Claudia Cardinale

  • Marco Bellocchio – Enrico IV (1984)

    1981-1990ItalyMarco BellocchioPolitics

    The story begins at a medieval dressing party. A man, dressed as the King Enrico IV, falls from his horse and hits his head. This causes him serious lesions and gets insane, believing he is really the KingRead More »

  • Federico Fellini – Otto e mezzo aka 8½ [+ commentaries] (1963)

    1961-1970DramaFantasyFederico FelliniItaly

    Quote:

    8 1/2 weaves fluidly through the visually intoxicating landscape of Federico Fellini’s subconscious, seemingly to seek inspiration and validation for his life and work. In an opening scene that symbolizes much of Fellini’s films, a suffocating man, trapped inside his car, inexplicably begins to float into the skies, only to be abruptly tugged back to the ground. But it is also an indelible image that shatters any preconceived illusion of “typical” elements in a Fellini film. The film, 8 1/2, literally marks Fellini’s work on 8 1/2 feature films (the “1/2” derived from collaborative direction films), and proves to be a transitional film in his artistic career.Read More »

  • René Vautier – Les Anneaux d’or (1956)

    1951-1960DocumentaryFranceRené VautierShort Film

    Quote:
    At the time of Tunisian independence, owners of large boats decide to sell, while many small fishermen soon find themselves without work. Their wives then decide to pool their gold rings to sell them and thus buy boats.Read More »

  • Werner Herzog – Mein liebster Feind – Klaus Kinski AKA My Best Fiend (1999)

    1991-2000ArthouseDocumentaryGermanyWerner Herzog

    Quote:
    The love-hate relationship between Werner Herzog and Klaus Kinski is utterly puzzling to outsiders. The film is about the deep trust between an actor and a director and their independently and simultaneously hatched plans to murder one another.Read More »

  • Luigi Comencini – La ragazza di Bube AKA Bebo’s Girl (1964)

    1961-1970DramaItalyLuigi Comencini

    Quote:
    The film is an excellent showcase for the talented and gorgeous Claudia Cardinale. She is the very soul of this movie and if you are a fan of hers you’ll not be disappointed. The movie was directed by Luigi Comencini, generally associated with the comedy Italian style. In this case, a post war romantic drama, he was successful in capturing the mood of that time and the poignant sentimental conflict in the soul of her leading lady Claudia Cardinale.Read More »

  • Mauro Bolognini – Il bell’Antonio (1960)

    1951-1960DramaItalyMauro Bolognini

    Women love handsome Antonio because they think of him as the perfect lover. But he has problems to fullfill this ideal and Barbara only notices his failures when they are married. When the town learns about his trouble they start laughing at him…Read More »

  • Sergio Leone – C’era una volta il West AKA Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)

    1961-1970ClassicsSergio LeoneUSAWestern

    Synopsis:
    There’s a single piece of land around Flagstone with water on it, and rail baron Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti) aims to have it, knowing the new railroad will have to stop there. He sends his henchman Frank (Henry Fonda) to scare the land’s owner, McBain (Frank Wolff), but Frank kills him instead and pins it on a known bandit, Cheyenne (Jason Robards). Meanwhile, a mysterious gunslinger with a score to settle (Charles Bronson) and McBain’s new wife, Jill (Claudia Cardinale), arrive in town.Read More »

  • Les Blank – Burden of Dreams (1982)

    1981-1990ArthouseDocumentaryLes BlankUSAWerner Herzog

    Quote:
    A documentary on the chaotic production of Werner Herzog’s epic Fitzcarraldo (1982), showing how the film managed to get made despite problems that would have floored a less obsessively driven director.

    Quote:
    Les Blank’s “Burden of Dreams” is one of the most remarkable documentaries ever made about the making of a movie. There are at least two reasons for that. One is that the movie being made, Werner Herzog’s “Fitzcarraldo,” involved some of the most torturous and dangerous on-location shooting experiences in film history. The other is that the documentary is by Les Blank, himself a brilliant filmmaker, who is unafraid to ask difficult questions and portray Herzog, warts and all.Read More »

  • Luchino Visconti – Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa… AKA Sandra of a Thousand Delights (1965)

    1961-1970ClassicsDramaItalyLuchino Visconti

    Visconti’s retelling of the Electra story starts with Sandra/Electra (Cardinale) returning to her ancestral home in Italy – and reviving an intimate involvement with her brother (Sorel) which troubles her naive American husband (Craig) – on the eve of an official ceremony commemorating the death of her Jewish father in a Nazi concentration camp. As ever with Visconti, he is ambivalently drawn to the decadent society he is ostensibly criticising; and Armando Nannuzzi’s camera lovingly caresses the creaking old mansion, set in a landscape of crumbling ruins, where the incestuous siblings determine to wreak revenge on the mother (Bell) and stepfather (Ricci) who supposedly denounced their father. Something like a Verdi opera without the music, the result may not quite achieve tragedy, but it looks marvellous. The title, culled from a poem by Leopardi, has been better rendered as ‘Twinkling Stars of the Bear’.Read More »

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