10 Italian-Argentine Actresses from Buenos Aires

Graciela Alfano

 

 

10 Italian-Argentine Actresses from Buenos Aires
 

Italian-Argentines are largely of Padanian descent, and make up a huge portion of the country's population. 9 seem to have Padanian surnames. The name "Alfano" is generally Neapolitan, but she looks Padanian and may have some of that ancestry as well. I like that 70s-80s looking magazine cover. Magazine covers were the "fancy websites" before the internet.

 

 

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Graciela Alfano

 

 

 

 

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Susana Traverso

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Carmen Barbieri

 

 

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Thelma Stefani

 

 

 

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Alicia Bruzzo

 

 

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Catalina Artusi

 

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Golde Flami

 

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Aida Alberti

 

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Luisa Albinoni

 

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Melina Petriella

 

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'The Ballad of the Green Berets' by Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone's version of 'The Ballad of the Green Berets'.. 'La Ballata dei Berretti Verdi'. I don't think it was composed for a movie, but I'm not positive about that.

"Wonderful Morricone. He can do it all. Thanks for posting ."
--shelabacon, YouTube user

"Wonderful hymne...thank you SO much!!"
--Pedy1968, YouTube user

The original version of the song was featured in the movie 'The Green Berets' (1968) starring John Wayne.


Part of the lyrics:

"Back at home a young wife waits
Her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her this last request

Put silver wings on my son's chest
Make him one of America's best
He'll be a man they'll test one day
Have him win the Green Beret"


Below, the movie version, with chorus:



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‘Neverlake’ (2013) – movie review

‘Neverlake’ is a 2013 Italian movie, apparently made for an English-speaking audience. I ordered it via pay-per-view due to its theme, which I found interesting:

On a trip home to visit her father, Jenny is thrown into a world of mystery, horror and legend when she is called upon by 3000 year old spirits of the Neverlake to help return their lost artifacts and save the lives of missing children.

Actually, the film description for the PPV described “Etruscan spirits.” There is surprisingly little information online about his film, outside of a few reviews… of which I haven’t read, as I usually like to try to relay my interpretation firsthand. I wasn’t able to find out which lake it was filmed at, as the lake reminded me of pictures I have seen of Lake Nemi in Tuscany… a location of many legends and folklore. I think most of the filming was around Arezzo in eastern Tuscany. Lake Nemi is in the west, but this lake was mysterious-looking in any case… looking beautifully gloomy and surrounded by heavy woods.

Some background to the story was a little bit unclear. The main protagonist was Jenny.. a sixteen year old girl, of apparently Tuscan birth and heritage, who had been sent to live with an aunt in England at a young age, and was currently going to school in New York City. The movie begins with Jenny on the last leg of her trip to spent the Summer with her father in Arezzo, which is evidently in a rural hilly part of Tuscany, dotted with ancient villages.

This is a difficult movie to review because it was a steady advance of strange experiences, but perhaps none of them standing out in particular. Basically, in one form or another, ancient Etruscan spirits of “the Lake of Idols” seem to be sending her clues regarding.. something. Throughout the film, Jenny’s poetry relay some subtle messages.

Just the theme of Etruscan mythology, combined with the gloomy environment, set an interesting mood. Jenny’s father, apparently a doctor and amateur archeologist, was working on a project regarding ancient Etruscan artifacts. On his wall was a painting of Etruscans engaging in a ritual by that particular lake.. of which they believed had supernatural healing properties. He told Jenny that the painting was just an interpretation by the artist of how they may have held rituals on the lake. I don’t know if there really is such a painting of this theme, or if another painting was used to fit the story. The mysterious terrain of the the land, along with the father and his wife’s unusual actions, results in one strongly getting the impression that there are some secrets being kept. Jenny is told that her mother had passed away.

Soon Jenny meets children from a nearby home for orphaned children suffering from various ailments. This home/facility was fairly large and very old, constructed of stone walls and tiled roofs. It sat alone amidst the natural landscape. Jenny befriends them and reads them stories.. for example, writings of Shakespeare. They begin to trust her, and allow her into their world.

Jenny’s father had removed 2,600 to 3,000 year old statues from the lake, which ties into the main plot. Jenny begins to have supernatural experiences, including strange dreams about the lake. I don’t think I would be giving away too much by saying that the “Souls of the Lake” were unhappy with the removal of their statues (figurines). He had been working on his “project” for twenty years.

Etruscan temple

I think part of the theme of this film—for me at least—was a folk-pagan concept of reconnecting with one’s ancestors… with a distinction between a true “folk connection,” and one of mere usury. One curious element in the film was one particular character who appeared perhaps dangerous initially, and another who appeared positive initially… well, it turned out to be quite different…

Although this movie moved along with a slow advance—although I found it to be very relaxing and an escape—the ending ties together a large number of loose ends. The film goes from mystery, to horror, to tearjerker at the end. Many things don’t make sense until the dramatic ending scenes. I wouldn’t say that this movie was an absolute “thriller.” It was suspenseful, an escape into the spiritual, and delving into the sensitive theme of child abuse. I guess one could say that it was a common theme of “good vs. evil”… with the adults being the “evil” force… and with the children receiving help from ancestral spirits when they asked for it.

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Ennio Morricone: Legendary film composer

"If i ruled the world there would be an international Ennio Moricone Day! We all stay home and savour the legends brilliance." --jackthehatuk, YouTube user


Ennio Morricone (Wikipedia)

Also known as: Maestro, Dan Savio, Leo Nichols
Born: November 10, 1928 (age 85)
Origin: Rome, Italy
Genres: Film music, classical, absolute music, pop, jazz, lounge, easy listening, funk
Occupations: Composer, conductor, orchestrator, music director, producer, trumpeter, pianist
Years active: Since 1946
Website: www.enniomorricone.it

Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, is an Italian composer, orchestrator, conductor and former trumpet player, who has written music for more than 500 motion pictures and television series, as well as contemporary classical works. His career includes a wide range of composition genres, making him one of the world's most versatile, prolific and influential film composers of all time. Morricone's music has been used in more than 60 award-winning films.

His absolute music production includes over 100 classical pieces composed since 1946. During the late 1950s Morricone served as a successful studio arranger for RCA. He orchestrated over 500 songs and worked with music artists such as Paul Anka, Chet Baker and Mina. However, Morricone gained worldwide fame by composing (during the period 1960-75) the music for Italian westerns by directors such as Sergio Leone, Duccio Tessari and Sergio Corbucci, including the Dollars Trilogy, A Pistol for Ringo, The Big Gundown, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Great Silence, The Mercenary, A Fistful of Dynamite and My Name is Nobody.

During the 1960s and '70s, he built long-term associations with directors such as Gillo Pontecorvo, known for the war film The Battle of Algiers, Bernardo Bertolucci for whom Morricone scored the 1976 epic film Novecento, Henri Verneuil, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Mauro Bolognini, Dario Argento and Elio Petri. Morricone composed music for all film genres, ranging from comedy and drama to action thrillers and historical films. He achieved commercial success with several compositions, including "The Ecstasy of Gold", the theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Man with Harmonica, the protest song "Here's to You" sung by Joan Baez and "Chi Mai". Between 1964 and 1980 Morricone was also the trumpet player and a co-composer for the avant-garde free improvisation group Il Gruppo. In 1978, he wrote the official theme for the 1978 FIFA World Cup.

 
Since 1977, Morricone boosted his career in Hollywood by composing music for some of film history's most prolific American directors such as John Carpenter, Brian De Palma, Barry Levinson, Mike Nichols and Oliver Stone. Morricone has composed the music for a number of Academy Award-winning motion pictures including Days of Heaven, The Mission, The Untouchables, Cinema Paradiso and Bugsy. Other noteworthy scores include Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Thing, Casualties of War, In the Line of Fire, Disclosure, Wolf, Bulworth, Mission to Mars and Ripley's Game. In the 1980s and '90s, Morricone continued to compose music for European directors. His music for La Cage aux Folles, Le Professionnel, Once Upon a Time in America and ¡Átame! are among his best-known film scores. He has composed music for numerous television series, including the acclaimed television miniseries Moses the Lawgiver, La Piovra, The Secret of the Sahara, Marco Polo and Nostromo.

He is also associated with the Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore, composing all the music for all his films since Cinema Paradiso (1988), such as award-winning scores for Legend of 1900, Malèna, La Sconosciuta and more recently Baaria (2009) and The Best Offer (2013). Other recent Morricone works include the music for the television series Karol and scores for The End of a Mystery, 72 Meters and Fateless. In the 2000s, Morricone's music has also been reused in movies and television series such as The Sopranos, The Simpsons and Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained.

He has conducted many orchestras worldwide, including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. Morricone is serving as one of the main conductors of the Orchestra Roma Sinfonietta since the mid-1990s. He has conducted over 200 concerts worldwide since 2001 and is still performing regularly. In November 2013, Morricone began a world tour to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his film music career.

In 2007, Ennio Morricone received the Academy Honorary Award "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music". He has been nominated for a further five Oscars during 1979-2001. Morricone has won three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, five BAFTAs during 1979-92, ten David di Donatello, eleven Nastro d'Argento, two European Film Awards, the Golden Lion Honorary Award and the Polar Music Prize in 2010.

"The good the bad and the ugly - The best theme tune ever" --jordan harding, YouTuber

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"Italian horror movies": Part 2

I have to laugh because I actually had the book to the left when I was very young. I got it for my birthday or Christmas, and it was a very good book. It covered the history up to 1974, including a lot about the Hammer films, with lots and lots of photos. Getting more back on topic, I do know that many people absolutely love Italian horror movies, going back decades. They're like Spaghetti westerns in that they have a certain style all to themselves. I found one piece of text that makes this point well.


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From '12 Classic Italian Horror Movies You Need To See Before You Die' by Clare Simpson:

Hardly anything in the world gives me as much pleasure as Italian horror movies. They just make me really happy. Even the really crappy ones like Manhattan Baby (directed by Lucio Fulci) or – heaven forbid – anything directed by Bruno Mattei. Yes, I will sit down to that man’s films. I love cannibals, I love zombies, i positively adore all sorts of Italian horror based mayhem. I am also a huge fan of Giallo movies, and as some of you may have read, I wrote an article rating the best Giallo movies a while back.

The line dividing Giallo and straight out horror often becomes blurred in Italian cinema. Take a film like Torso (The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence). On one level it is a typical Giallo concerning a murder-mystery – a who dunnit with a masked killer running around – one of the most obvious motifs in the Giallo genre. On another level, it can be read as a typical straight slasher horror film – which is how it was marketed to overseas audiences.

In this list, I have mainly tried to focus on pure Italian horror, however some Giallo elements inevitably sneak in. There is a lot of pilfering and copying in Italian horror cinema, so I have attempted to pick the most original movies possible as well as the classics we all know and love. So please enjoy 12 Classic Italian Horror Movies – and if you have your own favourites please list them below.


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If you can remember watching television before the cable-age, then you probably saw some of these movies and maybe didn't even realize that they were Italian or European. Someone compiled a list of the 50 top Italian horror directors, which gives a good quick overview of this sub-genre.

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Hardly anything in the world gives me as much pleasure as Italian horror movies. They just make me really happy. Even the really crappy ones like Manhattan Baby (directed by Lucio Fulci) or – heaven forbid – anything directed by Bruno Mattei. Yes, I will sit down to that man’s films. I love cannibals, I love zombies, i positively adore all sorts of Italian horror based mayhem. I am also a huge fan of Giallo movies, and as some of you may have read, I wrote an article rating the best Giallo movies a while back.
The line dividing Giallo and straight out horror often becomes blurred in Italian cinema. Take a film like Torso (The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence). On one level it is a typical Giallo concerning a murder-mystery – a who dunnit with a masked killer running around – one of the most obvious motifs in the Giallo genre. On another level, it can be read as a typical straight slasher horror film – which is how it was marketed to overseas audiences.
In this list, I have mainly tried to focus on pure Italian horror, however some Giallo elements inevitably sneak in. There is a lot of pilfering and copying in Italian horror cinema, so I have attempted to pick the most original movies possible as well as the classics we all know and love. So please enjoy 12 Classic Italian Horror Movies – and if you have your own favourites please list them below.

Read more at http://whatculture.com/film/12-classic-italian-horror-movies-you-need-to-see-before-you-die.php#t7ZFKkbzaIOWlBm3.99

"Italian horror movies": Part 1

I have a lot of loose-end ideas about this subject, so I think I will just bounce around here a little bit. So, this may not follow any consistent pattern. The horror film genre has long been a sub-industry in of itself, as it has been something basically "apart" from mainstream Hollywood. Every year, going back to the 70s, this genre has produced many low-budget films; as evidenced by all of those late-night movies on second-tier cable networks like Cinemax since the 80s, or the seemingly endless stream of direct-to-video movies that you probably saw in the now disappearing video rental stores.

It has become much more mainstream in recent years, but the independent element is as strong as ever. I have always enjoyed horror movies. I'm not as much for zombie or slasher films. I prefer paranormal or mystery-based thrillers. Horror films seem to be a refreshing creative license for the producers to take chances, be overzealous, be silly, be shocking--without the worry of too much artistic criticism. Of course, there is the more finely artistic element to it. The rest mostly fall into the category of exploitation films.

The Europeans have been at least as much the early pioneers of this genre. The 1922 silent German horror film 'Nosferatu' is regarded as "an influential masterpiece of cinema," and clearly a forerunner of the early classic American horror films. The "Hammer films" from the UK were very popular in the United States going back many decades, especially in the 60s and 70s. Recently I watched again the Hammer film 'Tales from the Crypt (1972), and it was very eery. I think that someone who is not a particular fan of this genre would probably enjoy being creeped out by it. It was eerily though-provoking.

The "cabin in the woods" concept has long been a favorite backdrop; as it forms a little world unto itself... in which the story unfolds. Just last week, the Independent Film Channel had a double-feature of just this theme: 'Cabin Fever' (2002), an American film; and 'The Last House in the Woods' (2006), an Italian film. This popular horror flick was something like an Italian version of 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. I don't know much about Italian horror in particular, but I know that Dario Argento has long been a big name in this genre. I recall watching some of these films as a kid, often late at night, and wasn't even aware that they were from Italy... or Germany, Spain, etc. I specifically remember one called 'Bay of Blood' (1971), directed by Mario Brava.

I recall one time a friend who really knows a lot about the Italian horror genre mentioning that Anna Falchi had appeared in many of these films and is well-known in Europe as a "scream queen." In the United States, to me, Linnea Quigley is one that comes to mind in this category. Elizabeth Kaitan is another one that I really remember. American Theaters which played the exploitation films within this genre were called "Grindhouse" theaters. I don't know of any theater that specifically fits that description anymore, but it's a curious concept. One exploitation horror film which I thought was eerily artistic was Rob Zombie's 'House of 1000 Corpses' (2003).

When I was a child in the Bay Area, there was a program on KTVU called 'Creature Features' (1971-1984). Actually this apparently was a syndicated program, and this was our locally-hosted broadcast. This was a much bigger cultural element since there weren't the cable channels, internet, video games, IPad's, etc. as there is now. This was even before VCR's! Locally it was hosted by the late Bob Wilkins, who was a unique type of host who always kept everyone up-to-date on the horror or similar conventions that would come around. One movie that was frequently broadcast was George Romero's 'Night of the Living Dead' due to its popularity. That movie, and Romero's films since, have directly led to this "zombie craze" that we see today.

I had mentioned earlier the 1922 move 'Nosferatu'. In 2000, there was a British "remake" of a sort called 'Shadow of the Vampire', staring John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe. I thought it was worth a mention because it was somehow an acknowledgement of the whole of this element of our culture since 1922... and it was a good movie. Interestingly, it was a fictional horror movie about the "making" of the original film in Slovakia.

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'Gladiator' movie review

'Gladiator' (2000 film) [Wikipedia]

Gladiator is a 2000 British–American epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed (in his final film role), Djimon Hounsou, Derek Jacobi, John Shrapnel, and Richard Harris. Crowe portrays the fictional character, loyal Roman general Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is betrayed when the emperor's ambitious son, Commodus, murders his father and seizes the throne. Reduced to slavery, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murder of his family and his emperor.

Released in the United States on May 5, 2000, Gladiator was a box office success, receiving positive reviews, and was credited with rekindling interest in the historical epic. The film was nominated for and won multiple awards, notably five Academy Awards in the 73rd Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor for Crowe.

This is a movie that has been reviewed so many times that I think that I will go a little further along the lines of looking at it from a Cisalpine perspective. Just from the get-go, this was a great movie. Great plot, great flow, great scenes, great performances, and great cinematography. Along with 'Braveheart', this was probably the greatest movie of it's type in the last three decades or more. Of particular interest was the computer-generated imagery.. in this, the digital era of film making.

Unlike 'Braveheart', which presented itself from the opposite perspective of the larger domineering military superpower, 'Gladiator' firmly took the stance that "glorious Rome" had a right to forcefully promote it's benevolent "idea" upon other cultures. Maximus described Rome as "the light" in a cruel dark world; while Senator Falco said in reference to the resisting Germanic tribes: "A people should know when they're conquered." The film seems to have been loosely based upon Julius Caesar and the Roman conquest of Gaul, as well as the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. Only--in this case--with the Romans winning in Germania.

Set in 180 AD, the protagonist--Maximus--is referred to throughout the film as "the Spaniard." This would mean that he was a Romanized Celtiberian from the Roman province of Hispaniola (Spain), who rose through the military ranks to become a general. In the first scene, the Roman-German battle, the fearsome Roman weapons of war were put on display. Large fireballs were launched from huge catapults, hitting the battlefield like a modern air bombing. Large arrows were cranked up and fired from steel-plated cannons with devastating results. This army would frighten most modern armies in the world.

Leading up to the battle, General Maximus gave one of the great quotes from the movie. This movie was full of them.

[addressing his troops] Maximus: Fratres!
[cavalry addresses Maximus]

Maximus: Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you're already dead!
[cavalry laughs]

Maximus: Brothers, what we do in life echoes in eternity.

The last line could just stand on it's own as a quote. I thought the earlier part was interesting in that "Elysium" would have apparently been the Roman equivalent of the Odinic "Valhalla." Also, the motivational speech was the 'Gladiator' equivalent to the speech in 'Braveheart'. The one difference being that the Romans were powerful and self-confident; while the Scots in 'Braveheart' needed to gather themselves to fight a larger powerful army... therefore, the more emotional speech.

Another quote which I thought was interesting was a line that Marcus Aurelius said to his daughter Lucilla: "If only you had been born a man, what a Caesar you would have made." It was an indirect reference to his son Commodus not being a viable choice as a successor; and really, for me at least, more of a reflection on the strong and noble character of Lucilla. That's the type of woman that you would want to govern!

In case you didn't know, the acronym "SPQR" is the Roman equivalent of "USA." Senātus Populusque Rōmānus ("The Senate and People of Rome").

Watching the movie, you can't help but notice the similarity between the "bloodsport" of the Roman Colosseum and the very rough modern sporting contests (soccer, rugby, American football, hockey, boxing, UFC, etc.). The first fight scene in the Colosseum reminded me of a football game! The deadly collisions were like big football hits. Even when a sword was tossed up to Maximus on a horse, it was like a quarterback pitching the football to a halfback.

In an earlier bloodsport scene, Maximus--after defeating his opponents in a life-and-death struggle--throws his sword into the columned box where the dignitaries sat (sort've like a press box?), and yelled out with outstretched arms "Are you not entertained! ...... Are you not entertained!!" in what seemed to be a mocking gesture.

Late in yesterday's 49ers-Seahawks game, a 49er defensive back named Eric Wright was kneed in the head and had to leave the game. Since it was a big game, he later returned, and ended up intercepting a pass to secure a victory. He returned from injury to "win" and "entertain" for the crowd. The Maximus line would have been very apt.

I should add that the digital imagery of what the Colosseum really looked like was very interesting, as-well-as much of the background scenery. This is one of those movies that a film buff would have a field day researching and collecting. I can't really do it justice. The acting performances were particularly good.

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Ben-Hur (movie review)

Last evening on TCM, I watched 'Ben-Hur' for the first time in a very long time, and I wanted to review it. It is considered one of the epic movies of all time. One aspect of the film which I overlooked when I had watched it as a boy, was the Christian element to it; as it was subtitled 'A Tale of the Christ'. "Ben-Hur" was apparently not based on a real historical figure, but the film was based on an very popular 1880 fictional novel by Govenor/General Lew Wallace of the same title and subtitle.

There had been a 1907 film and a 1925 film based on the novel, and with the same title and subtitle as well. With the upcoming remake, there will be four different film adaptations of the novel, as well as television and many stage adaptations going back over a century. This is one of those movies where a film buff could have a field day researching, including documentaries about it and of how it was made.

The movie opens just as Christ is born. It doesn't actually show it, but it implies it with powerful symbolism, including the Star of Bethlehem moving in the sky and illuminating the spot where he is born. Ben-Hur seems to be the same age as Jesus, and his life runs parallel to his in many ways. Then the film shoots forward twenty-six years as "XXVI" is then shown on the screen with Jerusalem in the background. At this point, the nation of Judea has been conquered by the Roman Empire.

Judah Ben-Hur, played by Charlton Heston, is a wealthy prince and merchant in Jerusalem. At this point his childhood friend Messala, who had joined up with the Romans, has just returned to Judea to rule it as Roman colonial governor. Initially, they are overjoyed to see each other again, and speak of old times... as they are from the same cultural background. However, this soon changes when they begin to speak of Roman colonization. Messala wants to use Ben-Hur to help him crush the rebellions. The heated conversations they have, in my opinion, are the same arguments that people have had from the dawn of mankind to the present day: "Is it okay to betray your people?" Obviously most people have answered "yes" to this question... sometimes even while wrapped up in a flag.

Both have become important young men now. Messala insists that "it's a Roman world now!," while Ben-Hur believes that the Judean nation should go back to being free and sovereign. Messala wants to crush the resistance, while Ben-Hur calls them "patriots." Although it would be much more practical and easy to join up with Messala, Ben-Hur will not give in as he stated that he believes in both the past and future of HIS people.

Eventually Messala finds a reason to lock up Ben-Hur, and he becomes a galley slave, rowing oars on Roman ships. I won't give the movie away, but just as there are parallels with Jesus and Ben-Hur, there is a long battle between Ben-Hur and Messala that takes many dramatic twists and turns. At one point, while being marched across the desert as a slave, the Roman guards will not allow him to drink. While face down on the sand, Jesus gives him water... and he connects with Jesus in a very dramatic way at the end, but I don't want to give it away.

The one scene which the film is best known for is "the chariot race scene," a dramatic sporting competition in Judea, of chariot riders from different Roman colonies; and of which Messala rides for Rome, while Ben-Hur competes for Judea. I wish I could give thoughts about the entire movie, but I won't... but I highly recommend it for anyone who has not seen it yet. Through much suffering, the ending is... to say the least.. special. The movie, espeically the ending, says a lot about love, character, faith, family, culture, and nation.

I thought some of the scenes from Rome, and even some from Jerusalem--especially at night with backgrounds--reminded me of how I perceive what ancient Etruria was like. Even some of the architecture seemed more Etruscan than Greek or Roman. Some of the grand movies of that time, which were based upon the ancient world, were starting to effectively use background imagery.. which I saw some of in 'Ben-Hur.' Also, for the naval battles, believable-looking miniature models were used. A lot of these and other artifacts are available for public viewing.

Ben-Hur is known for its cinematography, which included tremendous Roman pageantry... of which they retained for applicable scenes... without overdoing it. This was a movie with many dramatic ups and downs. There are a lot of dark scenes. The ending scene from Ben-Hur could be metaphorically tied to the scene in the 'Shawshank Redemption' where Andy Dufresne finally emerges from the sanitation pipe... except even better. There was a great cast, as well as many other remarkable aspects to the film, which you can see some of in the below link:


Ben-Hur (1959 film) [Wikipedia]

Ben-Hur is a 1959 American epic historical drama film set in ancient Rome, directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist and starring Charlton Heston, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Hugh Griffith and Haya Harareet. It won a record 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, an accomplishment that was not equaled until Titanic in 1997 and then again by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.

A remake of the 1925 silent film with the same name, Ben-Hur was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The screenplay is credited to Karl Tunberg but includes contributions from Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Gore Vidal, and Christopher Fry. Ben-Hur had the largest budget and the largest sets built for any film produced. The nine-minute chariot race has become one of cinema's most famous sequences. The score composed by Miklós Rózsa was highly influential on cinema for more than 15 years, and is the longest ever composed for a film.

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Francis of Assisi (1961) - complete film

Francis of Assisi (film) [Wikipedia]

Francis of Assisi is a 1961 DeLuxe CinemaScope film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on the novel The Joyful Beggar by Louis de Wohl. It was shot entirely in Italy. The film was not a box-office success. It starred Bradford Dillman in one of his few sympathetic leading film roles (he usually played a villainous character onscreen, despite having originated the role of Jamie in the original stage version of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night in 1956).

Two years after the release of Francis of Assisi, Dolores Hart, the 24-year-old actress who plays a nun in the film, became a real-life Roman Catholic nun at the Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut.


Plot

Francis Bernadone (Bradford Dillman) is the son of a wealthy cloth merchant in Assisi, who gives up all his worldly goods to dedicate himself to God. Clare (Dolores Hart) is a young aristocratic woman who, according to the film, is so taken with St. Francis that she leaves her family and becomes a nun. By this time (1212 A.D.), St. Francis has a well-established reputation for his vows of poverty. The movie goes on to note miracles (such as the appearance of the stigmata on Francis's hands and feet) and other aspects of his life, up to and including his death on October 3, 1226.


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I saw where this was on on the Turner Classic Movies network, and found it on YouTube. I watched it today. If you're a Cisalpine, you should see it. Even with religion aside, it's part of our history.

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Nights of Cabiria

Nights of Cabiria (Wikipedia)

Nights of Cabiria (Italian: Le notti di Cabiria) is a 1957 Italian romantic drama film directed by Federico Fellini and starring Giulietta Masina, François Périer, and Amedeo Nazzari. Based on a story by Fellini, the film is about a waifish prostitute who wanders the streets of Rome looking for true love but finds only heartbreak. In 1998 the film was rereleased, newly restored and with a crucial scene that censors had cut.

The name Cabiria is borrowed from the 1914 Italian film Cabiria, while the character of Cabiria herself is taken from a brief scene in Fellini's earlier film 'The White Sheik'. It was Masina's performance in that earlier film that inspired Fellini to make this film. But no one in Italy was willing to finance a film which featured prostitutes as heroines. Finally, Dino de Laurentiis agreed to put up the money. Fellini based some of the characters on a real prostitute whom he had met while filming 'Il Bidone'. For authenticity, he had Pier Paolo Pasolini, known for his familiarity with Rome's criminal underworld, help with the dialogue.

The American musical and movie Sweet Charity is based on Fellini's screenplay.

When I started watching this movie, I had no idea as to what to expect. The movie revolves around "Cabiria," who was a prostitute--although this is downplayed in certain ways and just not really presented that way, as she often hung out with normal 20ish people--who lived in a house in a downtrodden district in or on the edge of Rome. She is a very engaging character who always wears her emotions on her sleeve. I can't really describe the character, who was almost like Sandra Dee meets Gwen Stefani with a little Audrey Tautou thrown in... and loud!! Bad things always seemed to happen to her, but she was never down for very long before some experience would make her smile or dance. You don't want anything really bad to happen to her, and you want her to get her life together, but it always does. At the end, something really horrible happens to her where she doesn't want to go on; but then shortly later she is smiling, and the theme seems to be "life is worth living" no matter what happens. The movie always keeps your attention. There's never a dull moment with the bantam Cabiria.

I don't watch a whole lot of movies now, but when I do, I always look it up and cross-reference names, dates, places, etc. This movie was no exception. There are some interesting tie-ins with all of that here. Old movies are like a time capsule. I mean, it's not like this was a hundred years ago... it was from the late fifties; in some ways a long time, and in other ways not very long. However, in this movie they all seem to have passed away. I see more of a deeper meaning in older Italian or European movies, rather than those from Hollywood...which is almost like a political or social engineering machine now. There's a certain innocence to older Italian cinema, generally a certain honesty. There's a movie poster on the above link, and a few images and posters from the movie here.

"Spoiler Alert" beyond this point!


Plot

The film opens with Cabiria happy and laughing, on a river bank with her current boyfriend and live-in lover. He pushes her into the river and steals her purse which is full of money. She cannot swim and very nearly drowns, but is rescued and revived at the last possible moment by helpful ordinary people who live a little further down the river.

The rest of the plot follows Cabiria as she plies her trade, interacts with her best friend and neighbor Wanda, and searches for a chance to better her life. She is frequently mistreated and taken advantage of, but she has some interesting adventures, and manages to keep her basic attitude to life positive.

Eventually, she meets Oscar, an accountant, who seems genuinely kind and who promises her a happy future. At first she is cautious and suspicious, but after several meetings she falls passionately in love with him and they are to be married—after only a few weeks. However, during a walk in a wooded area, on a cliff overlooking a lake Oscar becomes distant and starts acting nervous. Cabiria realizes that—just like her earlier lover—Oscar intends to push her over the cliff and steal her money (she sold her house and possessions and keeps all the money in her purse). She throws her purse at his feet, sobbing in convulsions on the ground as he abandons her.

She later picks herself up and stumbles out of the wood in tears. In the film's famous last sequence, Cabiria walks the long road back to town when she is met by a group of young people riding scooters, playing music, and dancing. They happily form an impromptu parade around her until she begins to smile through her tears.

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Movie-making, not nearly as distant as it once was

Probably for most of us, outside of being employed in the film industry, the idea of "making a movie" would still seem pretty far-fetched. There is a lot of fascination and glamour in this industry, and even careers in stage setting, wardrobe, sound, etc., are highly sought after. Prior to the late 1970s, and the advent of VCRs, relatively few movies were produced. This began to change rapidly in the mid-eighties, as independent direct-to-video (or direct-to-cable) movies were produced for video stores and new television networks. Investors could then immediately gain entry into the film industry without having to ingratiate themselves to Hollywood or devoting their lives to a film-related career, and make a descent profit. By the late-eighties, relatively inexpensive movies were popping out like hot cakes. The paradigm had been altered.

Today, with the advance and accessibility of technology, along with a wide industry landscape, movie-making is literally within reach of people of modest means. In fact, within a few miles of where I live, there is a company which rents motion-picture equipment. Anyone with Comcast or DirectTV knows that there are many channels, and a good number of them produce their own original films. To cut to the chase, we would like to see some of our history depicted in film, even if this was accomplished via "low-budget." In reality, low-budget is actually expensive in it's own right; but if frugally and creatively done, can achieve the desired result. It should also be noted that entire topographic backgrounds can be created with inexpensive computer graphics, so that an entire ancient Rome or Egypt can be created without much trouble or cost.

A perfect example of this was the 2007 movie 'Marco Polo'. This movie was produced by the Hallmark Channel, a small cable television network. The film turned out pretty well. The environment and props (architecture, dress, wagons, ships, etc.), whether Venice or Asia, was believable. Although it wasn't as dramatic as 'Gladiator' or 'Braveheart' (it could have been with a similar budget), it gave a good account of Polo's life.

Had Marco Polo, or an entire host of historical figures from the history of our people, been of a number of other racial or ethnic backgrounds, a massively-budgeted Hollywood blockbuster would have been made a long time ago, and would have joined 'Sparticus' and similar historical figures dramatically depicted on screen. As the old saying goes, "the squeaky wheel gets the oil."

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