1905) - Claude Debussy
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Silent Films
ITALY
'Dante's Inferno' (1911, L'Inferno - Giuseppe De Liguoro) 'Homer's Odyssey' (1911, L'Odissea - Adolfo Padovan) 'The Fire' (1916, Il fuoco - Giovanni Pastrone) 'Ashes' (1917, Cenere - Febo Mari) 'Bad Shade' (1917, Malombra - Carmine Gallone)
'Satan’s Rhapsody' (1917, Rapsodia satanica – Nino Oxilia)
'Thais' (1917, Thaïs - Anton Giulio Bragaglia) 'Caina' (1922, Cainà, L'isola e il continente - Gennaro Righelli) 'Maciste In Hell' (1925, Maciste all'inferno - Guido Brignone)
'Rails' (1929, Rotaie - Mario Camerini)
FRANCE
'The Heart And The Money' (1912, Le Cœur et l'Argent – Louis Feuillade & Leonce Perret)
'The Mystery Of The Kador Cliffs' (1912, Le mystère des roches de Kador - Leonce Perret) 'The Child Of Paris' (1913, L'enfant de Paris - Leonce Perret) 'War Is Hell' (1914, Maudite soit la guerre – Alfred Machin)
'Alsace' (1916, Alsace - Henri Pouctal) 'The Deadly Gases' (1916, Les gaz mortels - Abel Gance)
'I, Accuse' (1919, J'accuse - Abel Gance) 'The Flood' (1924, L'inondation - Louis Delluc)
'The Inhuman Woman' (1924, L'inhumaine - Marcel L'Herbier) 'The Swallow And The Titmouse' (1924, L'Hirondelle et la Mésange – Andre Antoine)
'The Phantom Of The Moulin-Rouge' (1925, Le fantôme du Moulin-Rouge - Rene Clair) 'The Imaginary Voyage' (1926, Le voyage imaginaire - Rene Clair) 'Nana' (1926, Nana - Jean Renoir) 'Napoleon' (1927, Napoléon - Abel Gance) 'Misdeal' (1928, Maldone - Jean Gremillon) 'Verdun' (1928, Verdun, visions d'histoire - Leon Poirier) 'Saint Joan The Maid' (1929, La merveilleuse vie de Jeanne d'Arc - Marco De Gastyne)
'The Woman And The Puppet' (1929, La femme et le pantin - Jacques De Baroncelli)
'Ladies' Paradise' (1930, Au bonheur des dames - Julien Duvivier)
PORTUGAL
'Maria Do Mar' (1930, Maria do Mar - Jose Leitao De Barros)
'Tendresse' (1896, from 'Dolly Suite') ~ Gabriel Fauré
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Post by petrolino on Mar 12, 2021 22:40:54 GMT
Silent Cinema ~ Short Subject Films
Short subject films were a cornerstone of silent film production in Europe in the early 20th century. American filmmaker Martin Scorsese has written about the work of Italy's silent film pioneers and how they established some of the conventions of epic historical cinema through their work. All the Italian silent films I've enjoyed to date have been feature-length, so I feel I understand where Scorsese's coming from. With Spain, it's been the reverse for me, as the silent movies I've enjoyed most from Spanish directors have been short subject films. I've only seen one silent film from Portugal, though fortunately, it's one that's considered to be among the nation's greatest feature films.
'Gabrielle Rejane was widely regarded as the embodiment of the Parisienne, and when she died in 1920, Le Figaro said that Paris had lost its soul.'
- Wikipedia
Gabrielle Rejane
I think it's important for me to note that I'm attempting to highlight the contributions of 125 filmmakers, as well as a selection of silent films (long and short), all of which I believe are the work of directors born in France, Italy, Portugal or Spain. I've imposed these strict boundaries upon myself in order to hopefully make the task at hand a little easier.
I'd also like to highlight the work of a few other filmmakers along the way, filmmakers who I feel have contributed greatly to these four national film industries. This is particularly the case with France, where American visual artist Man Ray, Polish filmic experimentalist Jean Epstein and avant-garde Estonian director Dimitri Kirsanoff completed some of their most influential work during the silent film era; celebrated American film critic Pauline Kael once wrote that Kirsanoff's silent French film 'Menilmontant' (1926) was her favourite film of all time. Filmmaker Leonide Moguy, who worked successfully in France, America and Italy, was born in Odessa, Ukraine; Quentin Tarantino named a character after Moguy in his Italian-inspired, revisionist western tribute, 'Django Unchained' (2012).
"For over ten years (1882-1895), The Incoherents took up a format of a hybrid cabaret and salon, and the happenings of the group fell somewhere between free artistic expression and public entertainment. Artworks created by the group were parodies of famous pieces of art, political and social satire, costume balls, graphical puns, and monographic paintings directly mocking the Impressionists. Cleverly curated locations contributed to the success of these humorous exhibition-demonstrations and were meant to rebel against the seriousness and boredom of popular events and popular sentiments of the time. Additionally, The Incoherents self published catalogues, fictional artist statements, and created well-orchestrated advertising campaigns using newspapers, flyers, and personal invitations to promote their happenings, and they even donated proceeds from their admission fees to charity. De-professionalization was one of the major characteristics of The Incoherents, whereby painters might take up writing, exhibitions of drawing would be launched by those who couldn’t draw, and architects might become financial analysts. Absurdity and provocation were the driving mission of the group. Moreover, Les Arts Incoérents introduced the usefulness of satire, humor, and political provocation within cultural production, acting as precursors to the avant-garde cabarets of the early 20th century and the performative interventions of Surrealism and Dada, and could be said were early influencers to movements like Fluxus. Their theaters of conversation and exchange, or cabarets, played a critical role in the emergence of what philosopher Jürgen Habermas termed the, “public sphere” which emerged in “cultural-political contras” to court society."
- Arden Sherman, curator at the Hunter East Harlem Gallery in New York
1896 - 1900 : A Trip Through Paris (speed corrected with added sound)
The film industry writ large in the United States of America developed a similar philosophy to France as the two nations competed in a cinematic arms race, breaking one barrier after another in the process. These nations were keen collaborators too. French artist Fernand Leger travelled to America where he developed the groundbreaking experimental film 'Mechanical Ballet' (1924) in collaboration with photographer Man Ray and American director Dudley Murphy. French filmmaker Henry De La Falaise also found work in America where he married Gloria Swanson in the 1920s and Constance Bennett in the 1930s, two of the great stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. For horror fans, there's a couple of great examples of this artistic migration that strike right at the heart of the sound revolution. French director Marcel Varnel co-directed 'Chandu The Magician' (1932) with American production designer William Cameron Menzies, before relocating to the United Kingdom where he became a leading industry figure in the 1930s. French director Robert Florey made 'Murders In The Rue Morgue' (1932) in America, one of the first great film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's writings to utilise sound. Jean Epstein had already directed one of the great silent Poe adaptations in France, 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher' (1928), working from a screenplay he'd co-written with Spanish filmmaker Luis Bunuel; French filmmaker Abel Gance took an acting role in 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher'. Florey remained in America where he went on to become an in-house director at Warner Bros. Pictures.
On a sidenote, Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi starred in both 'Chandu The Magician' and 'Murders In The Rue Morgue'. Lugosi's considered an icon of international cinema in France and is honoured for his genre work at the Vampire Museum (Le Musée des Vampires) in Paris, a historic arts venue widely regarded as being one of the creepiest museums in the world.
"Dada was a provocative and irreverent art movement, founded in Switzerland in the early 20th century, in which a seemingly chaotic, spontaneous, and pessimistic aesthetic influenced painting, sculpture, theater, literature, and film. The movement’s name is a willfully nonsensical word, intended to punctuate the meaninglessness artists saw in their contemporaneous worldview. Dada filmmakers such as Hans Richter, Man Ray, and Viking Eggeling were challenged by the developing technology of filmmaking in the 1920s. This confluence of technology and aesthetic experimentation suited the Dadaists’ passion for the machine-made object. The visual disruption created by the Dada filmmakers in the 1920s provided a legacy of aesthetic language for the cinematic experiments of future generations of avant-garde artists."
- Anna Morra, curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York
1927 : A Trip Through The Streets Of Paris (speed corrected with added sound)
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Silent Short Subject Films
FRANCE
# All surviving and available works by Georges Melies
## Serials : 'Fantomas' (1913 - 1914, Fantômas) & 'The Vampires' (1915 - 1916, Les Vampires) by Louis Feuillade
'The Consequences Of Feminism' (1906, Les Résultats du féminisme - Alice Guy-Blache) 'The Life Of Moliere' (1909, Molière - Leonce Perret)
'The Hunchback Of Notre Dame' (1911, Notre-Dame de Paris - Albert Capellani)
'Rigadin And The Lady Doctor' (1911, Rigadin et la doctoresse - Georges Monca) 'The Man With Wax Faces' (1914, Figures de cire - Maurice Tourneur) 'Max And The Lady Doctor' (1914, Max et la doctoresse - Max Linder) 'The Doctor's Madness Tube' (1915, La folie du Docteur Tube - Abel Gance) 'Intermission' (1924, Entr'acte - Rene Clair) 'Games Of Reflections And Speed' (1925, Jeux des reflets et de la vitesse - Henri Chomette)
'Anemic Cinema' (1926, Anémic Cinéma - Marcel Duchamp) 'Charleston Parade' (1927, Sur un air de Charleston - Jean Renoir) 'The Seashell And The Clergyman' (1928, La Coquille et le clergyman - Germaine Dulac)
'About Nice' (1930, À Propos de Nice - Jean Vigo)
ITALY
# All surviving and available works by Elvira Notari
SPAIN
# All surviving and available works by Segundo De Chomon
'An Andalusian Dog' (1929, Un Chien Andalou - Luis Bunuel)
Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Dom La Nena performs at the PORTA World Music Festival in Riga, Latvia (La Nena has sung in French, Italian, Portugese & Spanish in person and on record)
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Post by petrolino on Mar 21, 2021 0:38:40 GMT
125 Filmmakers [1 - 5]
"When I happen to go to the movies in America, I go see “B” pictures. First of all, they are an expression of the great technical quality of Hollywood. Because, to make a good western in a week, the way they do at Monogram, starting Monday and finishing Saturday, believe me, that requires extraordinary technical ability; and detective stories are done with the same speed. I also think that “B” pictures are often better than important films because they are made so fast that the filmmaker obviously has total freedom; they don’t have time to watch over him."
- Jean Renoir speaking in 1954, Filmsnoir.net
Jean Renoir on location
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01. Maurice Tourneur (born 2 February 1876, Paris, France)
The first director I've chosen is Maurice Tourneur whose career in cinema covers the evolution of the cinematic form itself. In the 1900s, Tourneur was a member of a touring theatre company that included actress Gabrielle Rejane. He became an assistant director at Laboratoires Eclair, a film laboratory and camera manufacturing company established in Épinay-sur-Seine, France by Charles Jourjon in 1907. He started making experimental films with a small company of artists, including music hall performer Polaire. Tourneur was so gifted behind the camera, he was offered an opportunity to work in America, and he departed France with several trusted colleagues in tow, taking up a senior position at Eclair's newly opened American studio branch in Fort Lee, New Jersey. It was during his time in America that Tourneur directed some of the great motion pictures of the silent movie era. He frequently collaborated with Canadian actress Mary Pickford, a devout Catholic who became known as "America's sweetheart". His films 'The Poor Little Rich Girl' (1917), 'The Blue Bird' (1918) and 'The Last Of The Mohicans' (1920) have all been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. He returned to France in the late 1920s where he directed 'The Crew' (1928) with American actress Claire de Lorez.
TRIVIA : Maurice Tourneur's son, Jacques Tourneur, studied filmmaking under the strict tutelage of his father from an early age. Jacques was recruited in America by film producer Val Lewton to direct a series of lurid horror fantasies for RKO Studios. Trained as an editor, Jacques joined with Canadian editor-turned-director Mark Robson and American editor-turned-director Robert Wise to create a revolution in genre cinema, rewriting some of the cinematic rules his father had helped draw up during the silent era.
Selected Maurice Tourneur Films [9]
01) 'The Poor Little Rich Girl' (1917 - Maurice Tourneur)
02) 'The Pride Of The Clan' (1917 - Maurice Tourneur) 03) 'The Blue Bird' (1918 - Maurice Tourneur) 04) 'The Last Of The Mohicans' (1920 - Maurice Tourneur) 05) 'Lorna Doone' (1922 - Maurice Tourneur) 06) 'The Mysterious Island' (1929 - Lucien Hubbard; incorporates footage shot in 1926 and 1927 by Maurice Tourneur and Benjamin Christensen respectively)
07) 'The Ship Of Lost Souls' (1929, Das Schiff der verlorenen Menschen - Maurice Tourneur) 08) 'The Devil's Hand' (1943, La Main du diable - Maurice Tourneur) 09) 'Dilemma Of Two Angels' (1948, Impasse des deux anges - Maurice Tourneur)
'Phèdre, suite symphonique' - Georges Auric
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02. Jean Cocteau (born 5 July 1889, Maisons-Laffitte, France)
Jean Cocteau was a poet, playwright, diarist and novelist. He was also a gifted artist and a man hellbent on experimentation. He was a paying regular at Le Boeuf sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof) throughout the 1920s, a Parisian cabaret bar whose clientele's creations were woven into the fabric of the city's avant-garde arts scene. The first two surrealist manifestos by Yvan Goll and André Breton were published in 1924, by which point Cocteau had become one of the most influential figures in the arts. He turned to filmmaking in 1930, utilising the camera to convey broken shards of his own drawings and writings.
TRIVIA : Jean Cocteau died a day after the death of one of his closest friends and collaborators, chanteuse Édith Piaf, for whom he wrote the play 'The Beautiful Indifferent' (1940, Le Bel Indifférent).
Selected Jean Cocteau Films [4]
01) 'The Blood Of A Poet' (1932, Le sang d'un poète - Jean Cocteau) 02) 'Beauty And The Beast' (1946, La Belle et la Bête - Jean Cocteau) 03) 'Orpheus' (1950, Orphée - Jean Cocteau) 04) 'Testament Of Orpheus' (1960, Le testament d'Orphée - Jean Cocteau)
'Romance sans parole op. 21' - Louis Durey
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03. Jean Renoir (born 15 September 1894, Paris, France)
Jean Renoir is my favourite French filmmaker from the era that's come to be known as "the Golden Age of Cinema". His parents were impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and artist's model Aline Charigot, who's the subject of some of Pierre-Auguste's paintings. His brother was actor Pierre Renoir.
Jean married actress and model Catherine Hessling in 1920. Hessling had been working as a live model for Pierre-Auguste on the recommendation of painter Henri Matisse. Hessling was Jean's artistic muse and she appeared in many of the films he directed during the silent era. Renoir's technical skill and virtuosity enabled him to make a smooth transition to shooting motion pictures with sound. He worked successfully in America during World War 2, and though he later returned to France for work purposes, America became his home. He received an honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1975 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for contributions made to the motion picture industry.
TRIVIA : Jean Renoir's nephew, Claude Renoir, was a cinematographer.
Selected Jean Renoir Films [19]
01) 'Nana' (1926, Nana - Jean Renoir)
02) 'The Bitch' (1931, La Chienne - Jean Renoir) 03) 'Boudu Saved From Drowning' (1932, Boudu sauvé des eaux - Jean Renoir) 04) 'Toni' (1935, Toni - Jean Renoir) 05) 'The Crime Of Monsieur Lange' (1936, Le Crime de Monsieur Lange - Jean Renoir) 06) 'A Day In The Country' (1936, Partie de campagne [Unfinished] - Jean Renoir) 07) 'Grand Illusion' (1937, La grande illusion - Jean Renoir) 08) 'The Human Beast' (1938, La bête humaine - Jean Renoir) 09) 'La Marseillaise' (1938, La Marseillaise - Jean Renoir) 10) 'The Rules Of The Game' (1939, La Règle du jeu - Jean Renoir) 11) 'Swamp Water' (1941 - Jean Renoir) 12) 'This Land Is Mine' (1943 - Jean Renoir) 13) 'The Southerner' (1945 - Jean Renoir) 14) 'The Diary Of A Chambermaid' (1946 - Jean Renoir) 15) 'The Woman On The Beach' (1947 - Jean Renoir) 16) 'The River' (1951, Le Fleuve - Jean Renoir) 17) 'French Cancan' (1954, French Cancan - Jean Renoir) 18) 'The Testament Of Dr. Cordelier' (1958, Le Testament du docteur Cordelier - Jean Renoir)
19) 'Picnic On The Grass' (1959, Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe - Jean Renoir)
'Milhaud : Le Boeuf sur le toit' - Darius Milhaud
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04. Julien Duvivier (born 8 October 1896, Lille, France)
Julien Duvivier worked at the Gaumont Film Company in the 1920s where he came under the influence of filmmakers like André Antoine, Louis Feuillade and Marcel L'Herbier. This training ground proved crucial to the development of his skills as a working director. He first worked with Jean Gabin on 'Maria Chapdelaine' (1934) and this proved to be the first of many collaborations between director and actor.
Jean Renoir was one of Julien Duvivier's greatest admirers and both directors worked successfully in America during the 2nd World War. While I've seen a great deal of Renoir's creative output, I've not been able to see nearly as much of Duvivier's work, but as with Renoir, I can see Duvivier was clearly a great technician. Renoir described Duvivier as a "great poet", and he was one of the pioneers of an artistic movement that came to be known as "poetic realism" within French cinema. His films I've been lucky enough to see have been drenched in poetic imagery.
Selected Julien Duvivier Films [6]
01) 'Ladies' Paradise' (1930, Au bonheur des dames - Julien Duvivier) 02) 'Life Dances On' (1937, Un carnet de bal – Julien Duvivier) 03) 'Pepe Le Moko' (1937, Pépé le Moko - Julien Duvivier) 04) 'The Great Waltz' (1938 - Julien Duvivier, Victor Fleming [uncredited] & Josef Von Sternberg [uncredited])
05) 'Flesh And Fantasy' (1943 - Julien Duvivier) 06) Under The Sky Of Paris (1951, Sous le ciel de Paris – Julien Duvivier)
'Concerto pour piano' - Francis Poulenc
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05. René Clair (born 11 November 1898, Paris, France)
Avant-garde filmmaker René Clair studied philosophy before entering cinema. It's often joked that he never left silent cinema behind, a thought reinforced by the words of film theorist André Bazin who considered Clair to be a silent filmmaker first and foremost. As such, I think his finest work in talkies came about when he worked in the comedy and fantasy genres, where he could use words for their humour, musicality and rhythm. In general, I think of Clair as being one of cinema's great comic fantasists. Like Jean Renoir and Julien Duvivier, Clair worked successfully in America during the 2nd World War, having enjoyed a short stint in the United Kingdom in the mid-1930s. It was during the 1940s that Jean Cocteau mounted a tribute to Rene Clair's supernatural fantasy 'I Married A Witch' (1942) at Théâtre de la Mode (Theatre of Fashion), a touring exhibit of mannequins.
Selected René Clair Films [10]
01) 'The Phantom Of The Moulin-Rouge' (1925, Le fantôme du Moulin-Rouge - Rene Clair)
02) 'The Imaginary Voyage' (1926, Le voyage imaginaire – Rene Clair) 03) 'Freedom For Us' (1931, À Nous la Liberté - Rene Clair) 04) 'The Million' (1931, Le Million - Rene Clair) 05) 'July 14' (1933, Quatorze Juillet – Rene Clair) 06) 'The Ghost Goes West' (1935 – Rene Clair)
07) 'I Married A Witch' (1942 – Rene Clair)
08) 'It Happened Tomorrow' (1944 – Rene Clair)
09) 'And Then There Were None' (1945 – Rene Clair) 10) 'Beauty And The Devil' (1950, La Beauté du diable – Rene Clair)
'Petite suite pour orchestre' - Germaine Tailleferre
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# Entrer : Voyage De L'Imagination
“Listen carefully to first criticisms made of your work. Note just what it is about your work that critics don't like - then cultivate it. That's the only part of your work that's individual and worth keeping.”
- Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau reading a book
A Tribute to Jean Cocteau (music by Massive Attack)
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¬ C'Est La Saison De La Sorcière ^
“Satirists, be careful. In the 1931 film by Rene Clair, “Vive la Liberte”, a song says, “Work is freedom.” In 1940, the sign on the gates to Auschwitz said: “Arbeit macht frei.”
- Stanislaw Jerzy Lec
Rene Clair on location
'Pacific 231' - Arthur Honegger
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Post by petrolino on Mar 27, 2021 0:32:59 GMT
125 Filmmakers [6 - 10]
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06. Luis Buñuel (born 22 February 1900, Calanda, Aragon, Spain)
Luis Bunuel is my favourite filmmaker. He's sometimes referred to as "the Godfather of Surrealist Cinema", due to his roots in avant-garde film. He was a meticulous craftsman and exacting technician who was able to shoot films very quickly as he mapped everything out in advance. He learnt to shoot economically while working as a hired hand in the Mexican film industry, where conditions were often tough and budgets were often small.
During the 2nd World War, Bunuel took up a position at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where he edited documentaries. He worked on the development of Robert Florey's horror movie 'The Beast With Five Fingers' (1946) and might have become a dedicated horror filmmaker, but his ties to radical left-wing political organisations may have hastened his departure for Mexico.
Bunuel shot movies in Spain, France, Mexico and America. During an involving film career that stretched across six decades, he was strongly denounced by the Catholic Church (the institution officially condemned many of his films), exiled from his homeland, and investigated for suspect political activities in more than one country. Despite these obstacles, he never stopped making films.
TRIVIA : One of Luis Bunuel's sons with gymnast Jeanne Rucar Lefebvre, Juan Luis Buñuel, also became a filmmaker.
Selected Luis Buñuel Films (22)
01) 'The Golden Age' (1930, L'Age d'Or - Luis Bunuel) 02) 'The Great Madcap' (1949, El Gran Calavera - Luis Bunuel) 03) 'The Forgotten' (1950, Los Olvidados - Luis Bunuel) 04) 'Susana' (1951, Susana, demonio y carne - Luis Bunuel) 05) 'Ascent To Heaven' (1952, Subida al cielo - Luis Bunuel) 06) 'The Brute' (1953, El Bruto - Luis Bunuel) 07) 'El' (1953, Él - Luis Bunuel) 08) 'Illusion Travels By Streetcar' (1953, La ilusión viaja en tranvía - Luis Bunuel)
09) 'The Criminal Life Of Archibaldo De La Cruz' (1955, Ensayo de un crimen - Luis Bunuel) 10) 'Death In The Garden' (1956, La mort en ce jardin - Luis Bunuel) 11) 'Nazarin' (1959, Nazarín - Luis Bunuel) 12) 'The Young One' (1960, La joven - Luis Bunuel) 13) 'Viridiana' (1961, Viridiana - Luis Bunuel) 14) 'The Exterminating Angel' (1962, El ángel exterminador - Luis Bunuel) 15) 'The Diary Of A Chambermaid' (1964, Le journal d'une femme de chambre - Luis Bunuel) 16) 'Simon Of The Desert' (1965, Simón del desierto - Luis Bunuel) 17) 'Belle De Jour' (1967, Belle de Jour - Luis Bunuel) 18) 'The Milky Way' (1969, La Voie lactée - Luis Bunuel) 19) 'Tristana' (1970, Tristana - Luis Bunuel) 20) 'The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie' (1972, Le Charme discret de la bourgeoisie - Luis Bunuel) 21) 'The Phantom Of Liberty' (1974, Le Fantôme de la liberté - Luis Bunuel) 22) 'That Obscure Object Of Desire' (1977, Cet obscur objet du désir - Luis Bunuel)
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07. Vittorio De Sica (born 7 July 1901, Sora, Lazio, Kingdom of Italy)
In the 1920s, Vittorio De Sica was a member of a theatre company led by Ukrainian acting teacher Tatyana Pavlova in Rome. In the 1930s, he co-founded a theatre company with Italian playwright Sergio Tofano. De Sica observed the emergence of "poetic realism" in French cinema first-hand, before becoming the wildcard in Italy's "neorealist" film movement of the 1940s. Unlike several leading directors associated with the development of neorealism, I don't think De Sica was a working writer for the film publication 'Cinema', though he may have contributed articles. De Sica came from a working-class family and he understood poverty well. He brought his own childhood experiences to his filmmaking, etching everyday portraits of urban life that were said to be unlike anything in cinema before. His seamless shot constructions led Orson Welles to express deep envy at what he saw as the most masterly of invisible hands. De Sica's natural ability for filmic storytelling appeared at second glimpse to be as effortless and intuitive as his acting style and he became one of Italy's foremost chroniclers of daily life, putting all ages under a microscopic lens, be it embattled street kids, warring middle-aged couples, or the elderly stuck in stark isolation. His films are living, breathing documents of Italian life.
TRIVIA : Vittorio De Sica's son Manuel De Sica, with Spanish actress María Mercader, became a composer. The couple's other son, Christian De Sica, is a singer and film director and one of the biggest superstars working in Italian cinema today.
Selected Vittorio De Sica Films (13)
01) 'Shoeshine' (1946, Sciuscià - Vittorio De Sica)
02) 'The Bicycle Thief' (1948, Ladri di biciclette - Vittorio De Sica)
03) 'Miracle In Milan' (1951, Miracolo a Milano - Vittorio De Sica)
04) 'Umberto D.' (1952, Umberto D. - Vittorio De Sica)
05) 'The Gold Of Naples' (1954, L'oro di Napoli - Vittorio De Sica)
06) 'Two Women' (1960, La ciociara - Vittorio De Sica)
07) 'The Boom' (1963, Il Boom - Vittorio De Sica) 08) 'Yesterday, Today And Tomorrow' (1963, Ieri, oggi, domani - Vittorio De Sica)
09) 'Marriage Italian Style' (1964, Matrimonio all'italiana - Vittorio De Sica)
10) 'The Witches' (1967, Le streghe - Mauro Bolognini, Vittorio De Sica, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi & Luchino Visconti)
11) 'Woman Times Seven' (1967, Sette volte donna - Vittorio De Sica)
12) 'The Garden Of The Finzi-Continis' (1970, Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini - Vittorio De Sica)
13) 'Sunflower' (1970, I girasoli - Vittorio De Sica)
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08. Robert Bresson (born 25 September 1901, Bromont-Lamothe, France)
Robert Bresson was a painter, philosopher and devout Catholic filmmaker who rejected the established tenets of photographic storytelling in a spiritual quest for on-screen naturalism. I think his work defines the very idea of what's come to be thought of as "arthouse cinema", and is probably an acquired taste. Personally, I really like some of his films, others less so.
Bresson was an interesting and somewhat mysterious figure in real life. He was interned in a prisoner-of-war camp during World War II. His experiences during wartime might have inspired his decision to step away from conventional narrative filmmaking (relatively speaking). Instead, he crafted slow, methodical ruminations on human nature and it's these films that brought him to international prominence. Consequence is often at the heart of Bresson's work and he could extract tension from the most mundane action or circumstance imaginable.
Selected Robert Bresson Films (5)
01) 'The Ladies Of The Bois De Boulogne' (1945, Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne - Robert Bresson)
02) 'Diary Of A Country Priest' (1951, Journal d'un curé de campagne - Robert Bresson)
03) 'A Man Escaped' (1956, Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut - Robert Bresson)
04) 'Balthazar' (1966, Au Hasard Balthazar - Robert Bresson)
05) 'Mouchette' (1967, Mouchette - Robert Bresson)
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09. Roberto Rosselini (born 8 May 1906, Rome, Lazio, Kingdom of Italy)
Italian filmmaker Roberto Rosselini was a dedicated filmgoer in his youth. He fulfilled a number of technical roles within the national film industry before he began directing short subject films in the mid-1930s. This experience gave him a good grounding in the mechanics of film. His "neorealist" war trilogy of the 1940s was shot amidst the rubble of fallen Italian cities and the atmosphere is palpable.
TRIVIA : Roberto Rosselini's son Renzo Rossellini, with costume designer Marcella de Marchis, became a film producer. His daughter Isabella Rossellini, with Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman, is an actress. Isabella was once married to filmmaker Martin Scorsese who's an authority on Roberto Rosselini's work.
Selected Roberto Rosselini Films (6)
01) 'Rome, Open City' (1945, Roma città aperta - Roberto Rosselini)
02) 'Paisan' (1946, Paisà - Roberto Rosselini)
03) 'Germany, Year Zero' (1948, Germania anno zero - Roberto Rosselini)
04) 'Love' (1948, L'Amore - Roberto Rosselini)
05) 'The Flowers Of St. Francis' (1950, Francesco, giullare di Dio - Roberto Rosselini) 06) 'Ro.Go.Pa.G.' (1963, RoGoPaG - Jean-Luc Godard, Ugo Gregoretti, Pier Paolo Pasolini & Roberto Rossellini)
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10. Marcel Carné (born 18 August 1906, Paris, France)
Marcel Carne was one of the pioneers of "poetic realism" in French cinema, but he brought elements of surrealism in to it that can be aligned to the emergence of "magic realism" in European art in the 1920s. A protege of the great Belgian director Jacques Feyder, Carne was a gifted visual stylist who initially trained as a cameraman. His work was a major influence on the development of "film noir" crime cinema in America.
Selected Marcel Carné Films (6)
01) 'Bizarre, Bizarre' (1937, Drôle de drame - Marcel Carne)
02) 'Hotel Du Nord' (1938, Hôtel du Nord - Marcel Carne)
03) 'Port Of Shadows' (1938, Le Quai des brumes - Marcel Carne)
04) 'Daybreak' (1939, Le jour se lève - Marcel Carne)
05) 'Children Of Paradise' (1945, Les enfants du paradis - Marcel Carne)
06) 'Gates Of The Night' (1946, Les Portes de la nuit - Marcel Carne)
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Post by petrolino on Apr 2, 2021 0:31:50 GMT
125 Filmmakers [11 - 15]
"I think today there are too many directors taking themselves seriously; the only one capable of saying anything really new and interesting is Luis Bunuel. He's a very great director."
- Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti on location
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11. Jacques Becker (born 15 September 1906, Paris, France)
Filmmaker Jacques Becker served a long apprenticeship under Jean Renoir in the 1930s. Having worked as an assistant director on many of Renoir's films, Becker was handed an opportunity to direct his first full-length feature in 1939, but the outbreak of the 2nd World War complicated matters. Becker was arrested, detained and held in a prisoner-of-war camp. Upon his release, he began working with members of the French Resistance in occupied France, a militarised anti-Nazi movement, which was a particularly dangerous position to be taking up within the arts. His experiences during wartime are reflected upon in some of his films, notably 'The Hole' (1960). Becker made movies in a variety of genres and he was comfortable working on large-scale studio projects. His friendship with Renoir is said to have been built upon their shared passion for art and jazz music, but both men were also interested in fashion design (Becker's mother managed a fashion house in Paris when he was young). The costumes in Becker's films were immaculate, whether he was dressing a peasant, a pauper or a royal subject. His post-war picture 'Paris Frills' (1945) is set within the world of high fashion.
TRIVIA : Jacques Becker's son Jean Becker, with Geneviève Boyard, became a filmmaker. Their son Étienne Becker became a cinematographer.
Selected Jacques Becker Films (4)
01) 'Rendezvous In July' (1949, Rendez-vous de juillet - Jacques Becker)
02) 'Golden Marie' (1952, Casque d'Or - Jacques Becker) 03) 'Don't Touch The Loot' (1954, Touchez pas au grisbi - Jacques Becker)
04) 'The Hole' (1960, Le Trou - Jacques Becker)
'Love Is The Answer' - Cerrone
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12. Jacques Tati (born 9 October 1907, Le Pecq, France)
There are different schools of comedy in France and you'll find many active comedy troupes at any one given time. In the silent movie era, Charles Prince and Max Linder reigned at the box-office as French cinema's slapstick kings supreme. In the case of Jacques Tati, however, he seems to have always stood alone, with feet far apart. Tati's work influenced a generation of French comics who were younger than him, including some of those he worked with, such as mime Marcel Marceau, and clown Pierre Étaix.
Tati made short films in the 1930s. He became a clown-for-hire in the 1940s, though he was always selective in his roles. He was considered for a part in Marcel Carne's 'Children Of Paradise' (1945), though the role went to the right performer as mime Jean-Louis Barrault had worked on several projects with Carne in the past. Tati waited patiently for the opportunity to direct his own feature-length film and he was able to expand upon ideas conceived through his theatre work and short subject films with his debut feature, 'The Big Day' (1949), which drew heavily from his recent comedy short 'The School For Postmen' (1947).
TRIVIA : Artist and filmmaker David Lynch is a leading voice on the work of Jacques Tati, whom he once described as being some kind of "kindred soul".
Selected Jacques Tati Films (4)
01) 'The Big Day' (1949, Jour de fête - Jacques Tati) 02) 'Monsieur Hulot's Holiday' (1953, Les Vacances de M. Hulot - Jacques Tati) 03) 'My Uncle' (1958, Mon Oncle - Jacques Tati) 04) 'Playtime' (1967, PlayTime - Jacques Tati)
'Megalomania : Parties 1 et 2' - Patrick Juvet
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13. Henri-Georges Clouzot (born 20 November 1907, Niort, France)
Henri-Georges Clouzot is considered by some film commentators to be French sound cinema's first true "Master of Suspense", which is interesting as it's been well documented that "Master of Suspense" Alfred Hitchcock considered Clouzot to be one of his few serious cinematic rivals. Like Hitchcock, Clouzot was indebted to the "German expressionism" film movement of the 1920s. Clouzot lived in Germany in the early 1930s, before moving on to Switzerland, and then returing to France at the end of the decade.
The creative work of German film directors Robert Wiene, Paul Leni, F.W. Murnau, John Brahm, William Dieterle and Robert Siodmak would leave a lasting impression on Clouzot as he gradually developed his own filmmaking career. The same was true of Austrian directors like Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder and Fred Zinnemann, as well as Czech-Austrian director Edgar G. Ulmer. Some of these men had worked under Max Reinhardt in the theatres of Vienna. Reinhardt was a direct influence upon the look and development of expressionist film. Although Ulmer claimed to have lived and worked in Germany in the early 1920s, the body of evidence supports the idea that his induction into film came later in the decade when he took up a position under early mentor Murnau who'd moved on to Hollywood. Ulmer was said to have originally cut his creative cloth as a part of Reinhardt's theatre troupe. So, it's complicated tracing the path of just one of these great directors, but there was undoubtedly a wider Central European arts community with a strong regional bond, and I think this is something that tied all these talents together. I mention all this because almost all of these men became celluloid crime specialists and so did Clouzot. I feel this is in part because their collective visual sense was dark and captured the psychological bonds and complexities of the criminal character perfectly. The shadows and suggestiveness of expressionist visuals lent themselves particularly well to manifesting the darkest recesses of the criminal mind, especially in the days of strict film censorship. Clouzot's works came to characterise something about Europe's immediate post-war gloom and it was no surprise when he found himself being temporarily banned from making films in the aftermath of the 2nd World War.
Selected Henri-Georges Clouzot Films (5)
01) 'The Murderer Lives At Number 21' (1942, L'Assassin habite au 21 - Henri-Georges Clouzot) 02) 'The Raven' (1943, Le Corbeau - Henri-Georges Clouzot) 03) 'Jenny Lamour' (1947, Quai des Orfèvres - Henri-Georges Clouzot)
04) 'The Wages Of Fear' (1953, Le Salaire de la peur - Henri-Georges Clouzot) 05) 'Diabolique' (1955, Les Diaboliques - Henri-Georges Clouzot)
'Carry On, Turn Me On' - Space
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14. Luchino Visconti (born 2 November 1906, Milan, Lombardy, Kingdom of Italy)
Luchino Visconti was a giant of Italian art, theatre and opera who played the cello. The breadth, depth and scale of his work in cinema was befitting of a man who embodied the artistic traditions of Italian opera. Today, he's considered one of the "Fathers of Neorealism", as well as Italy's great chronicler of the slow and painful death of the ruling aristocracy. No subject was too big and no canvas too small, as Visconti could mount stunning imagery using any visual form, regardless of the tools he'd been given.
Another attribute of Visconti's skill-set is that he and his teams of screenwriters were adept at translating heavy literary works for the big screen without being seen as having betrayed the original text, creating films that complimented their source material but were their own artistic entity.
The first Visconti movie I saw was 'The Leopard' (1963) which was recommended by Martin Scorsese when I was a boy. Along with John Ford's western 'The Searchers' (1956), I believe it's a film that's pretty much never left Scorsese's ranked, written list of his all-time favourite movies, whether he's been asked to list just 5, or as many as 55. Once I'd seen 'The Leopard' for myself, I could understand why. For my money, some of Visconti's small-scale pictures are equally good though.
TRIVIA : Luchino Visconti's nephew Eriprando Visconti became a filmmaker.
Selected Luchino Visconti Films (11)
01) 'Obsession' (1943, Ossessione - Luchino Visconti) 02) 'The Earth Will Tremble' (1948, La terra trema - Luchino Visconti) 03) 'Bellissima' (1951, Bellissima - Luchino Visconti) 04) 'Senso' (1954, Senso - Luchino Visconti) 05) 'White Nights' (1957, Le notti bianche - Luchino Visconti) 06) 'Rocco And His Brothers' (1960, Rocco e i suoi fratelli - Luchino Visconti) 07) 'The Leopard' (1963, Il Gattopardo - Luchino Visconti) 08) 'Sandra' (1965, Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa - Luchino Visconti) 09) 'The Witches' (1967, Le streghe - Mauro Bolognini, Vittorio De Sica, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi & Luchino Visconti)
10) 'Conversation Piece' (1974, Gruppo di famiglia in un interno - Luchino Visconti) 11) 'The Innocent' (1976, L'innocente - Luchino Visconti)
'I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone' - Giorgio Moroder
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15. Giorgio Ferroni (born 12 April 1908, Perugia, Umbria, Italy)
Some directors are just experts in their craft and Giorgio Ferroni is a point in case. I think his early forays into "neorealism" hold up well as he was a classical storyteller who placed an emphasis on narrative. He specialised in making "peplum" films and "spaghetti westerns" in the 1960s and brought the hand of a seasoned craftsman to every picture he directed.
I'm not the biggest fan of the historic "peplum" fantasy genre when it comes to Italy's unusual cinematic subgenres as many of the films were muscle & fitness workouts dressed up as historical drama, but Ferroni contributed some entertaining entries early in the original cycle that leant more heavily on ancient mythology and these movies look pretty amazing now if you see them in their restored widescreen prints.
Selected Giorgio Ferroni Films (4)
01) 'Tombolo' (1947, Tombolo, paradiso nero - Giorgio Ferroni)
02) 'Mill Of The Stone Women' (1960, Il mulino delle donne di pietra - Giorgio Ferroni) 03) 'The Baccantes' (1961, Le baccanti – Giorgio Ferroni) 04) 'The Night Of The Devils' (1972, La notte dei diavoli - Giorgio Ferroni)
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Le sport des champions
♫ 'Lady America' ♪ ~ Voyage ♫
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Post by petrolino on Apr 2, 2021 23:38:52 GMT
125 Filmmakers [16 - 20]
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16. Manoel de Oliveira (born 11 December 1908, Porto, Kingdom of Portugal)
The international distribution of Portuguese cinema has been shameful for decades, and though it's slowly improving in the 21st century thanks to digital versatile disc technology, few of Manoel De Oliveira's works are in widespread circulation or currently in print. Despite this, film fans around the world have been discovering his work through the wonders of online viewing platforms like youtube (myself included). This viewing revolution has joined with a flood of budget-priced dvds to open up cinema to the poor for the first time since video rentals became cheap in the 1980s, which in itself was superseded by working-class film revolutions instigated by cheap matinee screenings during the Golden Age, followed by the drive-in revolution of the "Boom-Boom Era". Film festivals have also played their part in bringing rare films to dedicated moviegoers. The Film Society of Lincoln Center screened restored prints of De Oliveira’s 'Frustrated Love' quadrilogy in New York in 2016. This was an important event for shining a new light upon some of Portuguese cinema's old delights.
De Oliveira's charming debut feature, 'Silly Aniki' (1942), is not only a milestone in Portuguese cinema, but also a film now widely credited as being one of the primary influences on Italy's "neorealist" film school, alongside Jean Renoir's groundbreaking drama 'Toni' (1935) on which Luchino Visconti served as an assistant director. Certain tenets of "neorealism" are present in the storytelling; for example, De Oliveira used largely non-professional actors, including children from his local community back home in Porto.
Yet De Oliveira, who was a man of faith and a man of the theatre, more often created atmospheric chamber pieces and philosophical period antiques. Ideally, I'd like to see some nice box-sets of De Oliveira's films released in English-speaking territories, so people can regularly enjoy the work of the man many consider to be Portugal's greatest filmmaker. He's certainly my favourite.
TRIVIA : Manoel De Oliveira's son Manuel Casimiro, with poet Maria Isabel Carvalhais, became a painter and a filmmaker. Their grandson Ricardo Trêpa is an actor.
Selected Manoel de Oliveira Films (7)
01) 'Silly Aniki' (1942, Aniki-Bóbó - Manoel De Oliveira)
02) 'Past And Present' (1972, Passado e o Presente - Manoel De Oliveira) 03) 'Benilde Or The Virgin Mother' (1975, Benilde ou a Virgem Mãe - Manoel De Oliveira) 04) 'Doomed Love' (1978, Amor de Perdição - Manoel De Oliveira) 05) 'Francisca' (1981, Francisca - Manoel De Oliveira)
06) 'My Case' (1986, O meu caso - Manoel De Oliveira) 07) 'Eccentricities Of A Blonde-Haired Girl' (2009, Singularidades de uma Rapariga Loura - Manoel De Oliveira)
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17. Georges Franju (born 12 April 1912, Fougères, France)
I think it's important to note when talking about filmmaker Georges Franju that he was an artist, a documentarian and a historian. During his time in the French military he was stationed in Algeria and upon discharge he began performing all sorts of roles within the film and theatre industries. He worked as a set designer for Casino de Paris and the Folies Bergère, he co-created the film society Le Cercle du Cinema with archivist Henri Langlois, he contributed to a pair of film publications he'd launched with Langlois and together they co-founded the Cinémathèque Française in Paris in 1936. Langlois received an honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 1974 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for "his devotion to the art of film, his massive contributions in preserving its past and his unswerving faith in its future", and I feel it's important to note that Franju was a key associate in his early days. Franju became an interesting director of a classicist bent and filtered his documentary techniques through film. The drama 'Head Against The Wall' (1958) was originally intended to be the directorial debut of prolific filmmaker Jean-Pierre Mocky, one of French cinema's great iconoclasts, but the film's producer brought in Franju to direct (Mocky does play one of the main roles). In his later years, Fanju worked in theatre and television before returning to Cinémathèque Française where he took up a position as acting director.
Selected Georges Franju Films (4)
01) 'Head Against The Wall' (1958, La Tête contre les murs - Georges Franju)
02) 'Eyes Without A Face' (1959, Les Yeux sans visage - Georges Franju) 03) 'Therese Desqueyroux' (1962, Thérèse Desqueyroux - Georges Franju) 04) 'Judex' (1963, Judex - Georges Franju)
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18. Michelangelo Antonioni (born 29 September 1912, Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Kingdom of Italy)
Luchino Visconti was a skilled cellist and Michelangelo Antonioni was a violin prodigy. Music courses through the veins of Italian artists like liquid methane runs through Titan's streams, and both directors projected the pure, unadulterated melodrama of opera on to vast latin canvases, though their styles couldn't have been more different.
I've heard that Antonioni was fortunate to survive the 2nd World War. He served in the army having been fired from Vittorio Mussolini's film publication 'Cinema' and he was condemned for his involvement with the Italian Resistance movement. His unusual politics only alienated him further and probably instructed his decision to focus upon telling tales of individuals, outsiders and life's eternal wanderers. By the time he made 'Zabriskie Point' (1970), Antonioni was being asked to defend himself while being branded a "radical, anti-capitalist existentialist" by critics.
There's a musicality and a sustained tone to Antonioni's film work, even when his landscapes are remote, barren and sparsely populated. When asked about his films in an interview he gave in 1969, Antonioni replied, “The theme of most of my films is loneliness ... Often my characters are isolated. They are individuals looking for social institutions that will support them, for personal relationships that will absorb them. But most often they find little to sustain them. They are looking for a home.”
Selected Michelangelo Antonioni Films (15)
01) 'Story Of A Love Affair' (1950, Cronaca di un amore - Michelangelo Antonioni) 02) 'The Vanquished' (1952, I Vinti - Michelangelo Antonioni) 03) 'The Lady Without Camelias' (1953, La signora senza camelie - Michelangelo Antonioni) 04) 'Love In The City' (1953, L'amore in città - Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Carlo Lizzani, Alberto Lattuada, Francesco Maselli, Dino Risi & Cesare Zavattini)
05) 'The Girlfriends' (1955, Le Amiche - Michelangelo Antonioni) 06) 'The Cry' (1957, Il Grido - Michelangelo Antonioni)
07) 'The Adventure' (1960, L'Avventura - Michelangelo Antonioni) 08) 'The Night' (1961, La Notte - Michelangelo Antonioni) 09) 'Eclipse' (1962, L'Eclisse - Michelangelo Antonioni) 10) 'Red Desert' (1964, Il deserto rosso - Michelangelo Antonioni)
11) 'Blowup' (1966 - Michelangelo Antonioni) 12) 'Zabriskie Point' (1970 - Michelangelo Antonioni) 13) 'The Passenger' (1975, Professione: reporter - Michelangelo Antonioni) 14) 'Identification Of A Woman' (1982, Identificazione di una donna - Michelangelo Antonioni) 15) 'Beyond The Clouds' (1995, Al di là delle nuvole - Michelangelo Antonioni & Wim Wenders)
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19. René Clément (born 18 March 1913, Bordeaux, France)
Rene Clement studied architecture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, which I read has been called "the cradle of the Beaux-Arts style" in architectural circles, a style that proliferated in the 19th century and inspired city architects building the new America. Clement was an early associate of Jacques Tati and he directed the sports-mad comic in a short comedy about boxing, 'Watch Your Left' (1936). Years later, Clement was approached by producers to direct another of Tati's films, but he politely declined the offer as he knew Tati wished to direct it himself. Clement became a leading documentary filmmaker during the 2nd World War. When he started making theatrical features with the war film 'The Battle Of The Rails' (1946) it became clear his wartime experiences had changed him and he used his documentary techniques to enhance a sense of realism. In the years that followed, Clement established his reputation as one of France's premiere storytellers.
Selected René Clément Films (7)
01) 'Forbidden Games' (1952, Jeux interdits - Rene Clement)
02) 'Gervaise' (1956, Gervaise - Rene Clement) 03) 'Purple Noon' (1960, Plein soleil - Rene Clement) 04) 'The Joy Of Living' (1961, Quelle joie de vivre - Rene Clement)
05) 'Joy House' (1964, Les Félins - Rene Clement)
06) 'Rider On The Rain' (1970, Le Passager de la pluie - Rene Clement)
07) 'Wanted : Babysitter' (1975, La Baby-Sitter - Rene Clement)
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20. Marino Girolami (born 1 February 1914, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
When Italian cinema entered into its post-war, economic "boom" years in the 1950s, this was the cue for Marino Girolami to step up to the plate. He did so by forming a bond with comic actor Walter Chiari whom he'd direct in several smash hit features. Once he'd struck success, Girolami became the ultimate industry man and built a reputation for being a relentless workaholic. This led him to become one of the most prolific directors of the post-war era and he worked with many of Italy's greatest comic performers. If anybody climbed to the top of their profession by their fingernails, it was Girolami. A professional boxer in his youth, he opened a health & fitness club that specialised in therapeutic massage, something he parodied during a massage scene in 'Where Can You Go Without The Little Vice?' (1979). He served as an assistant director throughout the 1940s and studied the different techniques of the directors he worked for. An early mentor was filmmaker Vittorio Metz who co-wrote the screenplays for some of comedian Totò's most popular films. Having never forgotten where he came from, or the help he'd gotten along the way, Girolami later helped his younger brother Romolo Guerrieri to become a film director.
Girolami exhibited a light comic touch and subtle directorial skills which made him perfect for screwball comedy. The camerawork in his films was often inventive and he employed visual trickery too. Over the course of his filmmaking career, he busted every taboo you can think of, challenged hypocritical notions of church and state, explored gender rivalry and allowed comic performers to improvise and go wild. A one-man band at times, he even challenged the popular and lucrative industry anthology format of the boom years by engineering a string of his own anthology films in which he directed every sequence. And though he specialised in comedy, Girolami dipped his toes in virtually every genre, though he brought a distinct comic touch to even the most harsh material.
Performers enjoyed working with Girolami which allowed him to build an enormous stock assembly. The one thing I know he actively fought against was studio interference and executive intolerance. One of his more difficult experiences came when he directed 'Flying Sex' (1980), a challenging seriocomic drama about the psychological effects of sexual fear. Girolami produced a thoughtful, stylised work of playful erotica but the film's producers took it away, had it crudely re-edited, then added pornographic inserts behind his back in order to meet European market demands of the time, leading Girolami to denounce the picture outright, which is a shame as the insert-free director's cut remains an extraordinary work in itself. Always the workhorse, Girolami simply picked himself up, dusted himself off, and produced another string of box-office hits anchored this time around by comedian and (Federico) Fellini-mainstay Alvaro Vitali, initiating the blockbuster 'Pierino' comic cycle in the process.
TRIVIA : Marino Girolami's son Enzo Castellari became a filmmaker. His son Ennio Girolami became an actor.
MORE TRIVIA : Animator and filmmaker Eli Roth is a leading voice on the work of Marino Girolami and an expert on the career of his collaborator Alvaro Vitali. Roth's friend and collaborator, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, used music from Girolami and Umberto Lenzi's 'Commissioner Betti' crime trilogy on the soundtrack to his crime movie 'Death Proof' (2007).
Selected Marino Girolami Films (14)
01) 'It Was She Who Wanted It!' (1952, Era lei che lo voleva! – Marino Girolami) 02) 'Husband Hunt' (1960, Caccia al marito – Marino Girolami)
03) 'The Women Of Others Are Always More Beautiful' (1962, La donna degli altri è sempre più bella – Marino Girolami)
04) 'These Crazy, Crazy Women' (1964, Queste pazze pazze donne – Marino Girolami)
05) 'At Last, At Last' (1975, La moglie vergine – Marino Girolami) 06) 'Violent Rome' (1975, Roma violenta - Marino Girolami) 07) 'A Special Cop In Action' (1976, Italia a mano armata - Marino Girolami) 08) 'Where Can You Go Without The Little Vice?' (1979, Dove vai se il vizietto non ce l'hai? - Marino Girolami) 09) 'Flying Sex' (1980, Sesso profondo – Marino Girolami) 10) 'High School Girl At The Beach With Dad's Friend' (1980, La liceale al mare con l'amica di papà - Marino Girolami) 11) 'Zombie Holocaust' (1980, Zombi Holocaust - Marino Girolami) 12) 'Desirable Teacher' (1981, Pierino contro tutti - Marino Girolami) 13) 'Desirable Teacher 2' (1982, Pierino colpisce ancora - Marino Girolami) 14) 'Gigi The Bully' (1982, Giggi il bullo - Marino Girolami)
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Post by petrolino on Apr 5, 2021 0:57:02 GMT
125 Filmmakers [21 - 25]
"To tell the truth, (Alberto) Lattuada did everything, I just looked on."
- Federico Fellini recalls the filming of his feature-length co-directorial debut 'Variety Lights' (1950)
Alberto Lattuada on set with May Britt and Carlo Ponti
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21. Mario Bava (born 31 July 1914, Sanremo, Liguria, Kingdom of Italy)
Filmmaker Mario Bava was one of Italian cinema's true pioneers. His father was artist, cinematographer and special effects pioneer Eugenio Bava. Mario followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a painter and sculptor, training as a cinematographer and creating special effects for cinema. His skill with lighting, his abilty with special effects and his remarkable gift for camera trickery ensured that Mario was always in demand at the studios, but he longed to direct his own fantasy features. He was also hired during his early career as an on-set stills photographer because he created so many iconic images in Italian film, like his lensing of actress Gina Lollobrigida in Duilio Coletti's comedy 'My Beautful Daughter' (1950) which traded in on publicity engineered by her participation in the Miss Italy beauty pageant of 1947 (a contest won by actress Lucia Bosè). Bava started directing isolated scenes of other director's films while working as a cameraman and assistant director, which has led to much conjecture about his early career. He co-directed 'The Day The Sky Exploded' (1958) with Paolo Heusch, which is sometimes - perhaps somewhat erroneously - referred to as Italy's first science-fiction film. This is because it's regarded by some genre purists as being "pura fantascienza" (pure science-fiction) in nature.
Bava's also said to have directed parts of Egyptian-born director Riccardo Freda's early forays into gothic horror due to Freda departing shoots prematurely. Freda's reputation as a director is also strong and he was a mentor to Mario Bava. I'm not sure which sections of these films are latterly accredited to Bava and which were actually directed by Freda, but they are enjoyable movies. 'Lust Of The Vampire' (1957) is one of the films that sowed the seeds of the modern gothic horror cycle in the late 1950s, released the same year as Fernando Méndez's Mexican gothic 'The Vampire' (1957) and a year before Terence Fisher's British gothic 'Dracula' (1958), so its place in horror film history is assured. Bava finally took the reigns with 'Black Sunday' (1960) which is still cited by horror critics today as being the greatest gothic horror movie made in Italy. He went on to dabble in other genres but his skills behind the camera, inventive special effects, atmospheric lighting schemes and extraordinary use of shade and colour made him a perfect fit for science-fiction, fantasy and horror. His work in the "giallo" crime horror subgenre was essential to the development of "giallo" films, with 'The Girl Who Knew Too Much' (1963) often cited as being the first "giallo" film, while 'Blood And Black Lace' (1964) has come to be widely regarded as the textbook, fashion house "giallo" thriller.
TRIVIA : Mario Bava's son Lamberto Bava became a filmmaker.
Selected Mario Bava Films (17)
01) 'Lust Of The Vampire' (1957, I Vampiri - Mario Bava & Riccardo Freda) 02) 'Caltiki, The Immortal Monster' (1959, Caltiki, il mostro immortale - Mario Bava & Riccardo Freda) 03) 'Black Sunday' (1960, La maschera del demonio - Mario Bava) 04) 'Black Sabbath' (1963, I tre volti della paura - Mario Bava) 05) 'The Girl Who Knew Too Much' (1963, La ragazza che sapeva troppo - Mario Bava) 06) 'The Whip And The Body' (1963, La frusta e il corpo - Mario Bava) 07) 'Blood And Black Lace' (1964, 6 donne per l'assassino - Mario Bava)
08) 'Planet Of The Vampires' (1965, Terrore nello Spazio - Mario Bava) 09) 'Dr. Goldfoot And The Girl Bombs' (1966, Le spie vengono dal semifreddo - Mario Bava) 10) 'Kill Baby Kill' (1966, Operazione paura - Mario Bava) 11) '5 Dolls For An August Moon' (1970, 5 bambole per la luna d'agosto - Mario Bava) 12) 'Hatchet For The Honeymoon' (1970, Il rosso segno della follia - Mario Bava) 13) 'A Bay Of Blood' (1971, Ecologia del delitto - Mario Bava) 14) 'Four Times That Night' (1971, Quante volte... quella notte - Mario Bava) 15) 'Lisa And The Devil' (1974, La casa dell'esorcismo - Mario Bava) 16) 'Rabid Dogs' (1974, Cani arrabbiati – Mario Bava) 17) 'Shock' (1977, Schock - Mario Bava)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli performs music by Baldassare Galuppi
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22. Pietro Germi (born 14 September 1914, Genoa, Liguria, Italy)
The career of actor-director Pietro Germi can be crudely divided into two phases. He's fondly remembered globally for the second phase of his filmmaking career when he emerged as one of the leading directors of "commedia all'italiana" movies which were internationally successful. His early films were closer in style to "neorealism" and cemented his reputation as one of Italy's leading crime filmmakers.
Selected Pietro Germi Films (6)
01) 'The Testimony' (1946, Il testimone – Pietro Germi) 02) 'Lost Youth' (1948, Gioventù perduta – Pietro Germi) 03) 'In The Name Of The Law' (1949, In nome della legge – Pietro Germi) 04) 'Four Ways Out' (1951, La città si difende – Pietro Germi) 05) 'Divorce, Italian Style' (1962, Divorzio all'italiana - Pietro Germi)
06) 'Seduced And Abandoned' (1964, Sedotta e abbandonata - Pietro Germi)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli performs music by Maurice Ravel
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23. Alberto Lattuada (born 13 November 1914, Vaprio d'Adda, Lombardy, Italy)
Alberto Lattuada was one of the leading directors of "neorealist" cinema in the 1940s. He was equally adept at comedy and drama and he sometimes worked in France and Spain. His father was self-taught composer Felice Lattuada who wrote the music for some of his movies.
Lattuada was a trained architect, a colour-coded sketch artist and a man of literature. He was also a staunch defender of human rights and an advocate for social justice. His anti-fascist writings led to him being harassed and investigated by Italian authorities. He penned articles for the publication 'Corrente di Vita' and he sometimes ran up against the police, like when he arranged a screening of Jean Renoir's controversial picture 'Grand Illusion' (1937) on the eve of Italy’s entry into the 2nd World War.
Lattuada occupies a special place in my heart as the first Italian film I remember buying on video as a boy is one that he co-directed with Federico Fellini, 'Variety Lights' (1950). This movie also introduced me to one of my favourite actresses, Giulietta Masina, who shared a birthday with her fellow pisceans Luis Buñuel, Jonathan Demme and Miou-Miou (three more of my favourite people in cinema).
As a filmmaker, Lattuada defied easy compartmentalisation and categorisation, as this quote from 'The Independent', published at the time of his death, seems to indicate : 'The Italian director Alberto Lattuada was a versatile and accomplished film-maker whose remarkably diverse body of work, stretching over five decades, was a source of exasperation to film critics. Unable to categorise him neatly, they eventually branded him "eclectic" and tried their best to ignore him.'
Selected Alberto Lattuada Films (16)
01) 'The Bandit' (1946, Il Bandito – Alberto Lattuada) 02) 'Flesh Will Surrender' (1947, Il delitto di Giovanni Episcopo – Alberto Lattuada)
03) 'Without Pity' (1948, Senza pietà - Alberto Lattuada) 04) 'Variety Lights' (1950, Luci del varietà - Federico Fellini & Alberto Lattuada) 05) 'Anna' (1951, Anna - Alberto Lattuada) 06) 'The Overcoat' (1952, Il Cappotto - Alberto Lattuada) 07) 'Love In The City' (1953, L'amore in città - Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Carlo Lizzani, Alberto Lattuada, Francesco Maselli, Dino Risi & Cesare Zavattini) 08) 'She-Wolf' (1953, La Lupa - Alberto Lattuada) 09) 'Mafioso' (1962, Mafioso - Alberto Lattuada) 10) 'The Mandrake' (1965, La Mandragola – Alberto Lattuada)
11) 'Come Have Coffee With Us' (1970, Venga a prendere il caffè da noi - Alberto Lattuada) 12) 'White Sister' (1972, Bianco, rosso e... - Alberto Lattuada) 13) 'I'll Take Her Like A Father' (1974, Le farò da padre - Alberto Lattuada) 14) 'Dog's Heart' (1976, Cuore di cane - Alberto Lattuada)
15) 'Oh, Serafina!' (1976, Oh, Serafina! - Alberto Lattuada) 16) 'A Thorn In The Heart' (1986, Una spina nel cuore – Alberto Lattuada)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli performs music by Domenico Scarlatti
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24. Mario Monicelli (born 16 May 1915, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Mario Monicelli was one of the leading directors of "commedia all'italiana" films and he directed comedian Totò in some of his most successful features. His father, journalist Tomaso Monicelli, was blacklisted for criticising Italy's fascist regime and he committed suicide in 1946. Monicelli served in the Italian Cavalry during the 2nd World War and he managed to survive towards the end of the conflict by hiding out. Like his father, he was an outspoken anti-fascist and he was condemned for his humanitarianism and socialist beliefs.
Monicelli was a close friend and associate of filmmaker Alberto Lattuada and together they co-founded the influential publication 'Camminare' which was noted for its celebration of French cinema. Like his father, he took his own life in 2010, but only after he'd been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Selected Mario Monicelli Films (4)
01) 'Big Deal On Madonna Street' (1958, I soliti ignoti - Mario Monicelli) 02) 'The Girl With The Pistol' (1968, La ragazza con la pistola - Mario Monicelli)
03) 'My Friends' (1975, Amici miei - Mario Monicelli)
04) 'Hotel Room' (1981, Camera d'albergo - Mario Monicelli)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli performs music by Claude Debussy
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25. Domenico Paolella (born 18 October 1915, Foggia, Apulia, Italy)
Domenico Paolella helmed genre films in Italy for forty years. He directed a series of popular musical anthologies in the 1950s that were produced by Carlo Infascelli and these movies proved inspirational to the creators of Italy's jukebox musical towards the end of the decade. He then became a leading director of adventure films in the 1960s and established his enduring reputation as a master of the "peplum" fantasy.
I think it's important to note that Paolella was also one of Italy's leading comedy directors and the man behind some of Totò's biggest films. In the 1970s, he once again changed pace and directed two of the key works of Italian convent horror beore finishing his career working in the "poliziotteschi" crime subgenre.
Selected Domenico Paolella Films (4)
01) 'Women Of Devil's Island' (1962, Le prigioniere dell'isola del diavolo - Domenico Paolella)
02) 'The Nun And The Devil' (1973, Le Monache di Sant'Arcangelo - Domenico Paolella) 03) 'Story Of A Cloistered Nun' (1973, Storia di una monaca di clausura - Domenico Paolella) 04) 'Stunt Squad' (1977, La polizia è sconfitta - Domenico Paolella)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli performs music by Muzio Clementi
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Post by petrolino on Apr 10, 2021 2:14:47 GMT
125 Filmmakers [26 - 30]
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26. Luigi Comencini (born 8 June 1916, Salò, Lombardy, Kingdom of Italy)
You can probably trace a line from virtually every great comic director of the "Golden Age" of Italian cinema through to legendary Neapolitan comic performer Totò. It became the ultimate industry honour for any up-and-coming professional to land a gig with Totò and Luigi Comencini made his name directing the multi-talented comedian in 'The Emperor Of Capri' (1949). Some working directors would go on to steer numerous vehicles for Totò but Comencini's offbeat comic sensibility was dark and awash with melodrama.
Pensive, poetic and politically charged, Comencini became one of the leading directors of "commedia all'italiana" films. He's widely credited as being one of several directors who created "neorealismo rosa" (pink neorealism) cinema in the early 1950s, which combined elements of "neorealist" drama and light comedy, while offering more than a passing nod to the work of Vittorio De Sica in terms of styling. The "neorealismo rosa" film movement paved the way for "commedia all'italiana" to emerge at the end of the decade.
Comencini's movies dealt with difficult subject matter yet appeared deceptively light. This helped him get controversial material past the strict Italian Catholic censors of the time. His movies were often crammed with socio-political subtext. In America, a filmmaker like Comencini might once have been called a "women's director", but in Europe, such a label was rarely applied. For all the grunting, grandstanding and chest-baring machismo of the continent's charismatic latin lotharios, it was widely understood that latin women brought the fire within southern European art. Most prominent, classical Italian film directors told stories of tested or conflicted people, regardless of gender. Many of the great literary works of these four great nations (Italy, France, Portugal & Spain), whether written by male or female authors, showcased strong and iconic female protagonists. And though I'm certainly no expert on the subject of opera, I suspect this might also be the case with leading soprano roles in opera too.
TRIVIA : Luigi Comencini's daughter Cristina Comencini became a novelist and filmmaker. His daughter Francesca Comencini also became a filmmaker.
Selected Luigi Comencini Films (7)
01) 'The Belle Of Rome' (1955, La bella di Roma – Luigi Comencini) 02) 'Husbands In The City' (1957, Mariti in città – Luigi Comencini) 03) 'Dangerous Wives' (1958, Mogli pericolose – Luigi Comencini) 04) 'Surprise Of Love' (1959, Le sorprese dell'amore – Luigi Comencini) 05) 'The Dolls' (1965, Le bambole - Mauro Bolognini, Luigi Comencini, Dino Risi & Franco Rossi) 06) 'Those Strange Occasions' (1976, Quelle strane occasioni – Luigi Comencini, Nanni Loy & Luigi Magni)
07) 'Traffic Jam' (1979, L'ingorgo - Una storia impossibile – Luigi Comencini)
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27. Dino Risi (born 23 December 1916, Milan, Lombardy, Kingdom of Italy)
Dino Risi and Mario Monicelli are generally considered to be the duelling godfathers of the "commedia all'italiana" film movement. I've not seen Risi's black comedy 'Oh! Sabella' (1957), which is referenced by Alberto Lattuada's comedy 'Oh, Serafina!' (1976), but I know it's regarded as a turning point in Italian cinema; I also know it's based on a novel by filmmaker Pasquale Festa Campanile which is significant. I have seen Monicelli's crime caper 'Big Deal On Madonna Street' (1958), as well as Nanni Loy's follow-up, 'Fiasco In Milan' (1959). Between them, Risi and Monicelli made half a dozen comedies in the late 1950s that are said to have fully inaugurated the "commedia all'italiana" cycle. Campanile himself also became a master of the form, as did filmmakers Luigi Comencini, Pietro Germi, Nanni Loy and Ettore Scola.
If Alberto Lattuada was the odd man out of "neorealism", then Dino Risi comfortably filled that void within "commedia all'italiana". Orphaned at the age of twelve, he studied medicine yet refused to become a professional psychiatrist, preferring to follow in the footsteps of his older brother Fernando Risi who became a cinematographer. Their younger brother, poet and filmmaker Nelo Risi, fought on the Russian front in the 2nd World War, was captured, then interned in Switzerland ... but he survived.
Dino became a reliable, hard-working industry director but refused to be pinned down. He worked in every genre and made historical, modern and futuristic motion pictures. He sometimes worked abroad (particularly in France) and readily contributed to franchises and anthologies. He was fiercely political - some might even say ideological - and unreservedly intellectual, launching all-out assaults against the ongoing threat of fascism through his work. His strong work ethic, surgical timing, deft comic touch and comprehensive technical skills were attributes that became so admired across the continent, he unexpectedly became one of the go-to guys in the 1960s for helming big-budget, continental star vehicles, alongside Vittorio De Sica whom he greatly admired. Risi's diverse, freewheeling filmography offers a potted history of Italian comic cinema waxed through the historical lens of Italy and her sister nations.
TRIVIA : Dino Risi's son Marco Risi became a filmmaker.
Selected Dino Risi Films (10)
01) 'Love In The City' (1953, L'amore in città - Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Carlo Lizzani, Alberto Lattuada, Francesco Maselli, Dino Risi & Cesare Zavattini)
02) 'The Widower' (1959, Il vedovo – Dino Risi) 03) 'A Difficult Life' (1961, Una vita difficile – Dino Risi) 04) 'The Easy Life' (1962, Il sorpasso - Dino Risi) 05) 'March On Rome' (1962, La marcia su Roma – Dino Risi) 06) 'The Dolls' (1965, Le bambole - Mauro Bolognini, Luigi Comencini, Dino Risi & Franco Rossi)
07) 'Torture Me But Kill Me With Kisses' (1968, Straziami ma di baci saziami - Dino Risi) 08) 'That's How We Women Are' (1971, Noi donne siamo fatte così - Dino Risi) 09) 'Scent Of A Woman' (1974, Profumo di donna - Dino Risi) 10) 'The Career Of A Chambermaid' (1976, Telefoni bianchi - Dino Risi)
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28. Stefano 'Steno' Vanzina (born 19 January 1917, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Cartoonist Stefano Vanzina, known professionally as Steno, was a close associate of Mario Monicelli in his early days. Together, they co-directed a string of box-office hits starring Totò in the late 1940s / early 1950s. Steno branched out on his own and became a prolific comedy filmmaker. His movies were noted for their absurd comic sketches.
Monicelli said of working with Totò : "With Totò, we got it all wrong. He was a genius, not just a grandiose actor. And we constrained him, reduced him, forced him into a common human being, and thus clipped his wings."
TRIVIA : Stefano Vanzina's son Carlo Vanzina became a filmmaker.
Selected Steno Films (4)
01) 'Take It Easy Professor' (1972, L'uccello migratore – Steno) 02) 'Policewoman' (1974, La poliziotta - Steno) 03) 'Hot Potato' (1979, La patata bollente – Steno) 04) 'An Ideal Adventure' (1982, Sballato, gasato, completamente fuso – Steno)
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29. Giuseppe De Santis (born 11 February 1917, Fondi, Latium, Italy)
Giuseppe De Santis was a writer, journalist and outspoken anti-fascist who fought with the Italian Resistance during World War II. He was a member of the Italian Communist Party (PCI). His brother, Pasqualino De Santis, became a cinematographer and shot many films with political filmmaker Francesco Rosi, one of the leading purveyors of "journalistic neorealism" in the 1960s (Rosi's father, a shipyard worker and cartoonist, was publicly reprimanded for his satirical drawings of Benito Mussolini and King Vittorio Emmanuel III). De Santis' early pictures offer harsh, ideological portraits of working-class life and domestic struggle. Like many of the directors he influenced, he later directed big-budget, international war films with some success, but I prefer his smaller, more intimate looks at Italian life which make extraordinary use of landscape.
De Santis once submitted a rather telling piece to the film journal 'Cinema' entitled ‘For An Italian Landscape’ (Per un paesaggio italiano) - which was later translated and relayed by the British Film Institute (BFI) - in which he addressed Jean Renoir's use of landscape to reflect character and emotion : “Renoir seems to tell us that there are some emotions that man cannot give voice to so we must draw on everything that surrounds him to express them”.
Selected Giuseppe De Santis Films (4)
01) 'Bitter Rice' (1949, Riso Amaro - Giuseppe De Santis) 02) 'Under The Olive Tree' (1950, Non c'è pace tra gli ulivi - Giuseppe De Santis) 03) 'Rome 11:00' (1952, Roma, ore 11 – Giuseppe De Santis) 04) 'A Husband For Anna' (1953, Un marito per Anna Zaccheo – Giuseppe De Santis)
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30. Massimo Dallamano (born 17 April 1917, Milan, Lombardy, Italy)
Massimo Dallamano worked as an industry cameraman in every capacity before becoming a director. No job was too small if it put food on the table. Every article I've ever read on Dallamano mentions that he worked as Sergio Leone's cinematographer in the 1960s, which is something any cameraman would want on his / her resume. Like Mario Bava, he brought tremendous visual skills to established crime and horror formats.
Each national film industry is different when it comes to science-fiction, fantasy and horror filmmaking. In America, there's a long tradition of editors moving into horror. For example, the three pillars of Val Lewton's horror pyramid production house of the 1940s, Jacques Tourneur, Mark Robson and Robert Wise, were all trained as editors. As another example, the four cornerstones of independent, modern American horror filmmaking - George Romero, Wes Craven, Tobe Hooper and John Carpenter - were all accomplished editors by the time they directed their debut horror feature.
Within the Italian horror industry, there's long been a tendency for cinematographers to step up to the plate, which befits the style of Italian horror which places eerie atmospherics, elaborate camera movement and dazzling artistic composition at the forefront of creation. Sadly, Italian horror cinema has been in the doldrums of late, but hope springs eternal.
Selected Massimo Dallamano Films (7)
01) 'Bandidos' (1967, Bandidos - Massimo Dallamano) 02) 'A Black Veil For Lisa' (1968, La morte non ha sesso – Massimo Dallamano)
03) 'What Have You Done To Solange?' (1972, Cosa avete fatto a Solange? - Massimo Dallamano) 04) 'Super Bitch' (1973, Si può essere più bastardi dell'ispettore Cliff? - Massimo Dallamano) 05) 'What Have They Done To Your Daughters?' (1974, La polizia chiede aiuto - Massimo Dallamano) 06) 'The Night Child' (1975, Il medaglione insanguinato - Massimo Dallamano) 07) 'The End Of Innocence' (1976, La fine dell'innocenza - Massimo Dallamano)
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Post by petrolino on Apr 11, 2021 0:36:21 GMT
125 Filmmakers [31 - 35]
"I believe you must be madly in love with cinema to create films."
- Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melvile on set
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31. Ferdinando Baldi (born 19 May 1917, Cava de' Tirreni, Salerno, Campania, Italy)
Ferdinando Baldi was one of Italy's more celebrated directors of the 1960s. A master of the historical adventure and the western, critics described him as the most American of Italian genre filmmakers due to his enthusiastic homage to Hollywood genre films and relatively sedate, measured style (for a mid-century Italian). His seminal western 'Texas, Adios' (1966) opens with one of the most famous freeze-frame title sequences in genre cinema history. Baldi and filmmaker Sergio Corbucci were important mentors to cinematographer Enzo Barboni who went on to direct a string of huge hits in the 1970s showcasing the talents of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill (including the original 'Trinity' western duology). The Beatles were attentive to any developments in the pop scenes in Italy, France, Portugal and Spain, even if John Lennon was typically dismissive of the rock 'n' roll music these countries produced (he famously said French rock was like English wine). Paul McCartney's melodic bass playing and elaborate songwriting proved to be a key influence on the "yé-yé" pop movement that engulfed southern Europe in the mid-1960s. The Beatles were said to be fans of Baldi's "musicarello" picture 'I Don't Protest, I LOve' (1967) starring guitarist, songwriter and record producer Caterina Caselli who was noted at the time for her experimental bass playing. When Ringo Starr acted in Baldi's "spaghetti western", 'Blindman' (1971), he said he was being shot for his sins in "Baldivision". George Harrison called Ferdinando, 'Big Baldi', and was reportedly interested in bringing Baldi to work at his production studio Handmade Films in the 1980s. I'm not sure if an official approach was ever made by Handmade Films, but Baldi chose to stay at home and work in Italy during the final chapter of his career.
Selected Ferdinando Baldi Films (6)
01) 'Texas, Adios' (1966, Texas, addio – Ferdinando Baldi)
02) 'Django, Prepare A Coffin' (1968, Preparati la bara! - Ferdinando Baldi)
03) 'The Forgotten Pistolero' (1969, Il pistolero dell'Ave Maria - Ferdinando Baldi)
04) 'Blindman' (1971, Il Pistolero Cieco - Ferdinando Baldi) 05) 'Nine Guests For A Crime' (1977, Nove ospiti per un delitto - Ferdinando Baldi) 06) 'Terror Express' (1980, La ragazza del vagone letto - Ferdinando Baldi)
Antón García Abril discusses the creative music writing process with violinist Hilary Hahn
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32. Giulio Petroni (born 21 September 1917, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Idiosyncratic filmmaker Giulio Petroni drew ire from the Catholic Church throughout his career, causing the institution to decry him for blasphemy and condemn him for radical, socialist intent. His ties to the Italian Communist Party (PCI) stemmed from his days as a journalist, when he was hounded by the authorities for being an outspoken anti-fascist.
Petroni directed newsreels and political documentaries early in his career and he had many books published across the decades. He became one of the key directors of philosophical "spaghetti westerns" in the 1960s. He directed some startling religious satires in the 1970s.
Selected Giulio Petroni Films (6)
01) 'Deaths Rides A Horse' (1967, Da uomo a uomo - Giulio Petroni) 02) 'A Sky Full Of Stars For A Roof' (1968, ...e per tetto un cielo di stelle - Giulio Petroni) 03) 'Night Of The Serpent' (1969, La notte dei serpenti - Giulio Petroni)
04) 'Tepepa' (1969, Tepepa - Giulio Petroni) 05) 'Do Not Commit Adultery' (1971, Non commettere atti impuri - Giulio Petroni)
06) 'Grow And Multiply' (1973, Crescete e moltiplicatevi - Giulio Petroni)
'Cantos de Ordesa' - Antón García Abril
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33. Jean-Pierre Melville (born 20 October 1917, Paris, France)
Jean-Pierre Melville is considered one of French cinema's great crime directors. His parents, Berthe and Jules Grumbach, were part of the Jewish community in Paris originating from Alsace in eastern France. His professional name was taken in honour of one of his favourite authors, American novelist Herman Melville. He fought with the French Resistance movement during the 2nd World War and opened his own independent film studio following the conflict. Melville's spare, minimalistic crime thrillers have influenced countless film directors.
Selected Jean-Pierre Melville Films (8)
01) 'The Terrible Children' (1950, Les enfants terribles - Jean-Pierre Melville)
02) 'Bob The Gambler' (1956, Bob le flambeur - Jean-Pierre Melville)
03) 'Leon Morin, Priest' (1961, Léon Morin, prêtre - Jean-Pierre Melville) 04) 'Doulous : The Finger Man' (1963, Le doulos - Jean-Pierre Melville) 05) 'The Samurai' (1967, Le samouraï - Jean-Pierre Melville)
06) 'Army Of Shadows' (1969, L'armée des ombres - Jean-Pierre Melville) 07) 'The Red Circle' (1970, Le cercle rouge - Jean-Pierre Melville) 08) 'A Cop' (1972, Un flic - Jean-Pierre Melville)
Hilary Hahn demonstrates complex phrasing technique in 'Reflective', Partita No. 5' by Antón García Abril
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34. Amando De Ossorio (born 6 April 1918, Coruña, Galicia, Spain)
Painter and sculptor Amando De Ossorio was one of the pioneers of modern Spanish gothic horror cinema. Having worked as a hired hand in the Spanish film industry for over a decade, he got off to an inauspicious start in horror with the strained gothic chiller 'Malenka' (1969). As De Ossorio later revealed in interviews, this picture was mutilated beyond recognition by the film's producers and released in a near-unintelligible cut to movie theatres.
Undeterred, De Ossorio finally hit his stride in the 1970s when he directed a series of landmark horror productions, including all four entries in the 'Blind Dead' zombie tetralogy through which De Ossorio created his own cinematic mythos centred around reanimated Knights Templar. All of De Ossorio's horror films drew inspiration from history, mythology, art and old literature, with romanticist poet Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer's 'Mount Of Souls' (1862, El monte de las ánimas) providing ideas behind the 'Blind Dead' mythos. The 'Blind Dead' movies were scored by classical composer Antón García Abril who also wrote music for Ferdinando Baldi's aforementioned western 'Texas, Adios' (1966) which was an Italian-Spanish co-production.
Selected Amando De Ossorio Films (8)
01) 'Tomb Of The Pistolero' (1964, La tumba del pistolero - Amando De Ossorio)
02) 'School Of Nurses' (1968, Escuela de enfermeras - Amando De Ossorio)
03) 'Tombs Of The Blind Dead' (1972, La noche del terror ciego - Amando De Ossorio) 04) 'Return Of The Evil Dead' (1973, El Ataque de los muertos sin ojos - Amando De Ossorio) 05) 'The Ghost Galleon' (1974, El buque maldito - Amando De Ossorio) 06) 'The Lorely's Grasp' (1974, Las garras de Lorelei - Amando De Ossorio) 07) 'The Night Of The Sorcerers' (1974, La noche de los brujos - Amando De Ossorio) 08) 'Night Of The Seagulls' (1975, La noche de las gaviotas - Amando De Ossorio)
'Concierto Mudéjar' - Antón García Abril
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35. Antonio Pietrangeli (born 19 January 1919, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Antonio Pietrangeli was a contributor to film journals like 'Bianco e Nero' and 'Cinema' in the 1940s which allowed him the opportunity to become a screenwriter. He went on to direct seriocomic dramas, slice-of-life community portraits and whimsical fantasies in the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the instigators of the "neorealism" offshoot, "neorealismo rosa".
Selected Antonio Pietrangeli Films (4)
01) 'Adua And Her Friends' (1960, Adua e le compagne – Antonio Pietrangeli) 02) 'The Girl From Parma' (1963, La parmigiana – Antonio Pietrangeli) 03) 'The Visit' (1963, La visita - Antonio Pietrangeli) 04) 'I Knew Her Well' (1965, Io la conoscevo bene - Antonio Pietrangeli)
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Post by petrolino on Apr 16, 2021 23:08:21 GMT
Keith Carradine ~ 'An American In Paris'
Maurice Tourneur's move to the east coast of America in 1914 sent a signal to Hollywood that Columbia's oldest ally France would always have Lady Liberty's back. Robert Florey arrived in America just a few years later. Henry de La Falaise set up a production company with Constance Bennett in the 1930s in order to direct his own films. Jean Renoir, Julien Duvivier and René Clair found regular work in Hollywood during the dark days of the 2nd World War. Jacques Tourneur and Bretaigne Windust directed American movies in the 1940s. French filmmakers and theatre directors have continued to work successfully in America since then.
American performers have been working "en masse" in Italy since the end of the 2nd World War but this hasn't happened so much with France. The Italian genre filmmaking boom of the post-war era proved extremely alluring. American filmmakers have sometimes worked in France and for a variety of reasons, such as Joseph Losey, Jules Dassin and Bob Swaim, but not many actors seem to have made the trip (filmmaker Jodie Foster's acted in French and Italian films).
'Maria's Eyes' - Keith Carradine & Andrei Konchalovsky
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Keith Carradine ~ L'homme calme
Keith Carradine comes from a large, creative family of artists and actors. He was born in San Mateo, California on August 8th, 1949. His mother was actress and artist Sonia Sorel (née Henius). His father was actor John Carradine. His brothers Christopher Carradine and Robert Carradine both became actors. His paternal half-brothers Bruce Carradine and David Carradine also became actors. His daughters Sorel Carradine and Martha Plimpton are both actresses. Keith's childhood was difficult. His father was a raging alcoholic who spent a great deal of time away working. His mother was schizophrenic and suffered with severe depression. The brothers tended to look out for each other. It was David Carradine, and his then-girlfriend, actress Barbara Hershey, who encouraged Keith to join the casting call for the original Broadway run of the counterculture musical 'Hair' (1969). An accomplished musician, he'd accompanied them on this trip thinking he'd be playing the piano yet he ended up joining the chorus. David Carradine said in an interview that his kid brother Keith could pick up and play any instrument he wanted and play it well, from the French horn to the bagpipes.
"I think that Keith Carradine, if he's careful — I don't think he is careful — and if he's prudent about the selection of his parts, can be a great big movie star. I think that whoever's advising him is making some terrible selections about material. Because I think the guy is gifted, he's talented, he's attractive."
- Robert Aldrich speaking in 1977
Keith Carradine in Lamont Johnson's 'A Gunfight' (1971)
Keith Carradine's stage career took off in the 1970s and he was soon enlisted by filmmaker Robert Altman to become part of his growing ensemble. Altman was developing the western 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller' (1971) which was to be scored by poet and songwriter Leonard Cohen who came from Westmount, Quebec, Canada. 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller' is based on Catholic writer Edmund Naughton's novel 'McCabe' (1959). Producer David Foster purchased the film rights to the novel in 1968 while he was in negotiations over the rights to 'The Mandarins' (1954), a novel by Simone de Beauvoir. At the time, Naughton was living in Paris. Altman's company was the first of three different filmmakers' stock companies that Carradine became an essential component of. He'd go on to make 'Thieves Like Us' (1974) and 'Nashville' (1975) with Altman and was awarded a Best Song Oscar for 'Nashville', for his composition 'I'm Easy'.
"The best advice I ever got was from Robert Altman, who said, "Kid, I'm going to give you a piece of advice. Don't take advice from anybody."
- Keith Carradine
The Carradine Clan
Robert Altman's protégé Alan Rudolph worked as an assistant director on 'The Long Goodbye' (1973), 'California Split' (1974) and 'Nashville'. Rudolph was directing low budget horror features at the time and the experience he gained working alongside Altman gave him the confidence to make the romantic drama 'Welcome To L.A.' (1976), a musical mosaic that riffed heavily upon Max Ophüls' 'La Ronde' (1950), a circular, cinematic construct based upon a play by Arthur Schnitzler. This was the first of Keith Carradine's collaborations with Rudolph and they'd go on to make 'Choose Me' (1984), 'Trouble In Mind' (1985), 'The Moderns' (1988), 'Mrs. Parker And The Vicious Circle' (1994) and 'Ray Meets Helen' (2017). Three of these movies made in the 1980s paired Carradine with French-Canadian actress Geneviève Bujold. The concluding chapter in this nocturnal, time-hopping triptych was 'The Moderns' which is set in Paris in the 1920s.
One of Carradine's co-stars in 'Welcome To L.A.', globetrotting actor Harvey Keitel, became a close friend and creative muse across the decades (Keitel also worked on Rudolph's 1991 crime drama 'Mortal Thoughts'). Carradine and Keitel starred together in English director Ridley Scott's period piece 'The Duellists' (1977) which is set during the Napoleonic Wars, and Italian director Damiano Damiani's religious mystery 'The Inquiry' (1986). Carradine's currently preparing during the pandemic to shoot Jane Campion's new film project, 'The Power Of The Dog'; Keitel worked with Campion on 'The Piano' (1993) and 'Holy Smoke!' (1999).
"Probably the most important film music for me, and it was late in the game, had to do with Robert Altman. His office called me to be an assistant director and I said I don’t want to do that anymore, but they said I had to come meet him. I did and of course it changed my life. My little film dreams were just specks and Altman’s were skyscrapers. Bob reinvented it all, and I was right there at the time. He was very imposing, with piercing eyes. There was some X-ray vision about him, he was so smart and sharp and immediate, kind of caustic and wicked and wonderful. Anyway, I decided to work for him after I saw McCabe & Mrs. Miller, because it was exactly what I was searching for on my own but didn’t know it. I’d never seen music and film and mood and tone and story and everything come together in a way that was complete. I know there have been other movies since, but I think he defined our musical perception of film."
- Alan Rudolph, Film Comment
Keith Carradine & Cristina Raines
The third director to bring Keith Carradine into the fold was Walter Hill, who like Carradine and Rudolph, was born and raised in California. Together, they made the stark, blood-soaked, revisionist western 'The Long Riders' (1980). They followed this with the taut, minimalistic survival thriller 'Southern Comfort' (1981) which fully immerses itself within the cajun culture of Louisiana (Hill's 1975 debut feature 'Hard Times' was set in Depression-era New Orleans). Lean and atmospheric, these movies tested Carradine's physical limits, engaging him in dangerous and complex action choreography (he takes a bullet through the mouth in 'The Long Riders' that shatters his teeth and the rattle blow's authenticated on the soundtrack by the film's composer Ry Cooder). Carradine and Hill would reteam for 'Dream Of Doom' (1997), Hill's contribution to the television series 'Perversions Of Science'.
"When I think of films I saw when I was a young fellow, so many of them that I really responded to were small, spare, European movies — from Bresson, for example, or Ermanno Olmi [Il Posto]. The size never interfered with one’s appreciation of the aesthetic values. In a way, it even reinforced one’s notions about the purity of the effort, as opposed to the Hollywood size and bulk."
- Walter Hill, Film Comment
Keith Carradine, David Carradine, John Carradine & Robert Carradine
All of which brings me back to the question of how and why Keith Carradine somehow ended up in France, and so soon after he'd only just begun? Well, there's certain things you can look at, for sure. Photographer Jean-Marie Périer invited Carradine to work on his independent drama 'Antoine And Sebastian' (1973) and he too had a background in music. In 1973, Carradine spent some time in Madrid also. But it was while he was working in Paris that prominent French artists were said to have openly courted him.
Over the next few years, Carradine headlined Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Colizzi's crime parody 'Run, Run, Joe!' (1974), he appeared in Jeanne Moreau's drama 'Lumière' (1976), he portrayed Louisianan photographer E. J. Bellocq in Louis Malle's controversial historical drama 'Pretty Baby' (1978), and he anchored Michael Ritchie's drama 'An Almost Perfect Affair' (1979) which is set during the Cannes Film Festival. He also appeared on the musical talk show, 'Sunday Meetings' (Les rendez-vous du dimanche), in the same year as ABBA and Olivia Newton-John.
"The first time we tried to make “The Moderns,” we were all in Paris together, I was doing this movie Michael Ritchie was directing called ‘An Almost Perfect Affair,’ with Monica Vitti and Raf Vallone. We shot in Paris for about a month. I had worked with Francine Racette, Donald Sutherland’s wife, on a Jeanne Moreau film, and we were friends. She and Donald had a three-bedroom apartment in Le Marais which I rented from them. I was staying there for the month I was shooting this movie, and Alan and Joyce [Rudolph, his producer and wife] came over. They came over and hung out with me, and basically, we were all living on my per diem while we tried to get "The Moderns" made! That was our first attempt. I had a sketchbook and charcoal and pencil and I was copying Cezanne sketches, trying to get my hand going because that was the character. That was what he did — he was a forger. We spent a month together in Paris. It was one of the great times in my life that I remember, the time with Alan and Joyce trying to make that movie. And of course, as it would happen a number of times, it all fell apart and ended up not happening. It wasn’t until 12 years after that that we finally got it made."
- Keith Carradine, 'Partners In Mind : Keith Carradine And Alan Rudolph'
Alan Rudolph & Robert Altman
Often accused of being taciturn to the point of being laconic, Keith Carradine has long-embodied the essence of existential exploration within the claustrophobic confines of minimalistic crime cinema. He's also a composer, a musician and a classicist; a man of theatre, letters and literature. I don't just switch on a movie for Keith Carradine though, I switch on a movie for John Carradine, David Carradine and Robert Carradine. 10 movies : Robert Aldrich's 'Emperor Of The North Pole' (1973), Leo Garen's 'Hex' (1973), Peter Fonda's 'Idaho Transfer' (1973), Douglas Hickox's controversial 'Blackout' (1985), Gilbert Cates' 'Backfire' (1988), Samuel Fuller's 'Street Of No Return' (1989), Simon Callow's 'The Ballad Of The Sad Café' (1991), Chris Menges' 'CrissCross' (1992), Wesley Strick's 'The Tie That Binds' (1995) and John Herzfeld's '2 Days In The Valley' (1996).
"I think time is elastic. There are moments in my life that are many, many years ago and yet I can conjure them as though it's a second ago. And there are other things that happened maybe last week that seem like ages ago.”
- Keith Carradine
Interview with Keith Carradine
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Post by petrolino on Apr 18, 2021 0:10:27 GMT
125 Filmmakers [36 - 40]
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36. Federico Fellini (born 20 January 1920, Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Kingdom of Italy)
Federico Fellini is my favourite Italian filmmaker from "the Golden Age of Cinema". He started out as a gag writer for radio, theatre and cinema. He met his creative muse, comedienne Giulietta Masina, in a studio office at Italian public radio broadcaster EIAR in 1942. The two of them barely managed to survive the 2nd World War, but survive it they did.
Fellini's training ground to be a filmmaker was the crumbling architecture of post-war Italy. He co-scripted "neorealist" movies in the late 1940s before securing the opportunity to co-direct 'Variety Lights' (1950) with filmmaker Alberto Lattuada. Though the film turned out to be a massive failure at the box-office, Fellini's involvement was significant due to it being a backstage comedy set within the world of travelling performers. Among the cast were Bolognese clown Masina and Neapolitan dancer Carla Del Poggio who was Lattuada's creative muse. Fellini's colourful films reflected his intense passion for circuses, carnivals, comic strips, cartoons and Catholicism. He created fantastical sequences and surreal episodes yet always anchored them in something resembling reality, though the balance he struck was arguably the reverse of that struck by Spanish surrealist Luis Buñuel. In this regard, I think Fellini's roots in the "neorealist" movement helped him to always keep one foot on the ground.
Fellini's audio-visual explorations of dream and memory were those of a deep nostalgist. He fully succumbed to this sentiment by directing the funereal lament 'And the Ship Sails On' (1983) which doffed its cap to Joan Littlewood's staging of the musical 'Oh, What A Lovely War!' in the 1960s. He followed this with three more movies drenched in affection for the past.
The work of Federico Fellini continues to divide opinion but what's certain is that he was one of the most influential filmmakers of the 20th century. I don't think it's overstating it to say fantasy filmmakers like Terry Gilliam, David Lynch and Tim Burton owe a massive stylistic debt to the cinematic worlds fashioned by Fellini. American film director Spike Lee once said of Fellini's filmmaking, “It really just for me emphasized . . . what you could do. There are no boundaries. There are no limits.”
Selected Federico Fellini Films (15)
01) 'Variety Lights' (1950, Luci del varietà - Federico Fellini & Alberto Lattuada) 02) 'The White Sheik' (1952, Lo sceicco bianco - Federico Fellini) 03) 'The Layabouts' (1953, I vitelloni - Federico Fellini) 04) 'Love In The City' (1953, L'amore in città - Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Carlo Lizzani, Alberto Lattuada, Francesco Maselli, Dino Risi & Cesare Zavattini)
05) 'The Road' (1954, La Strada - Federico Fellini) 06) 'The Swindle' (1955, Il bidone - Federico Fellini) 07) 'The Nights Of Cabiria' (1957, Le notti di Cabiria - Federico Fellini)
08) 'The Good Life' (1960, La dolce vita - Federico Fellini) 09) '8½' (1963, 8½ - Federico Fellini) 10) 'Juliet Of The Spirits' (1965, Giulietta degli spiriti - Federico Fellini) 11) 'Spirits Of The Dead' (1968, Histoires extraordinaires - Federico Fellini, Louis Malle & Roger Vadim)
12) 'Roma' (1972, Roma - Federico Fellini) 13) 'Casanova' (1976, Il Casanova - Federico Fellini) 14) 'Orchestra Rehearsal' (1978, Prova d'orchestra - Federico Fellini)
15) 'City Of Women' (1980, La città delle donne - Federico Fellini)
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37. Éric Rohmer (born 21 March 1920, Tulle, France)
Seasoned filmmaker Eric Rohmer always seemed to me like he was born an old man. He may have been the oldest French filmmaker associated with the film movement known as "La Nouvelle Vague", or French New Wave, which was arguably the oldest of the global new wave film movements (European movements in Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia can also be dated back to the mid-to-late 1950s).
A devout Catholic who voiced strong opinions through his writing, Rohmer was unerringly cordial and polite in person. He worked as a teacher and journalist before entering film and had his first novel 'Elisabeth' (1946) published shortly after the 2nd World War (his birth name was Jean-Marie Maurice Schérer, his filmmaking identity was Éric Rohmer and his pen name was Gilbert Cordier). He also submitted articles to various arts publications including 'Révue du Cinéma', 'Arts', 'Temps Modernes', 'La Parisienne' and 'Cahiers du Cinéma'.
Rohmer directed numerous short subject films and documentaries early in his career. He directed his first feature film in 1959 and embarked upon creating the first of several film series in the early 1960s, when he introduced the first two installments of the 'Moral Tales' sextet in 1963. Later film cycles include 'Comedies And Proverbs' (six films) and 'Tales Of The Four Seasons' (four films). Rohmer also worked extensively in television and made occasional forays into live theatre.
Looked at today, Rohmer's film work occupies a special place within cinema. His movies have a kind of timeless quality to them, perhaps enhanced by his reluctance to embrace traditional scoring methods, musical soundtracking or non-diegetic sound. Instead, he directed movies about people and how they interact with nature and their environment. Time has told me that's something that never goes out of style.
Selected Eric Rohmer Films (21)
01) 'Sign Of Leo' (1959, Le Signe du lion - Eric Rohmer) 02) 'The Girl At The Monceau Bakery' (1963, La Boulangère de Monceau - Eric Rohmer) 03) 'Suzanne's Career' (1963, La carrière de Suzanne - Eric Rohmer) 04) 'Six In Paris' (1965, Paris vu par... - Claude Chabrol, Jean Douchet, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Daniel Pollet, Eric Rohmer & Jean Rouch)
05) 'The Collector' (1967, La Collectionneuse - Eric Rohmer) 06) 'My Night At Maud's' (1969, Ma nuit chez Maud - Eric Rohmer) 07) 'Claire's Knee' (1970, Le Genou de Claire - Eric Rohmer) 08) 'Love In The Afternoon' (1972, L'Amour l'après-midi - Eric Rohmer) 09) 'Perceval' (1978, Perceval le Gallois - Eric Rohmer) 10) 'The Aviator's Wife' (1981, La femme de l'aviateur - Eric Rohmer) 11) 'A Good Marriage' (1982, Le beau mariage - Eric Rohmer) 12) 'Pauline At The Beach' (1983, Pauline à la plage - Eric Rohmer) 13) 'Full Moon In Paris' (1984, Les nuits de la pleine lune - Eric Rohmer) 14) 'The Green Ray' (1986, Le rayon vert - Eric Rohmer) 15) 'My Girlfriend's Boyfriend' (1987, L'Ami de mon amie - Eric Rohmer) 16) 'A Tale Of Springtime' (1990, Conte de printemps - Eric Rohmer) 17) 'A Tale Of Winter' (1992, Conte d'hiver - Eric Rohmer) 18) 'Rendezvous In Paris' (1995, Les Rendez-vous de Paris - Eric Rohmer) 19) 'A Tale Of Summer' (1996, Conte d'été - Eric Rohmer) 20) 'A Tale Of Autumn' (1998, Conte d'automne - Eric Rohmer)
21) 'The Romance Of Astree And Celadon' (2007, Les Amours d'Astrée et de Céladon - Eric Rohmer)
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38. Michel Audiard (born 15 May 1920, Paris, France)
Novelist Michel Audiard was one of the French film industry's great scriptwriters. He became a go-to guy for the studios whenever they were looking for a dialogue writer and he contributed to countless movie scripts as a credited and uncredited writer. A dedicated humourist, his offbeat timing and irreverent sensibility made him a unique figure within French popular culture. He directed eight feature-length films that included a handful of inimitable farces.
TRIVIA : Michel Audiard's son Jacques Audiard became a filmmaker.
Selected Michel Audiard Films (4)
01) 'Don't Take God's Children For Wild Geese' (1968, Faut pas prendre les enfants du bon Dieu pour des canards sauvages - Michel Audiard)
02) 'She Does Not Drink, Smoke Or Flirt But... She Talks' (1970, Elle boit pas, elle fume pas, elle drague pas, mais... elle cause! - Michel Audiard)
03) 'How To Make Good When One Is A Jerk And A Crybaby' (1974, Comment réussir... quand on est con et pleurnichard – Michel Audiard) 04) 'Kisses On Monday' (1974, Bons baisers... à lundi – Michel Audiard)
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39. Yves Robert (born 19 June 1920, Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France)
Comedian Yves Robert was a successful actor of stage and screen who turned to writing and directing. He earned his spurs directing comedian Louis de Funès in a pair of unabashedly commercial features made in the 1950s. He then formed the production company La Guéville in 1961 with actress Danièle Delorme and this allowed him to work on the distribution of his own pictures. It was under the umbrella of La Guéville that Robert launched the career of comedian Pierre Richard, a frequent collaborator who became one of Europe's biggest comic superstars.
Selected Yves Robert Films (4)
01) 'Clerambard' (1969, Clérambard - Yves Robert) 02) 'The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe' (1972, Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire - Yves Robert) 03) 'The Return Of The Tall Blond Man' (1974, Le retour du grand blond - Yves Robert) 04) 'The Twin' (1984, Le jumeau - Yves Robert)
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40. Sergio Sollima (born 17 April 1921, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Fans of "spaghetti westerns" might be aware of the films of Sergio Bergonzelli, Sergio Corbucci, Sergio Leone and Sergio Sollima, or "the four Sergios" as they are affectionately referred to by fans. These three men named Sergio transformed the fortunes of the "spaghetti western" in the 1960s, drawing praise from film critics while helping to establish its post-modern conventions.
Sergio Sollima fought with the Italian Resistance movement in World War 2. He cut his dramatic teeth writing screenplays for "peplum" movies in the 1960s. He specialised in making adventure films throughout his career. His more pensive work in the western genre is interesting and includes the 'Cuchillo' gunfighter series.
Selected Sergio Sollima Films (5)
01) 'The Big Gundown' (1966, La resa dei conti - Sergio Sollima)
02) 'Face To Face' (1967, Faccia a faccia - Sergio Sollima) 03) 'Run, Man, Run' (1968, Corri uomo corri - Sergio Sollima) 04) 'Violent City' (1970, Città violenta – Sergio Sollima)
05) 'Revolver' (1973, Revolver - Sergio Sollima)
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Post by petrolino on Apr 24, 2021 0:39:05 GMT
125 Filmmakers [41 - 45]
"I think to scandalize is a right, to be scandalized is a pleasure, and those who refuse to be scandalized are moralists."
- Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini behind the camera
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41. Renato Polselli (born 26 February 1922, Arce, Lazio, Italy)
Horror filmmaker Renato Polselli paved the way for a generation of independent Italian genre filmmakers to shoot outside the central studio system which was built around Cinecittà Studios in Rome. He worked with miniscule budgets and left numerous projects unfinished, yet somehow managed to pull together the pieces to assemble features. A keen writer, Polselli was responsible for launching the film career of novelist and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, one of the first Italian screenwriters to specialise in writing scripts for horror cinema.
Selected Renato Polselli Films (4)
01) 'The Vampire And The Ballerina' (1960, L'amante del vampiro - Renato Polselli) 02) 'The Vampire Of The Opera' (1964, Il mostro dell'opera – Renato Polselli) 03) 'Delirium' (1972, Delirio caldo - Renato Polselli)
04) 'The Reincarnation Of Isabel' (1973, Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel Trecento... - Renato Polselli)
'Cantate le passage de la mer Rouge' - Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre
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42. Pier Paolo Pasolini (born 5 March 1922, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Kingdom of Italy)
Poet, photographer, playwright and philosopher Pier Paolo Pasolini was a novelist who turned to filmmaking as a way of realising his own texts through sound and image. During his protracted student years, he enrolled at the literature department of the University of Bologna and might have become a professional footballer for Bologna F.C. (with seven Serie A league titles, Bologna are currently joint 5th with Torino in the all-time list behind only Juventus, Inter Milan, A.C. Milan & Genoa). Pasolini pioneered "picaresque neorealism" in Italian cinema. Several of his films created virtual subgenres, such was their impact upon the national cinema, including 'Theorem' (1968 - "visitatore in casa" comedies & dramas often dealing with incest), 'Pigsty' (1969 - today widely reviewed as being an anti-capitalist, proto-"cannibale" mythological adventure) and 'The Decameron' (1971 - the origin of the wider " decamerotici" medieval film cycle that proliferated in the early 1970s).
Selected Pier Paolo Pasolini Films (14)
01) 'Accatone' (1961, Accatone - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 02) 'Mamma Roma' (1962, Mamma Roma - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 03) 'Ro.Go.Pa.G.' (1963, RoGoPaG - Jean-Luc Godard, Ugo Gregoretti, Pier Paolo Pasolini & Roberto Rossellini)
04) 'The Gospel According To St. Matthew' (1964, Il vangelo secondo Matteo - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 05) 'The Hawks And The Sparrows' (1966, Uccellacci e uccellini - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 06) 'Oedipus Rex' (1967, Edipo re - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 07) 'The Witches' (1967, Le streghe - Mauro Bolognini, Vittorio De Sica, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi & Luchino Visconti) 08) 'Theorem' (1968, Teorema - Pier Paolo Pasolini)
09) 'Medea' (1969, Medea - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 10) 'Pigsty' (1969, Porcile - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 11) 'The Decameron' (1971, Il Decameron - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 12) 'The Canterbury Tales' (1972, I racconti di Canterbury - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 13) 'Arabian Nights' (1974, Il fiore delle mille e una notte - Pier Paolo Pasolini) 14) 'Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom' (1975, Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma - Pier Paolo Pasolini)
'Sixième Ordre de Clavecin' - François Couperin
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43. Carlo Lizzani (born 3 April 1922, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Documentary filmmaker Carlo Lizzani contributed to the screenplays of some of the key works of Italian "neorealist" cinema in the 1940s. He started directing features in the 1950s and brought the rawness of his documentary style to fictionalised accounts of economic hardship, social decay and pervasive criminal influence. Lizzani's gritty, hard-hitting, socio-political crime films are today seen as forerunners to the "poliziotteschi" crime subgenre which exploded in 1969. Three years after Mario Monicelli committed suicide by jumping out of a hospital window, Carlo Lizzani committed suicide by jumping from a balcony.
Selected Carlo Lizzani Films (7)
01) 'At The Edge Of The City' (1953, Ai margini della metropoli - Carlo Lizzani) 02) 'Love In The City' (1953, L'amore in città - Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini, Carlo Lizzani, Alberto Lattuada, Francesco Maselli, Dino Risi & Cesare Zavattini)
03) 'The Screwball' (1956, Lo svitato - Carlo Lizzani)
04) 'The Hills Run Red' (1966, Un fiume di dollari - Carlo Lizzani)
05) 'Wake Up And Die' (1966, Svegliati e uccidi - Carlo Lizzani) 06) 'Requiescant' (1967, Requiescant – Carlo Lizzani) 07) 'Bandits In Milan' (1968, Banditi a Milano - Carlo Lizzani)
'Pièces De Clavecin En Concerts Avec Un Violon Ou Une Flûte Ou Une Deuxième Violon' - Jean-Philippe Rameau
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44. Alain Resnais (born 3 June 1922, Vannes, France)
Documentary filmmaker Alain Resnais was strongly associated with the experimental "Left Bank" film movement in his early days. International film directors regularly placed beneath this umbrella include Henri Colpi, Marguerite Duras, Chris Marker, Jean-Pierre Melville and Alain Robbe-Grillet, Renais' friends and associates who dabbled in all areas of the arts. Resnais initially trained as an editor, like Colpi, and with his early work he drew from surrealism to explore fragmentary ideas of time, memory and elapse. His later work was more traditional in presentation and he developed an overwhelming passion for the stillness of English culture.
Selected Alain Resnais Films (4)
01) 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' (1959, Hiroshima mon amour - Alain Resnais) 02) 'Last Year At Marienbad' (1961, L'Année dernière à Marienbad - Alain Resnais) 03) 'Muriel' (1963, Muriel ou le Temps d'un retour - Alain Resnais) 04) 'The War Is Over' (1966, La guerre est finie - Alain Resnais)
'Les élémens' - Jean-Féry Rebel
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45. Mauro Bolognini (born 28 June 1922, Pistoia, Tuscany, Kingdom of Italy)
Just occasionally, perhaps, a director falls victim to his (or her) own talents, and some might proffer this to have been the case with Mauro Bolognini. He was one of cinema's great visual stylists at a time when Italy was blessed to have many and his mellow, soft-focus compositions proved to be enormously influential for a generation of filmmakers that came after him. And it's not that Bolognini didn't make some great movies either, as I believe he did; it's just, he quickly became sought-after by all the biggest stars in Italy as they knew he'd photograph them well. As a result, he was also responsible for some flimsy psychological character portraits mounted on oversized canvases, some of which are still enjoyable as extravagant period puff pieces. Bolognini's impeccable designs, arduous recreations and evocative reenactments were further bolstered by painstaking research and he filled his scenes with slight, artistic flourishes. His credentials were strong : he earned a Master's Degree in Architecture at the University of Florence, studied stage design at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (Italian National Film Academy) in Rome, and he worked as assistant director to filmmaker Luigi Zampa upon his entry into cinema.
Bolognini's friend and collaborator, Pier Paolo Pasolini, recognised the cinematic nature of his storytelling. Bolognini and fellow opera director Franco Zeffirelli were born within a year of each other in Tuscany and both men were responsible for reigniting the ideals of "the Renaissance" within Italian theatre, but where Zeffirelli remained resolutely theatrical even when working in film, Bolognini brought oodles of cinematic style to filming theatrical and literary ideas. When everything clicked, he could create works of extraordinary power and beauty, but the puff pastries could be delicious too.
Selected Mauro Bolognini Films (10)
01) 'Marisa' (1957, Marisa la civetta - Mauro Bolognini) 02) 'Bell' Antonio' (1960, Il bell'Antonio - Mauro Bolognini)
03) 'The Lovemakers' (1961, La viaccia - Mauro Bolognini)
04) 'Careless' (1962, Senilità - Mauro Bolognini) 05) 'The Dolls' (1965, Le bambole - Mauro Bolognini, Luigi Comencini, Dino Risi & Franco Rossi) 06) 'Arabella' (1967, Arabella - Mauro Bolognini)
07) 'The Witches' (1967, Le streghe - Mauro Bolognini, Vittorio De Sica, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi & Luchino Visconti)
08) 'Bubu' (1971, Bubù - Mauro Bolognini) 09) 'The Inheritance' (1976, L'eredità Ferramonti - Mauro Bolognini)
10) 'The Lady Of The Camellias' (1980, La storia vera della signora dalle camelie - Mauro Bolognini)
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Post by petrolino on Apr 25, 2021 23:51:28 GMT
125 Filmmakers [46 - 50]
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46. Alain Robbe-Grillet (born 18 August 1922, Brest, Finistère, France)
Novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet was an agricultural engineer by trade, a graduate of the Institut National Agronomique in Paris, which is now known as the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (INA P-G). He became associated with the "Left Bank" film movement in the late 1950s. He wrote the screenplay for Alain Resnais' mystery 'Last Year At Marienbad' (1961) and then started directing his own films. Robbe-Grillet's movies were experimental in nature and did very little business at the box-office. For his movie 'N Rolled The Dice' (1971), he used alternate takes and excess footage from his previous film 'Eden And After' (1970) to create a remix version which was an interesting concept in 1971, a bit like Gus Van Sant's attempted shot-for-shot remake 'Psycho' (1998).
Selected Alain-Robbe Grillet Films (7)
01) 'The Immortal One' (1963, L'immortelle - Alain Robbe-Grillet)
02) 'Trans-Europ Express' (1967, Trans-Europ-Express - Alain Robbe-Grillet) 03) 'The Man Who Lies' (1968, L'homme qui ment - Alain Robbe-Grillet)
04) 'Eden And After' (1970, L'Eden et après - Alain Robbe-Grillet) 05) 'Successive Slidings Of Pleasure' (1974, Glissements progressifs du plaisir - Alain Robbe-Grillet) 06) 'Playing With Fire' (1975, Le Jeu avec le feu - Alain Robbe-Grillet)
07) 'The Beautiful Captive' (1983, La belle captive - Alain Robbe-Grillet)
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47. Luciano Salce (born 25 September 1922, Rome, Lazio, Kingdom of Italy)
Comedian and songwriter Luciano Salce worked with many fine comic actors during his career in film and theatre, including Totò. As a performer, he appeared in zany character roles in comedies directed by Luigi Zampa, Mario Mattoli and Steno, which provided a suitable training ground for an aspirational young movie director. He shot his first motion picture in 1953 and became a prolific comic filmmaker in the 1960s.
Salce commissioned the first music score by a young composer named Ennio Morricone who wrote the music for 'The Fascist' (1961). They were great friends who often worked together.
Selected Luciano Salce Films (7)
01) 'The Fascist' (1961, Il federale - Luciano Salce) 02) 'The Black Sheep' (1968, La pecora nera - Luciano Salce)
03) 'To My Dear Mother On The Day Of Her Birthday' (1974, Alla mia cara mamma nel giorno del suo compleanno - Luciano Salce)
04) 'Duck In Orange Sauce' (1975, L'anatra all'arancia - Luciano Salce) 05) 'The Beautiful Country' (1977, Il... Belpaese - Luciano Salce) 06) 'The Precarious Bank Teller' (1980, Rag. Arturo De Fanti, bancario precario - Luciano Salce)
07) 'Come On, Idiot' (1982, Vieni avanti cretino - Luciano Salce)
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48. Claude Sautet (born 23 February 1924, Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine, France)
Musician and filmmaker Claude Sautet studied painting and sculpture in his youth. It could be argued he was the pre-eminent chronicler of the folly and foibles of the "bourgeoisie" because he approached his subjects seriously and respectfully. His preference for sedate pacing and penchant for elegant visual compositions brought a sense of meditation to his work. In a directorial career that lasted for forty-six years, he directed fifteen feature-length films which seems somehow reflective of the level of quietude and patience he brought to filmmaking.
Selected Claude Sautet Films (7)
01) 'Consider All Risks' (1960, Classe tous risques - Claude Sautet) 02) 'The Things Of Life' (1970, Les choses de la vie - Claude Sautet) 03) 'Max And The Junkmen' (1971, Max et les ferrailleurs - Claude Sautet)
04) 'Cesar And Rosalie' (1972, César et Rosalie – Claude Sautet) 05) 'Vincent, François, Paul And The Others' (1974, Vincent, François, Paul et les autres - Claude Sautet) 06) 'Mado' (1976, Mado - Claude Sautet) 07) 'A Heart In Winter' (1992, Un cœur en hiver - Claude Sautet)
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49. Sergio Bergonzelli (born 25 August 1924, Alba, Piedmont, Italy)
Independent filmmaker Sergio Bergonzelli was one of the leading directors of "spaghetti westerns". His low budget entries in the western cycle offered a raw alternative to those being shot in Italy at the peak of the subgenre's popularity and his work opened the door for other small-scale genre productions to compete on the open market. When Bergonzelli moved on to explore other genres, medium Demofilo Fidani stepped forward to make cut-price "spaghettis", earning himself the nickname "the Italian Ed Wood" from critics for his efforts. Both directors populated their movies with oddballs, whackjobs and eccentrics.
Selected Sergio Bergonzelli Films (5)
01) 'The Last Gun' (1964, Jim il primo - Sergio Bergonzelli) 02) 'Cisco' (1966, El Cisco - Sergio Bergonzelli) 03) 'Colt In The Hand Of The Devil' (1967, Una colt in pugno al diavolo - Sergio Bergonzelli)
04) 'In The Folds Of The Flesh' (1970, Nelle pieghe della carne - Sergio Bergonzelli)
05) 'Temptation' (1987, Tentazione - Sergio Bergonzelli)
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50. Eugenio Martín (born 15 May 1925, Ceuta, Spain)
Genre filmmaker Eugenio Martín was one of the leading exponents of the "paella western". Though "paella" westerns are sometimes referred to by critics as being an offshoot of the "spaghetti western", this isn't really the case. The godfather of the "paella western" was Spanish filmmaker Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent who co-directed the western 'The Coyote' (1955) with Fernando Soler and directed the follow-up 'The Coyote's Justice' (1956) by himself. These successful pictures were Spanish-Mexican co-productions that planted the seeds for "paella westerns" and "chorizo westerns" to come. It's also worth remembering that a lot of "spaghetti westerns" were Italian-Spanish co-productions and these were frequently shot in Almeria in Andalusia, Spain. French genre filmmakers also shot movies in Almeria.
Selected Eugenio Martín Films (5)
01) 'The Ugly Ones' (1966, El precio de un hombre – Eugenio Martin) 02) 'Requiem For A Gringo' (1968, Réquiem para el gringo – Eugenio Martin & Jose Luis Merino)
03) 'Bad Man's River' (1971, E continuavano a fregarsi il milione di dollari – Eugenio Martin)
04) 'Horror Express' (1972, Pánico en el Transiberiano - Eugenio Martin) 05) 'It Happened At Nightmare Inn' (1973, Una vela para el diablo - Eugenio Martin)
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Post by petrolino on Apr 30, 2021 23:23:14 GMT
125 Filmmakers [51 - 55]
"I have made forty-three films and at one point you have to know how to say stop and give way to young people. I have a lot of scripts in my drawers, I write a lot but I can't imagine coming back with a bang for a last film, it might be pretentious. My dream now would be to write an adaptation for a friend, or why not a young stranger, who would make the film and I would stay behind to protect him. So pay homage to the new wave, why not? It was simple, relaxed, it took its time, but today the cinema has evolved a lot and there are wonderful things. We must also avoid falling stupidly into the past, I don't want to be like those old idiots who swear by the 60s."
- Georges Lautner
Georges Lautner hits the bar with Miou-Miou
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51. Andrea Bianchi (born 31 March 1925, Rome, Lazio, Italy)
Filmmaker Andrea Bianchi was a pioneer of "melodramma iperreale" in Italian cinema, a dynamic stylistic fusion that combined aspects of classical opera, classic erotica, "neorealismo rosa" and heightened surrealism to create a furious cocktail of simmering sexual tension connected to sudden bursts of ultraviolence. A formidable technician, Bianchi worked for studios as an uncredited technical fixer for a time, a role that called on him to supervise edits for pictures in post-production that were deemed to have slid off the rails (there were also film cuts considered to be interminably boring in their submitted form). Desperate to get behind the camera and create, Bianchi stepped back following uncredited work on John Hough's international co-production 'Treasure Island' (1972), a vehicle for Orson Welles which he probably helped reshape, either through reshoots or re-edits. When Bianchi finally secured a project to direct, his technical skills propelled him to the forefront of Italy's genre boom. He worked extensively with novelist and screenwriter Massimo Felisatti, screenwriter and filmmaker Piero Regnoli, and pianist and composer Berto Pisano over the coming years, which was significant. Regnoli and Ernesto Gastaldi were behind some of the scripts that introduced the gothic erotica cycle in the early 1960s.
Bianchi pioneered a dizzying form of heightened genre erotica that took on many dynamic traits depending on genre. Through his work, he engineered a sexualised shock-erotica subgenre that was sharply satirical in its writing and led to the production of countless movies from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s.
Selected Andrea Bianchi Films (9)
01) 'Cry Of A Prostitute' (1974, Quelli che contano – Andrea Bianchi) 02) 'Enough With War … We Love' (1974, Basta con la guerra... facciamo l'amore – Andrea Bianchi)
03) 'Strip Nude For Your Killer' (1975, Nude per l'assassino - Andrea Bianchi) 04) 'Confessions Of A Frustrated Housewife' (1976, La moglie di mio padre - Andrea Bianchi) 05) 'Dear Sweet Nephew' (1977, Cara dolce nipote - Andrea Bianchi) 06) 'The Sicilian Wife' (1978, La moglie siciliana - Andrea Bianchi)
07) 'Malabimba : The Malicious Whore' (1979, Malabimiba - Andrea Bianchi) 08) 'Burial Ground : The Nights Of Terror' (1981, Le Notti del terrore - Andrea Bianchi) 09) 'I Gilda' (1989, Io Gilda - Andrea Bianchi)
Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs 'Piano Concerto No.5' by Camille Saint-Saëns
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52. Maurice Pialat (born 31 August 1925, Cunlhat, Puy-de-Dôme, France)
Documentary filmmaker Maurice Pialat's burning ambition was to be a painter (his penultimate feature film was a biopic of Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh). A self-trained photographer, he directed numerous mini-documentaries and short subject films during the 1950s and 1960s, but couldn't attain sufficient funding to direct his debut feature. Filmmaker François Truffaut stepped in to help raise the money, co-producing Pialat's debut feature 'Naked Childhood' (1968), a stark portrait of working-class life.
Pialat directed ten feature films in total. I've been fortunate to see nine of them - I've not seen his cinematic swansong, 'Boyfriend' (1995).
Selected Maurice Pialat Films (8)
01) 'Naked Childhood' (1968, L'enfance nue - Maurice Pialat) 02) 'We Won't Grow Old Together' (1972, Nous ne vieillirons pas ensemble - Maurice Pialat) 03) 'The Mouth Agape' (1974, La gueule ouverte - Maurice Pialat) 04) 'Graduate First' (1978, Passe ton bac d'abord - Maurice Pialat) 05) 'Loulou' (1980, Loulou - Maurice Pialat)
06) 'To Our Loves' (1983, À nos amours - Maurice Pialat) 07) 'Police' (1985, Police - Maurice Pialat) 08) 'Under The Sun Of Satan' (1987, Sous le soleil de Satan - Maurice Pialat)
Pierre-Laurent Aimard performs 'Etudes' by Claude Debussy
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53. Georges Lautner (born 24 January 1926, Nice, France)
They say there's two sides to every coin and there were two sides to Georges Lautner, but they were often hard to distinguish. Some film critics considered him to be a black comedy filmmaker, while others recognised him as a crime specialist. I think he was in his element when directing absurd crime stories and offbeat comic capers.
TRIVIA : Georges Lautner was the son of actress and author Renée Saint-Cyr.
Selected Georges Lautner Films (6)
01) 'Galia' (1966, Galia - Georges Lautner) 02) 'Sorrel Flower' (1967, Fleur d'oseille - Georges Lautner) 03) 'There Was Once A Cop' (1972, Il était une fois un flic... - Georges Lautner) 04) 'Some Too Quiet Gentlemen' (1973, Quelques messieurs trop tranquilles – Georges Lautner)
05) 'No Problem!' (1975, Pas de problème! – Georges Lautner) 06) 'Now We've Seen It All!' (1976, On aura tout vu! – Georges Lautner)
Hélène Grimaud performs 'Piano Concerto in G major' by Maurice Ravel
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54. Rafael Romero Marchent (born 3 May 1926, Madrid, Spain)
Technical filmmaker Rafael Romero Marchent was the son of writer Joaquín Romero Marchent Gómez de Avellaneda, and younger brother of director Joaquín Luis Romero Marchent. Rafael upheld family tradition by specialising in making "paella westerns".
There's a nice article published at El País that looks at some of Quentin Tarantino's constant nods to Spanish cinema ... : 'Quentin Tarantino put out in one of his films a song by The Braves – "Bring Little Lovin’" is heard in 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' — It doesn't surprise his followers. But that in a Hollywood film about Hollywood, the name of Madrid is mindful of Rafael Romero Marchent, craftsman of spaghetti western of the sixties and seventies, director of one of the best films of the emblematic Mexican fighter Santo, 'Saint vs. Dr. Death' (1973), and producer of television series as 'Curro Jiménez', is of galloping ultracinefilia. At one point, Tarantino sends his protagonist, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) to shoot Almeria spaghetti westerns and there he collaborates with the Italian Sergio Corbucci – fundamental name, along with his admired Sergio Leone, in the heart of the American filmmaker – and with Romero Marchent. At that moment, Tarantino squeezes his collection of posters and places his protagonist in some of the films of the time, or plays with their titles. In those years, Romero Marchent was in full production and linked titles such as 'Who Screams Revenge?' (1968), 'Garringo' (1969) and 'The Righteous Fox' (1969). Of course, in 'Garringo', DiCaprio's character could have replaced Anthony Steffen as Lieutenant Garringo, who goes on the hunt for an outlaw that is dedicated to killing soldiers. When in June 2004 the filmmaker visited Madrid to promote 'Kill Bill Volume 2', he escaped for a while from the hotel where he attended the press to browse through the funds of the Eight And A Half bookstore. There he not only wanted to acquire posters of the two films of Chicho Ibáñez Serrador ('The House That Screamed' / 'Who Can Kill A Child?'), but asked for posters drawn by the Valencian illustrator José Peris Arago, better known as Jano, an artistic power in the world of posters (hand programs) and film posters. By the way, watch out for the posters that appear in the sets on that occasion, because there are also surprises. Several films of Tarantino hide winks to Spain. At the end of 'Jackie Brown' (1997), the protagonist tells the character that Robert Foster embodies his intention to move to Spain. The lender asks if Madrid or Barcelona and explains that they don't eat dinner in the country until midnight. In 'Kill Bill Volume 1' (2003), one of its chapters takes the name of 'The Blood Spattered Bride', by Vicente Aranda. And 'Kill Bill Volume 2' (2004) sounds "Tu Mirá" of Lole and Manuel. Both in 'Death Proof' like in 'The Hateful Eight', the reference to Romero Marchent already appears: in the first one the poster of 'The Limit Of Love' (1976); in the second, the honor falls to his brother, Joaquín Romero Marchent: his eurowestern 'Cut-Throats Nine' (1972, Sentenced To Live With It ...') - it was a clear influence on the plot of the Tarantino movie.'
TRIVIA : During a "paella western" restrospective, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino described Rafael Romero Marchent as an underappreciated master of the "paella western"; Tarantino pays homage to the work of the Marchent brothers in several of his movies.
Selected Rafael Romero Marchent Films (8)
01) 'Hands Of A Gunfighter' (1965, Ocaso de un pistolero – Rafael Romero Marchent) 02) 'Sharp-Shooting Twin Sisters' (1966, Dos pistolas gemelas – Rafael Romero Marchent) 03) 'Two Crosses At Danger Pass' (1967, Dos cruces en Danger Pass – Rafael Romero Marchent)
04) 'Dead Men Don’t Count' (1968, ¿Quién grita venganza? – Rafael Romero Marchent) 05) 'One By One' (1968, Uno a uno, sin piedad – Rafael Romero Marchent) 06) 'Garringo' (1969, Garringo – Rafael Romero Marchent) 07) 'The Student Connection' (1974, Un par de zapatos del '32 – Rafael Romero Marchent) 08) 'Wedding Or Life' (1974, La boda o la vida – Rafael Romero Marchent)
Jean-Yves Thibaudet performs 'Gymnopédie No. 1' by Erik Satie
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55. Franco Prosperi (born 2 September 1926, Rome, Lazio, Kingdom of Italy)
Muscular technician Franco Prosperi was groomed for success by early mentor Mario Bava who allowed him to work in various capacities on set. Prosperi turned his hand to a variety of popular subgenres and the results were often startling. He was particularly noted for his extreme use of slow-motion photography which reached its zenith with 'The Last House On The Beach' (1978), one of Quentin Tarantino's favourite movies.
TRIVIA : Born Francesco Prosperi, genre director Franco Prosperi was often mixed up with filmmaker Franco E. Prosperi (born in 1928) who devised the 'Mondo Cane' shockumentary series with Paolo Cavara, Antonio Climati and Gualtiero Jacopetti.
Selected Franco Prosperi Films (5)
01) 'Dick Smart 2.007' (1967, Dick Smarti 2.007 – Franco Prosperi)
02) 'Deadly Chase' (1978, Il commissario Verrazzano – Franco Prosperi) 03) 'The Last House On The Beach' (1978, La settima donna - Franco Prosperi) 04) 'Gunan, King Of The Barbarians' (1982, Gunan il guerriero - Franco Prosperi) 05) 'The Throne Of Fire' (1983, Il trono di fuoco – Franco Prosperi)
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Post by petrolino on May 2, 2021 0:14:57 GMT
Genrebusters!!
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# Gianfranco Parolini (born 20 February 1925 in Rome, Lazio, Italy) : * 'The Ringmaster' *
I'd like to give a special mention to pulp novelist and filmmaker Gianfranco Parolini at this point, for managing the extremely rare feat of initiating five of the most successful movie franchises in Italian cinema history. Parolini was a son of the circus who enjoyed staging acrobatic fight sequences and creating stunt pyrotechnics. Sometimes, he employed daring camerawork to match. He didn't always direct the sequels and follow-ups in his franchises but this offered valuable work opportunities to directors, performers and technicians making their way within the national film industry. The success of his movies also led to the creation of merchandise for fans, including action figure dolls. These achievements earned Parolini the title, "Papà Gianni" (Gianni means "God is gracious" and Franco means "free man", or "Frenchman", and French men are said in Italy to always fly free). Franchise Originals
01) 'The Ten Gladiators' (1963, I dieci gladiatori - Gianfranco Parolini) 02) 'Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill' (1966, 12 donne d'oro - Gianfranco Parolini) 03) 'The Three Fantastic Supermen' (1967, I fantastici tre supermen - Gianfranco Parolini) 04) 'If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death' (1968, Se incontri Sartana prega per la tua morte - Gianfranco Parolini) 05) 'Sabata' (1969, Ehi amico ... c'è Sabata. Hai chiuso! - Gianfranco Parolini)
I'd strongly recommend all of Parolini's originals to anyone interested, though I don't think the sequels were always up to standard. 'Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill', which initiated the 'Komissar X' series, ranks for me as the greatest "Eurospy" movie of the 1960s. It's screening above ...
TRIVIA : Gianni Garko played the character Sartana Liston in Alberto Cardone's "spaghetti western" 'Blood At Sundown' (1966). Two years later, Garko played the title character in 'If You Meet Sartana Pray For Your Death' (1968). These films and characters are related only by name.
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# Jean Girault (born 9 May 1924 in Villenauxe-la-Grande, Grand Est, France) : * 'The Playmaker' *
I'd also like to mention filmmaker and theatre director Jean Girault who was instrumental in bringing comic actor Louis de Funès a degree of international success through the 'Gendarme' comedy franchise. These movies also propelled actress Geneviève Grad to stardom.
Franchise Owner
01) 'The Troops Of St. Tropez' (1964, Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez - Jean Girault) 02) 'Gendarme In New York' (1965, Le gendarme à New York - Jean Girault)
03) 'The Gendarme Gets Married' (1968, Le gendarme se marie - Jean Girault) 04) 'The Gendarme To Stroll' (1970, Le gendarme en balade - Jean Girault) 05) 'The Gendarme And The Extra-Terrestrials' (1979, Le Gendarme et les extra-terrestres - Jean Girault) 06) 'The Gendarme And The Gendarmettes' (1982, Le gendarme et les gendarmettes - Tony Aboyantz & Jean Girault)
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07) 'The Exchange Student' (1967, Les grandes vacances - Jean Girault)
08) 'Two Big Girls In Pyjamas' (1974, Deux grandes filles dans un pyjama - Jean Girault)
Geneviève Grad interprète la chanson ... "Douliou Douliou Saint-Tropez"!
For a Franco-Italian franchise, try the 'Don Camillo' comedies which were headlined by Fernandel and Gino Cervi. I think there were five official entries in the series, as well as spinoffs. A sixth entry was abandoned when Fernandel died during filming, but the story was later revived and realised by director Mario Camerini with Gastone Moschin stepping in to fill Fernandel's shoes.
Jean Girault died during the filming of the sixth installment of the 'Gendarme' series and the shoot was completed by Russian director Tony Aboyantz. Two more movies I'd recommend from Girault are 'The Exchange Student' (1967) and 'Two Big Girls In Pyjamas' (1974).
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Southern European Cinema : 'The March Of The Dolls'
Puppet theatre has provided a stage for mythology since ancient times. Fairy tales, folk tales, campfire tales and other forms of cautionary tale have strong roots in puppet theatre, as archaeological discoveries have shown.
Puppets have been easy to make since ancient times and they were often used as learning tools to illustrate potential dangers. Puppet theatre is often violent. Our most famous puppet play here in the U K is 'Punch And Judy' which is derived from the 16th-century Italian theatrical form, "commedia dell'arte", which may have inspired the name of the "commedia all'italiana" film movement. The character Punch is a varation on the Neapolitan stock character Pulcinella, which was anglicised to Punchinello.
For anybody who's wishing to explore Neapolitan folklore, I'd recommend Matteo Garrone's fantasy horror 'Tale Of Tales' (2015) which is based upon stories written by poet Giambattista Basile.
'The Doll As Theatre : Part 1' - Neapolitan & Continental Dolls from the 17th and 18th Century [Theriault's Dolls]
Miguel Madrid's deconstructionist horror movie 'The Killer Of Dolls' (1975) opens with the director addressing the camera directly. Madrid (using the pseudonym Michael Skaife) introduces the film as a self-analysis of psychopathy. He's seen vigorously tearing apart a doll, limb by limb. What follows is an explicit rendering of the manufacturing process of Spanish dolls. While dolls are as old as time, I think horror cinema has benefitted greatly from a certain type of doll that you might find inside the attic of a secluded mansion. For example, "bisque dolls", which were made from ultra-smooth biscuit porcelain. The early "bisque dolls" made by French companies were actually carefully crafted fashion dolls. These dolls dominated the market in the second half of the 19th century and were designed as representations of society women, though little girls from middle-class families would dress them and care for them in their homes.
'Rose Bertin was born Marie-Jeanne Bertin (1747-1813) in Abbeville, a textile town in France. Her family was not wealthy and so she was apprenticed to a marchande de modes (fashion merchant) at a young age. By 1772 she had worked her way up to the exclusive rue Saint-Honoré in Paris, where she opened her own shop under the name of Le Grand Mogol. She quickly won the patronage of several influential courtiers (ladies who lived at the court), including the duchess of Chartres, who introduced Bertin to the newly crowned queen, Marie Antoinette, in the summer of 1774. The queen of France quickly became Bertin’s most famous customer. Twice a week, soon after Louis XVI’s coronation, Bertin would present her newest creations to the young queen and spend hours discussing them. The Queen adored her wardrobe and was passionate about every detail and Bertin, as her milliner, became her confidante and friend. In addition to Marie Antoinette, Bertin dressed the queens of Spain, Sweden and Portugal, Grand-Duchess Maria-Fëdorovna of Russia and many European aristocrats. Indeed, Rose Bertin was the first “fashion designer” to become a celebrity in her own right. She is widely credited with having brought fashion and haute couture to the forefront of popular culture. Marie Antoinette would buy nearly 300 dresses annually (not all by Bertin ofcourse) and never wore anything twice. To satisfy her extravagant demands, there was also her personal coiffeur Léonard Autié, who launched the poufs, elaborate hairstyles that adorned the majestic royal locks. Marie Antoinette became a fashion icon (before fashion icons were called fashion icons, that is) and not only in her own kingdom.
Working with Léonard , Bertin created a coiffure that became the rage all over Europe: hair would be accessorized, stylized, cut into defining scenes and modeled into shapes and objects—ranging from recent gossip to nativities to husbands’ infidelities, to French naval vessels such as the Belle Poule, to the pouf aux insurgents in honor of the American Revolutionary War. The Queen’s most famous coif was the “inoculation” pouf that she wore to publicize her success in persuading the King to be vaccinated against smallpox. Marie Antoinette also asked Bertin to dress dolls in the latest fashions as gifts for her sisters and her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Bertin’s fashion dolls were called “Pandores” and were made of wax over jointed wood armatures or porcelain. There were small ones the size of a common toy doll, or large ones as big or half as big as a real person, petites Pandores and grandes Pandores. Fashion dolls as courriers of modes remained in vogue until the appearance of Fashion magazines. When the marchandes de modes of Paris were incorporated in 1776, Bertin was elected as the guild’s first mistress. In this post, she earned the right to dress the life-sized fashion doll that toured the mercantile centers of Europe and beyond, advertising French fashions. By 1778 Bertin had grown so powerful at court that the press dubbed her France’s ministre des modes, or “minister of fashion.” The unofficial title underlined Bertin’s position as a trusted royal adviser as well as a representative of France to other nations.'
- Excerpt from the article 'Rose Bertin, Marie Antoinette’s Milliner, Influences Today’s Fashion' (published at A.G. Nauta Couture)
'The Doll As Theatre : Part 2' - Neapolitan & Continental Dolls from the 17th and 18th Century [Theriault's Dolls]
Doll companies like Bru, Gaultier, Huret, Simone and Rohmer fought for their share of the market and developed international reputations by exhibiting their creations at competitions and doll fairs. An offshoot of the doll industry was the design and manufacturing of clothing and accessories for dolls, or "accoutrements", and Passage Choiseul in Paris became a hub. Only later did manufacturers start churning out childlike dolls and this was due to rising customer demand, which led to these becoming the principal doll of Paris fashion.
'Galerie des Modes et Costumes Français is a series of fashion and costume plates that was distributed in Paris from 1778 to 1787, during the reign of King Louis XVI of France and Marie Antoinette. The first collected volume, which was produced in 1779, had a title page which bore an allegorical illustration as well as the full title of the collection: Gallerie des modes et des costumes français dessinés d'après nature, Gravés par le plus Célèbres Artistes en ce genre, et colorés avec le plus grand soin par Madame Le Beau. Ouvrage commence en l'année 1778. A Paris, chez le Srs Esnauts et Rapilly rue St. Jacques à la Ville de coutances. Avec priv. Du Roi (Gallery of French fashions and costumes, drawn from life, engraved by the most celebrated artists in this medium, and hand-colored with the greatest care by Madame Le Beau;publication begun in 1778. Paris, Messrs. Esnauts and Rapilly, rue Satin-Jacques, at the sign of the City of Countances. Licensed by the King). Importantly, this lengthier epithet indicates that the engravings of the Galerie (or Gallerie, according to eighteenth-century spelling) were created "d'après nature," or "after nature," meaning that they were intended to represent what was actually worn in the streets of Paris during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Although they vary in their presentation, the majority of images included in this series are tableaux vivants in which Parisians from various walks of life flaunt their quotidian fashions. These plates were completed by a group of prominent, eighteenth-century designers and engravers and are accompanied by descriptive text. Although no private or public collection possesses a complete edition of the Galerie, the series is widely recognized for its high aesthetic value as well as its innovation within the overarching field of the fashion plate. René Colas, who compiled the major reference work Bibliographie générale du costume et de la mode (1933), calls it "the most beautiful collection in existence on the fashions of the eighteenth century."'
- Wikipedia
Picture in 'Cabinet des Modes' (published in 1845)
'Fascination Part 1' - French Dolls from Paris, Musée de la Poupée (narrated by Florence Theriault)
Another major French dollmaker was Jumeau (which means twin). Their high-quality "bisque dolls" are now collector's items and widely considered to be works of art. The company was founded by Louis-Desire Belton and Pierre-François Jumeau, hence the name. They sought to dress their dolls in "exquisite" clothing and told prospective clients they'd become a part of their family. If it sounds like the plotline for a horror movie that's because it is. The history of horror is the history of dolls.
Bebe Jumeau
'Fascination Part 2' - French Dolls from Paris, Musée de la Poupée (narrated by Florence Theriault)
Elia Kazan's hothouse melodrama 'Baby Doll' (1956) exerted a tremendous influence on Italian genre cinema, despite being condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency. Carroll Baker, who played the title role, became arguably the definitive American actress to grace Italian genre cinema during its heydey. Baker starred in several "gialli" classics and lived and worked in Italy for many years. "Gialli" were stylistically indebted to the modernist world of fashion houses. Thus, mannequins became an essential component of "giallo" thrillers. A key influence on the cinematic "giallo" form was Arne Mattson's Swedish mystery thriller 'Mannequin In Red' (1958). Mannequins feature prominently in a variety of European films produced during the "giallo" era including Jesús Franco's 'Succubus' (1968), Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 'The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant' (1972), Amando de Ossorio's 'Tombs Of The Blind Dead' (1972), Wojciech Has' 'The Hourglass Sanatorium' (1973) and Luis García Berlanga's 'Lifesize' (1974), as well as appearing in actual "giallo" films such as Mario Bava's 'Blood And Black Lace' (1964), Paolo Cavara's 'Black Belly Of The Tarantula' (1971), Giuliano Carnimeo's 'The Case Of The Bloody Iris' (1972) and Umberto Lenzi's 'Spasmo' (1974).
Another common feature of the "giallo" thriller is a plot device involving some kind of trauma experienced during childhood. In some movies, it's this that ultimately holds the key for unlocking the mystery. This invited plenty of doll power and technical directors revelled in creating disturbing doll imagery. Dolls also featured in several "giallo" titles including Mario Bava's 'Five Dolls For An August Moon' (1970) and Aldo Lado's 'Short Night Of The Glass Dolls' (1971).
TRIVIA : One of the oldest doll hospitals in the world can be found in Lisbon. The family-run operation, Hospital das Bonecas, was founded in 1830. The hospital offers repair services for vintage and modern dolls.
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Southern European Cinema : "Twin Infinitives"
Great comics often develop a unique persona through which they can channel their talents. Whether it's Max Linder, Totò, Jacques Tati or Pierre Étaix, comedians also draw from the long history of clowning, something that's rigorously explored in Federico Fellini's mockumentary 'I Clowns' (1970).
One way in which a performer can expand upon their comic persona is to play in a film that utilises the "appareil double", or "twin device". This can be done by introducing an evil twin for example, or a "sosie" (doppelgänger). A general plotline involving cloning may introduce limitless possibilities, but twins have remained tried and trusted throughout the history of fantastical art. Fernandel portrayed twins in Christian-Jaque's comedy 'Raphael The Tattooed' (1939) and Totò played twin villagers in Mario Mattoli's comedy 'Toto The Third Man' (1951).
Camilla More & Carey More, stars of 'Friday The 13th : The Final Chapter' (1984), share a bed together in Yves Robert's 'The Twin' (1984)
Pili & Mili make their film debut in Luis César Amadori's 'Like Two Drops Of Water' (1964)
The most popular twins in Spanish cinema were Pili & Mili who regularly shot films and recorded music in Spain, Argentina and Mexico. They became stars at the age of seventeen and made at least ten movies together, movies that took in a number of genres. They were musically gifted and terrific dancers, though they worked primarily as a comic duo. The reference in the picture of them seen below (bottom right corner) is to the Catholic musical 'Sor Ye Ye' (1968) which was a Spanish-Mexican co-production directed by Ramón Fernández.
Pili (Pilar Bayona) & Mili (Emilia Bayona)
Pili & Mili in Rafael Romero Marchent's ''Sharp-Shooting Twin Sisters'' (1966)
The most popular twins in Italian cinema weren't actually Italian at all. Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler became stars at home in Germany but they also made films in Italy, Austria and France. They sometimes sang together which led to appearances on some high profile, light entertainment shows like 'The Ed Sullivan Show' and 'The Bruce Forsyth Show'. They starred together in Mario Bava's fantasy adventure 'Erik The Conqueror' (1961), Dino Risi's family drama 'The Thursday' (1964) and Luciano Emmer's literary adaptation 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' (1971).
Alice Kessler & Ellen Kessler in Paris
Pili & Mili in Miguel Morayta's 'Two Great Twins' (1968)
Duality is an essential concept underpinning science-fiction, fantasy and horror. French filmmaker Jean Rollin often worked with the greatest twins to ever grace "le cinéma fantastique", Catherine Castel and Marie-Pierre Castel (aka. Cathy & Marie-Pierre Tricot, the Tricot Twins).
Catherine Castel & Marie-Pierre Castel in Jean Rollin's 'Requiem For A Vampire' (1971)
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