the film society of lincoln center and cinecittà holding present a quiet storm: the cinema of valerio zurlini august 25--september 6, 2000 photo: family diary

box office and ticket information | calendar program description This series was organized by the FSLC and Cinecittà Holding, Regione Emilia Romagna, with the help of Antonio Monda and the support of the Italian Cultural Insitute of New York. For even the most casual filmgoer, it’s surely common knowledge that the postwar Italian cinema is one of the true glories of film history. Indeed, the emergence of the neo-realist movement at the end of World War II set the terms for much of what would come to be called "modern" in the cinema at that time; moreover, Italian films were exported and seen widely at least through the mid-70s, making the Italian cinema one of Hollywood’s only true rivals in terms of impact and influence. With the passage of time, however, the extraordinary richness of that cinema has tended to be overlooked, with perhaps an overemphasis on the work of a few unquestionable masters. Precisely what makes Italian cinema so remarkable in this period was the presence of a number of intriguing artists whose work—-if not consistently up to the standards of Fellini, Antonioni, or Visconti (whose is?)—-nevertheless has much to offer, both in terms of sheer cinematic pleasure and in filling in a portrait of postwar Italy. One such figure is certainly Pietro Germi, celebrated by the Film Society last year. Another is surely Valerio Zurlini, whose CRONACA FAMILIARE was considered by many viewers to be the great revelation of our 1998 Marcello Mastroianni tribute. Trained as a lawyer, and active in theater as well as cinema, Zurlini over the course of his 20-year career produced a number of exquisite, closely observed works that took delight in tracing the minute fluctuations of desire and motivation in his carefully wrought characters. We enter into the world of the cocky Bob in LE RAGAZZE DI SANFREDIANO only to then see how that world begins to collapse around him. The death of his brother in CRONACA FAMILIARE sends Enrico (Mastroianni) into a review of his own life, marking those points at which his life crossed or diverged with that of his brother. Always in Zurlini, there’s a wonderful sympathy for his characters that sees and understands compromise as a basic feature of our everyday lives.

le ragazze di sanfrediano / the girls of sanfrediano estate violenta / violent summer cronaca familiare / family diary

Upcoming Italian cinema events at the Walter Reade include a tribute to the great comedian Toto and a retrospective of the films of director Ermanno Olmi. Keep watching the skies! You can read Olaf Möller's article on Valerio Zurlini in the latest issue of Film Comment. program: LE RAGAZZE DI SANFREDIANO / THE GIRLS OF SANFREDIANO (1954; 94m) Freely drawn from Vasco Pratolini’s novel of the same name, RAGAZZE follows the escapades of Andrea Sernesi, alias Bob (Antonio Cifariello), a 22-year-old mechanic whose vague resemblance to Robert Taylor charms all the girls in the Sanfrediano quarter. Faced with a bevy of lovely women—-Tosca (Rosanna Podestà, who that same year starred in Helen of Troy), unsophisticated schoolteacher Silvana (Luciana Liberati), a dancer (Giulia Robini), and a snobbish dress designer (Corinne Calvet)-—Zurlini’s Lothario would prefer to keep all his options open, to the disappointment of Gina (Marcella Miriani), the girl who quietly worships him from afar. Inevitably, Bob’s efforts to keep all of his emotional balls in the air must fail.... Fri Aug 25: 1, 5:15 & 9:15; Sat Aug 26: 3:30 Sun Aug 27: 1:15 & 8 ESTATE VIOLENTA / VIOLENT SUMMER (1959; 100m) July 1943: The un-drafted son of a high-ranking fascist, Carlo Caremoli (a very young Jean-Louis Trintignant) manages to pretty much ignore the fact that there is a world war going on. On seaside holiday, Carlo and his bourgeois friends are inconvenienced by the passage of a German plane, which sows panic on the beach. In the general confusion, Carlo picks up a lost little girl and takes her home to her widowed mother, a beautiful older woman (Eleonora Rossi Drago) with whom he falls deeply in love. As their affair matures, so does Carlo; Zurlini’s powerful coming-of-age SUMMER climaxes when the Allied forces land on the coast, forcing Carlo to confront war and his own character. Fri Aug 25: 3 & 7:15; Sat Aug 26: 1:15 Sun Aug 27: 5:45; Tues Aug 29: 1 CRONACA FAMILIARE / FAMILY DIARY (1962; 115m) The premature death of a much-loved brother-—his fraternal twin—-propels Enrico into griefstricken seclusion, where he broods over Lorenzo’s short, sad life and the history of their separation at birth and eventual reunion. "A leisurely, elegiac and intolerably sad film, played with sensitivity and absolute conviction... directed by a superb visual artist who evokes feelings, events and atmosphere by use of an impressionist-painter style to moving and memorable effect, displaying a subtle eye for the significance of small moments." —-Holt Foreign Film Guide Sat Aug 26: 5:30; Tues Aug 29: 3:10 Wed Aug 30: 3:45 & 8:30; Thurs Aug 31: 1 & 6 Sat Sept 2: 6:15

la ragazza con la valiglia / the girl with a suitcase la soldatesse seduto alla sua destra / black jesus la prima notte di quiete / the professor

LA RAGAZZA CON LA VALIGLIA / THE GIRL WITH THE SUITCASE 1961; 113m Aida, a nightclub singer (Claudia Cardinale), is seduced by and leaves her job for rich, feckless Marcello (Corrado Pani), who promptly abandons her. Pursuing him to his family home in the country, she becomes involved with his passionate 16-year-old brother (Jacques Perrin). "Zurlini, one of the most sensitive, economical and visually aware of Italian directors of the period, has made a poignant film...at the center of which is a lost soul ill-equipped to find redemption." -—Holt Foreign Film Guide Sat Aug 26: 8; Sun Aug 27: 3:15; Wed Aug 30: 1:15 & 6:15 Sun Sept 3: 6:30 LA SOLDATESSE (1965; 120m) Based on the novel by Ugo Pirro, LA SOLDATESSE is set in WWII Greece; one day in 1942, infantry lieutenant Gaetano Martino (Mario Adorf) disdainfully takes charge of escorting 15 Athens prostitutes by truck to their "work" among occupying Italian soldiers. During the trip, Gaetano’s growing empathy for girls forced to sell themselves for food-—some of whom are killed in an attack-—blossoms into love for one young woman in particular (Anna Karina). Thurs Aug 31: 3:30 & 8:30 Fri Sept 1: 2 & 6; Sun Sept 3: 1:15 SHORT FILMS BY VALERIO ZURLINI (Total Runtime: 75m) A rare opportunity to see five early documentary works by Valerio Zurlini, made before his transition to fiction filmmaking. Each evidences Zurlini’s trademark approach of lovingly assembling offbeat details and observations into lyrical visions of postwar Italy. THE BOXERS (1952) covers several weeks in the lives of aspiring prize fighters, and was paired with Bresson’s DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST when that film opened in Italy. THE MARKET OF FACES (1952) is shot in a waiting room for movie extras at Cinecittà. SOLDIERS IN THE CITY (1953) follows some young recruits on their first big leave outside Rome. PENNY SERENADE (1954) focuses on the lives of street singers and musicians and LA STAZIONE (1955), an early important example of cinema verite, captures the life of a bustling train station. Fri Sept 1: 4:20; Wed Sept 6: 6:15 SEDUTO ALLA SUA DESTRA / BLACK JESUS (1968; 89m) In a film rich with religious symbolism, white mercenary troops in the pay of tyrants in a mid-Saharan African country track down Maurice Lalubi (Woody Strode), a charismatic rebel leader who advocates non-violent revolution. After razing a village and massacring its inhabitants, the mercenaries arrest Lalubi, who’s been betrayed by a political associate. He’s thrown into a prison cell with two white men: a soldier and Oreste (Franco Citti), a young Italian imprisoned for selling a truck to rebel natives. All of the men are tortured; but the newly formed military regime hesitates to "crucify" Lalubi, fearful of turning him into a martyr. Sat Sept 2: 4:15 Mon Sept 4: 1 & 6; &Tues Sept 5: 3:45 IL DESERTO DEI TARTARI / THE DESERT OF TARTARS (1976; 143m) Numerous directors wanted to film this famous novel by Dino Buzzati: Antonioni, David Lean, Visconti and others. In August 1907, Giova Battista Drogo (Jacques Perrin), recently promoted second-lieutenant, is posted to Bastiano, a fortress that dominates the Desert of the Tartars, besieged by the enemy some four years ago. Drogo settles in for a long wait, spent in the company of officers tormented by an insidious ailment. As the years pass, he too contracts the malady. Shattered by time and boredom, Drogo dies at the very moment the Tartars threaten to attack. In this absurdist fable, Zurlini perfectly captures the terrible ennui that infects man and Iranian landscape. The cast is packed with heavy-hitters, including Vittorio Gassman, Francisco Rabal, Fernando Rey, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Max von Sydow, Philippe Noiret, Laurent Terzieff. Musical score by Ennio Morricone. Fri Sept 1: 8:30; Sat Sept 2: 1:15 Mon Sept 4: 3 & 8; Tues Sept 5: 1 Wed Sept 6: 3:30 & 8 LA PRIMA NOTTE DI QUIETE / THE PROFESSOR (1972; 132m) Substitute teacher in a Rimini high school, Daniele Dominici (Alain Delon, in one of his best performances) is a tormented soul. Negelecting Monica (Lea Massari), his highstrung, suicidal companion for the past dozen years, he spends his nights drinking and playing cards with a group of the town’s vitelloni. One day, Daniele gets better acquainted with Vanina Abati (Sonia Petrova), one of his students, and when he falls passionately in love with her, things take a tragic turn. With Alida Valli. Sat Sept 2: 8:30; Sun Sept 3: 3:45 & 8:45 Wed Sept 6: 1 You can read Olaf Möller's article on Valerio Zurlini in the latest issue of Film Comment.