L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano T h e " q u e e n o f Italian cinema." The "Italian anti- d i v a . " T h e " m u s e o f incommunicability." These are just a few ways experts and movie lovers talk about I t a l i a n a c t r e s s M o n i c a Vitti, who died at the age of 90 in Rome last February. She was and will always be remembered as one of the m o s t t a l e n t e d , b e a u t i f u l , inspiring Italian actresses and women. M o n i c a V i t t i w a s b o r n Maria Luisa Ceciarelli and h e r f i r s t a p p e a r a n c e i n a t h e a t e r w a s r i g h t a f t e r World War II when, at the a g e o f 1 4 , s h e p l a y e d a woman whose son had died o n t h e w a r f r o n t . S h e g r a d u a t e d f r o m t h e Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica and immersed h e r s e l f i n t h e w o r k o f Shakespeare, Molière, and B r e c h t . M e e t i n g D i r e c t o r A n t o n i o n i m a r k e d t h e change in Vitti's career, as she performed back to back, across three years, in The A d v e n t u r e ( 1 9 6 0 ) , T h e N i g h t ( 1 9 6 1 ) , a n d T h e E c l i p s e ( 1 9 6 2 ) , b e f o r e getting a role in Red Desert ( 1 9 6 4 ) . M o n i c a V i t t i h a d then become, more or less officially, Antonioni's muse. She worked with all Italian actors, Vittorio Gassman, U g o T o g n a z z i , N i n o M a n f r e d i , M a r c e l l o M a s t r o i a n n i a n d A l b e r t o Sordi, mixing up roles in comedies and art movies. F r o m T h e G i r l w i t h t h e Pistol (1968), which allowed her to win the best actress award at the San Sebastián festival, to Hotel Room by M a r i o M o n i c e l l i a n d T h e D e m o n o f J e a l o u s y b y Ettore Scola. S h e w o n f i v e D a v i d d i Donatello Awards for best actress, Italy's equivalent of t h e O s c a r , a s w e l l a s a Golden Lion award for her career at the Venice Film F e s t i v a l i n 1 9 9 5 . H e r performance in L'Avventura s e c u r e d h e r a B A F T A nomination for best foreign actress in 1961. M o n i c a V i t t i a n d h e r career will be celebrated on M a y 2 0 t h a t t h e B r a v a T h e a t r e C e n t e r in S a n F r a n c i s c o , t h a n k s t o a collaboration between the Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco and the B A M P F A ( B e r k e l e y A r t Museum and Pacific Film Archive). During "Monica, amore nostro," we will watch Mario Monicelli's La Ragazza con la Pistola (The G i r l w i t h a P i s t o l ) a n d Michelangelo Antonioni's La Notte (The Night), with an introduction by renowned Italian film critic and writer, Enrico Magrelli. We talked to Mr Magrelli, w h o r u n s a w e l l - k n o w n I t a l i a n r a d i o p r o g r a m , Hollywood Party, of which is both author and host. He is the Artistic Director of the T u s c i a F i l m F e s t a n d t h e I t a l i a n F i l m F e s t i v a l i n B e r l i n . F o r o v e r t w e n t y years, he worked with the Venice Film Festival as a c o n s u l t a n t , c u r a t o r o f s p e c i a l p r o g r a m s , a n d D i r e c t o r o f t h e s o - c a l l e d C r i t i c s ' W e e k . H e i s t h e author of books dedicated to Altman, Oshima, Moretti, F a s s b i n d e r a s w e l l a s V e r d o n e , S e r v i l l o , a n d Castellitto. Mr Magrelli, how did this collaboration with t h e I I C S a n F r a n c i s c o come to life? I've been a film critic all my life and have worked for newspapers and magazines, in addition to my job for the r a d i o s h o w H o l l y w o o d P a r t y . I m e t t h e I I C D i r e c t o r , A n n a M a r i a D i Giorgio during an Italian Film Festival in Berlin. We have always been in touch and made plans for movie festivals that the pandemic forced us to cancel. When Director Di Giorgio called m e f o r t h i s t r i b u t e t o Monica Vitti, I was excited to accept the invitation and come to San Francisco for this event. H o w w o u l d y o u describe Monica Vitti? She was an actress that w o r k e d w i t h I t a l i a n directors as well as French a n d A m e r i c a n o n e s , d e v e l o p i n g a s o r t o f international identity that came along well with her Italian origins. She played in m a n y d i f f e r e n t m o v i e s , proving her ability to juggle between roles. The movies that we will watch at the San Francisco event show what a v e r s a t i l e a c t r e s s M o n i c a V i t t i w a s . S h e g r a d u a t e d f r o m t h e A c a d e m y i n a theatrical setting, being part of an incubator of talents t h a t w o u l d l a n d a c a r e e r both as theater and movie artists. The first movies she did with Director Antonioni i n t h e ' 6 0 s w e r e c r u c i a l because Antonioni, known a s t h e d i r e c t o r o f incommunicability, touched o n l i f e t o p i c s t h a t w e r e typical of industrialized, rich countries, especially the way people communicated with e a c h o t h e r a n d a l l i s s u e s related to it. What was the turning p o i n t i n V i t t i ' s c a r e e r w h e n i t c a m e t o m o r e fun and lighter roles? T h e c h a n g e h a p p e n e d thanks to - or because of - M a r i o M o n i c e l l i , w h o q u i c k l y u n d e r s t o o d s h e could also be in comic and light roles. He started with a comedy movie that would m a k e t h e a u d i e n c e l a u g h a n d s m i l e , s h o w i n g h o w Monica had changed into a woman who strips herself of her geographical context, makes choices for her life, and gains autonomy. With this critical change, Vitti b e c a m e t h e f i f t h " I t a l i a n colonel," alongside Vittorio G a s s m a n , A l b e r t o S o r d i , U g o T o g n a z z i , a n d N i n o Manfredi. H o w w o u l d y o u describe Monica Vitti? Surprising. There are not m a n y a r t i s t s w h o c a n b e c o n s i d e r e d s o a u t h e n t i c w h e n p l a y i n g r o l e s i n d i f f e r e n t u n i v e r s e s o r worlds as Monica Vitti did. You see her acting in The drama of Jealousy and La Tosca using amazing skills. She kept on cultivating her talent, and she succeeded in f i n d i n g a s p o t i n a m a l e universe and gaining respect from male colleagues and directors. This is not easy to a c h i e v e , a n d s h e s h o w e d d e t e r m i n a t i o n a n d w i l l i n g n e s s t o d o s o . S h e was a woman who managed t o k e e p a l l h e r f e m a l e features, being able to easily s w i t c h b e t w e e n r o l e s , a woman from the past as well as a woman from modern days. Not all artists have the ability to do this for as long a t i m e a s s h e d i d . S h e became popular because of her stunning talent. Let's talk about her legacy... Before she passed away t h i s y e a r , w e h a d n ' t s e e n M o n i c a f o r y e a r s , m a y b e t w e n t y . W e h a v e b e e n missing her joy and smile for a long time. In the years when she was still on TV for interviews, she showed us h o w t o b e a d i v a w i t h o u t having all the habits of a diva. She was popular but never with presumption. We will miss her because most a r t i s t s a r e l i n k e d t o t h e times and the societies they are part of. They grow their talents based on the world they live in, so we will never have an actress who looks like Monica and can make u s l a u g h a n d c r y , a s s h e could do, across times and generations. If you could see her w o r k i n g w i t h t o d a y ' s d i r e c t o r s , w h o w o u l d they be? I a m s u r e P a o l o Sorrentino would be able to find the perfect role for her, a s w e l l a s G i u s e p p e Tornatore. Same thing for Riccardo Milani, who makes i n t e r e s t i n g m o v i e s , a n d Paolo Virzì, who could work with artists like Monica and use his sensitivity to make them shine. T h e " M o n i c a , A m o r e Nostro" event will happen on May 20th, starting at 6pm at the Brava Theatre Center in San Francisco. Tickets are available at the B r a v a T h e a t e r C e n t e r ' s w e b s i t e , h t t p s : / / w w w . brava.org/ "Monica, Amore Nostro" celebrates the life and career of late Italian actress, Monica Vitti SERENA PERFETTO A young Monica Vitti with Terence Stamp (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons agreement. Author: ac. de Nijs / Anefo - Nationaal Archief. License: CC BY-SA 3.0) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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