Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
NICE Films
Monday, April 13, 2009
The David di Donatello Awards
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The Recent Death of Salvatore Samperi
(Picture borrowed from: http://www.italica.rai.it/cinema/biografie/samperi/1.jpg)
Salvatore Samperi, an Italian film director, died on March 4th, 2009 at the age of 64. He was best known for directing erotic comedies which tested the ethical beliefs of Italy’s middle class population. He died at his house situated approximately 30 miles north of Rome, on Lake Bracciano. His brother declined to give the reason for Samperi’s death. He left behind a wife and son.
Salvatore Samperi directed 24 films including “Malizia” (Malice), “La Bonne” (The Corruption), and “Scandalo” (Scandal). In addition to directing many films he also wrote, produced and acted as well. Most people consider Samperi’s biggest achievement to be the release of “Malizia” in 1973. The film turned the actress, Laura Antonelli, into a star and a sexual icon. Salvatore Samperi struggled with his career immediately after “Malizia”, so he began working on television shows when he got older, until his death.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Release of Gommorah
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
A Brief History
Soon after film making had begun in Italy a board was formed to supervise and dictate popular culture in Italy. This board put forth the idea that structures needed to be created for Italian cinema which Mussolini approved of. The end result of this idea was a studio situated in southeast Rome that was named Cinecittà. The purpose of this studio was to provide all the things needed in the movie industry which ranged from theaters, equipment, and a cinematography school.
In the 1980s Cinecittà neared bankruptcy so it was privatized by the government of Italy. Like the United States Italian cinema decided to give new young directors a chance, in the 1990s, to see if they could revive the industry, which they did.