Spoiler Alert: The following essay discusses key plot points, including the ending.
Last weekend, I took in “Le Samouraï” for what must have been the sixth or seventh time, relishing the new 4K restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece (now playing at Laemmle theaters in Los Angeles). As I exited the screening, I discreetly eavesdropped on my fellow audience members. Most seemed impressed. A few were still processing what they’d seen: an existential study of a lone killer, told with radically little dialogue. “That wasn’t at all what I expected,” one woman told her friend. “I thought we were going to see some kind of samurai movie.”
It’s a reasonable assumption, given the film’s title, although the 1967 crime classic takes place half a world away, in Paris, almost exactly a century after Japan’s samurai era came to an end. I first saw “Le Samouraï” in the late ’90s,...
Last weekend, I took in “Le Samouraï” for what must have been the sixth or seventh time, relishing the new 4K restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece (now playing at Laemmle theaters in Los Angeles). As I exited the screening, I discreetly eavesdropped on my fellow audience members. Most seemed impressed. A few were still processing what they’d seen: an existential study of a lone killer, told with radically little dialogue. “That wasn’t at all what I expected,” one woman told her friend. “I thought we were going to see some kind of samurai movie.”
It’s a reasonable assumption, given the film’s title, although the 1967 crime classic takes place half a world away, in Paris, almost exactly a century after Japan’s samurai era came to an end. I first saw “Le Samouraï” in the late ’90s,...
- 4/9/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Porn icon Rocco Siffredi claims that after making roughly 1,400 hardcore films — with titles like “The Ass Collector” and “Rocco’s Perfect Slaves” — over the past four decades, he has finally found “the peace of his senses.”
“I could crack a bad joke and say I can’t get it up anymore,” says Siffredi, 59, speaking on a video call from the Budapest office of his Rocco Siffredi Production company, which houses the Siffredi Hard Academy, touted as the world’s first “university of porn.”
“But that’s not the case. Quite the contrary,” the hardworking “Italian Stallion” hastens to add. I’ve asked Siffredi about being — or having notoriously been — a sex addict. And the many times he’s announced his retirement as a porn performer, only to make another comeback.
“I have to tell you that it was a mix of problems connected with my personal life and the dependency that this job,...
“I could crack a bad joke and say I can’t get it up anymore,” says Siffredi, 59, speaking on a video call from the Budapest office of his Rocco Siffredi Production company, which houses the Siffredi Hard Academy, touted as the world’s first “university of porn.”
“But that’s not the case. Quite the contrary,” the hardworking “Italian Stallion” hastens to add. I’ve asked Siffredi about being — or having notoriously been — a sex addict. And the many times he’s announced his retirement as a porn performer, only to make another comeback.
“I have to tell you that it was a mix of problems connected with my personal life and the dependency that this job,...
- 2/20/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
With the advent of streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, many have predicted the end of physical media. The story comes up every year it seems, with DVDs, Blu-rays and even UHDs still present, whereas those relying solely on streaming start protesting as more and more of these services embrace advertisements in their content. However, this debate, which seemingly is based on ownership, misses the point of creating a large collection of movies, as people who do so may actively (or unknowingly) preserve these cultural artifacts. This side to the debate gets another meaning entirely, when viewed from the perspective of an authoritarian regime repressing all modes of expression or censoring them, which is one of the aspects of Ehsan Khoshbakht's documentary “Celluloid Underground”.
The story of the feature is about the biography of the director, who left his home country Iran for London as the political...
The story of the feature is about the biography of the director, who left his home country Iran for London as the political...
- 1/20/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including the exclusive streaming premiere of Albert Serra’s extraordinary Pacifiction, a trio of films by Todd Haynes, two by Michael Haneke (Caché and Amour), plus works by David Cronenberg, Shin’ya Tsukamoto, and Derek Jarman.
Additional selections include Alice Rohrwacher’s Corpo Celeste, Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers, Sean Baker’s early film Starlet, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s short Mekong Hotel.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
June 1 – Is This Fate?, directed by Helga Reidemeister | What Sets Us Free? German Feminist Cinema
June 2 – Safe, directed by Todd Haynes | I Really Love You: Three by Todd Hayne
June 3 – Caché, directed by Michael Haneke | Close-Up on Michael Haneke
June 4 – Amour, directed by Michael Haneke | Close-Up on Michael Haneke
June 5 – Topology of Sirens, directed by Jonathan Davies
June 6 – Tetsuo, the Iron Man, directed by Shin’ya...
Additional selections include Alice Rohrwacher’s Corpo Celeste, Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers, Sean Baker’s early film Starlet, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s short Mekong Hotel.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
June 1 – Is This Fate?, directed by Helga Reidemeister | What Sets Us Free? German Feminist Cinema
June 2 – Safe, directed by Todd Haynes | I Really Love You: Three by Todd Hayne
June 3 – Caché, directed by Michael Haneke | Close-Up on Michael Haneke
June 4 – Amour, directed by Michael Haneke | Close-Up on Michael Haneke
June 5 – Topology of Sirens, directed by Jonathan Davies
June 6 – Tetsuo, the Iron Man, directed by Shin’ya...
- 5/23/2023
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Humor, it seems, has returned to the Main Competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. After a few days of mostly serious dramas about Nazis and terrorists and sweatshops, a lighter touch has emerged from a couple of expected sources: first Todd Haynes, a filmmaker with a great range but also a real touch for pulpy material that he shows in “May December,” and now Aki Kaurismäki, the Finnish master of comedy so deadpan that it can take an audience half the movie to figure out that it’s Ok to laugh.
They figured it out when Kaurismaki’s “Fallen Leaves” premiered in Cannes on Monday. With a brisk one-hour-and-21-minute running time, the film is a wry delight whose very restraint is part of the joke. Jonathan Glazer’s Cannes standout “The Zone of Interest” might be a movie without a single closeup, but “Fallen Leaves” is pretty much a...
They figured it out when Kaurismaki’s “Fallen Leaves” premiered in Cannes on Monday. With a brisk one-hour-and-21-minute running time, the film is a wry delight whose very restraint is part of the joke. Jonathan Glazer’s Cannes standout “The Zone of Interest” might be a movie without a single closeup, but “Fallen Leaves” is pretty much a...
- 5/22/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Helmut Berger, the Austrian actor and regular Luchino Visconti collaborator who become one of the most recognizable faces of European arthouse cinema in the 1960s, has died at the age of 78. The news was announced by the actor’s agent, who wrote that he died “peacefully but nevertheless unexpectedly” on his management company’s website.
Born in Austria in 1944, Berger moved to Rome and began pursuing an acting career after expressing disinterest in following his parents into the hospitality industry. He initially found work as an extra before meeting Visconti in 1964. The “Rocco and His Brothers” director gave Berger a small part in his 1967 film “The Witches,” an omnibus film also directed by the likes of Vittorio De Sica and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Berger and Visconti began a professional and romantic relationship that would go on to shape the European cinema landscape of the subsequent decade.
Berger’s most significant...
Born in Austria in 1944, Berger moved to Rome and began pursuing an acting career after expressing disinterest in following his parents into the hospitality industry. He initially found work as an extra before meeting Visconti in 1964. The “Rocco and His Brothers” director gave Berger a small part in his 1967 film “The Witches,” an omnibus film also directed by the likes of Vittorio De Sica and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Berger and Visconti began a professional and romantic relationship that would go on to shape the European cinema landscape of the subsequent decade.
Berger’s most significant...
- 5/18/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
French actor Alain Delon has been a revolutionary presence in the film industry for decades.
From his early work in the ‘60s to more recent films like The Professional, Alain Delon has challenged ideas about acting and storytelling. He has created a unique style of performance that is both powerful and subtle. He is also credited with popularizing the ‘anti-hero’ type of character – a morally ambiguous figure who often exists outside traditional violence or justice systems.
Delon’s influence on filmmaking has been immense, but it’s not just about his individual performances: his work was also driven by philosophy and activism. Throughout his career, he became an outspoken advocate for gay rights and gender equality – two issues that were not widely discussed at the time.
In this article, we’ll explore Delon’s revolutionary impact on cinema and culture, looking at his career highlights, acting styles and philosophies.
Alain...
From his early work in the ‘60s to more recent films like The Professional, Alain Delon has challenged ideas about acting and storytelling. He has created a unique style of performance that is both powerful and subtle. He is also credited with popularizing the ‘anti-hero’ type of character – a morally ambiguous figure who often exists outside traditional violence or justice systems.
Delon’s influence on filmmaking has been immense, but it’s not just about his individual performances: his work was also driven by philosophy and activism. Throughout his career, he became an outspoken advocate for gay rights and gender equality – two issues that were not widely discussed at the time.
In this article, we’ll explore Delon’s revolutionary impact on cinema and culture, looking at his career highlights, acting styles and philosophies.
Alain...
- 4/4/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Claudia Squitieri with Manuel Maria Perrone at the Italian Cultural Institute book launch for Claudia Cardinale. L’indomabile. The Indomitable (Cinecittà and Electa Editore) Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Luigi Comencini's La Ragazza Di Bube opened Cinecittà and the Museum of Modern Art’s retrospective celebrating Claudia Cardinale on Friday. Pietro Germi’s Un Maledetto Imbroglio; Mauro Bolognini’s Il Bell’Antonio, La Viaccia, and Senilità; Valerio Zurlini’s La Ragazza Con La Valigia; Luchino Visconti’s Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli, Il Gattopardo Sandra (1965); Federico Fellini’s Otto E Mezzo; Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West (1968); Marco Bellocchio’s Enrico IV; Pasquale Squitieri’s Atto Di Dolore (1990), and Manoel de Oliveira’s O Gebo E A Sombra are some of the many highlights.
Claudia Squitieri with Anne-Katrin Titze on Claudia Cardinale shooting The Leopard and 81/2 at the same time: “Visconti wanted her hair very dark and not...
Luigi Comencini's La Ragazza Di Bube opened Cinecittà and the Museum of Modern Art’s retrospective celebrating Claudia Cardinale on Friday. Pietro Germi’s Un Maledetto Imbroglio; Mauro Bolognini’s Il Bell’Antonio, La Viaccia, and Senilità; Valerio Zurlini’s La Ragazza Con La Valigia; Luchino Visconti’s Rocco E I Suoi Fratelli, Il Gattopardo Sandra (1965); Federico Fellini’s Otto E Mezzo; Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West (1968); Marco Bellocchio’s Enrico IV; Pasquale Squitieri’s Atto Di Dolore (1990), and Manoel de Oliveira’s O Gebo E A Sombra are some of the many highlights.
Claudia Squitieri with Anne-Katrin Titze on Claudia Cardinale shooting The Leopard and 81/2 at the same time: “Visconti wanted her hair very dark and not...
- 2/5/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
by Cláudio Alves
After abandoning studio moviemaking, Hou Hsiao-Hsien became more evident in his cinematic references. Some of his post-1982 films even featured excerpts from De Sica's Bicycle Thieves and Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers. Fellini's I Vitelloni was never as obviously showcased, but 1983's The Boys from Fengkuei owes much to that Italian classic. The film portrays the aimless wanderings of bored teenagers from a small shipping island. Before the boys are called for their obligatory military service, they travel to the big city of Kaohsiung, finding new independence, new loves, and new woes.
Instead of forcing an artificial structure unto his character's existence, Hou Hsiao-Hsien follows their insouciance with patience, making the film in their likeness...
After abandoning studio moviemaking, Hou Hsiao-Hsien became more evident in his cinematic references. Some of his post-1982 films even featured excerpts from De Sica's Bicycle Thieves and Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers. Fellini's I Vitelloni was never as obviously showcased, but 1983's The Boys from Fengkuei owes much to that Italian classic. The film portrays the aimless wanderings of bored teenagers from a small shipping island. Before the boys are called for their obligatory military service, they travel to the big city of Kaohsiung, finding new independence, new loves, and new woes.
Instead of forcing an artificial structure unto his character's existence, Hou Hsiao-Hsien follows their insouciance with patience, making the film in their likeness...
- 4/10/2022
- by Cláudio Alves
- FilmExperience
Cinematographer for Visconti and Fellini who made his mark in both black-and-white and colour
Many of the defining images of classic Italian cinema can be attributed to Giuseppe Rotunno, who has died aged 97. The cinematographer, known as “Peppino”, shot Luchino Visconti’s masterpieces Rocco and His Brothers (1960) and The Leopard (1963). Though both films are operatic in emotion and scale, they are strikingly different visually, the former a gritty black-and-white portrait of a poor family who decamp to Milan in the late 1950s, the latter plush and elegiac in depicting another clan, far wealthier but experiencing its own death throes during Italian unification in 19th-century Sicily.
The most impressive part of The Leopard is its final ballroom sequence, which runs at around 45 minutes and incorporates complex intersecting dramas unfolding in different parts of one palazzo, and even in separate areas of the same shot, all filmed with three cameras. It demanded...
Many of the defining images of classic Italian cinema can be attributed to Giuseppe Rotunno, who has died aged 97. The cinematographer, known as “Peppino”, shot Luchino Visconti’s masterpieces Rocco and His Brothers (1960) and The Leopard (1963). Though both films are operatic in emotion and scale, they are strikingly different visually, the former a gritty black-and-white portrait of a poor family who decamp to Milan in the late 1950s, the latter plush and elegiac in depicting another clan, far wealthier but experiencing its own death throes during Italian unification in 19th-century Sicily.
The most impressive part of The Leopard is its final ballroom sequence, which runs at around 45 minutes and incorporates complex intersecting dramas unfolding in different parts of one palazzo, and even in separate areas of the same shot, all filmed with three cameras. It demanded...
- 3/1/2021
- by Ryan Gilbey
- The Guardian - Film News
Ace Italian cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno, who was instrumental to the making of masterpieces such as Luchino Visconti’s “The Leopard” and Federico Fellini’s “Amarcord,” but also worked in Hollywood and was an Oscar nominee for Bob Fosse’s “All That Jazz,” has died. He was 97.
Rotunno, who was nicknamed Peppino, died on Sunday in his Rome home, his family announced without disclosing the exact cause.
Born in Rome on March 23, 1923, Rotunno started his remarkable six-decade career as a still photographer at the Italian capital’s Cinecittà Studios in 1940 before being recruited in 1942 to serve as a newsreel cameraman with the Italian army where he cut his teeth as a cinematographer.
In 1943 at age 20, with World War II still raging, Rotunno was hired as an assistant Dp by Roberto Rossellini for the 1943 war film “L’Uomo dalla croce” (The Man with a Cross), a drama about a military chaplain.
After the war,...
Rotunno, who was nicknamed Peppino, died on Sunday in his Rome home, his family announced without disclosing the exact cause.
Born in Rome on March 23, 1923, Rotunno started his remarkable six-decade career as a still photographer at the Italian capital’s Cinecittà Studios in 1940 before being recruited in 1942 to serve as a newsreel cameraman with the Italian army where he cut his teeth as a cinematographer.
In 1943 at age 20, with World War II still raging, Rotunno was hired as an assistant Dp by Roberto Rossellini for the 1943 war film “L’Uomo dalla croce” (The Man with a Cross), a drama about a military chaplain.
After the war,...
- 2/8/2021
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Italy’s storied Titanus studio, producers of myriad golden era works from Cinema Italiano, has inked a global distribution deal with pubcaster Rai’s sales unit Rai Com for its entire library of roughly 400 titles.
The landmark agreement, besides distribution, entails a collaboration to restore and preserve the Titanus library, which is a treasure trove comprising early works by Italo masters such as Federico Fellini and Francesco Rosi, and Luchino Visconti classics, alongside plenty of genre fare including cult horror helmers Dario Argento and Mario Bava.
It’s a mix of classics and more rarely seen pics featuring a wide array of late and living Italo stars, comprising Alberto Sordi, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale (pictured).
Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after...
The landmark agreement, besides distribution, entails a collaboration to restore and preserve the Titanus library, which is a treasure trove comprising early works by Italo masters such as Federico Fellini and Francesco Rosi, and Luchino Visconti classics, alongside plenty of genre fare including cult horror helmers Dario Argento and Mario Bava.
It’s a mix of classics and more rarely seen pics featuring a wide array of late and living Italo stars, comprising Alberto Sordi, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Claudia Cardinale (pictured).
Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after...
- 12/4/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
If you’re looking to dive into the best of independent and foreign filmmaking, The Criterion Channel has announced their August 2020 lineup. The impressive slate includes retrospectives dedicated to Mia Hansen-Løve, Bill Gunn, Stephen Cone, Terry Gilliam, Wim Wenders, Alain Delon, Bill Plympton, Les Blank, and more.
In terms of new releases, they also have Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’ Bacurau, the fascinating documentary John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection, the Kenyan LGBTQ drama Rafiki, and more. There’s also a series on Australian New Wave with films by Gillian Armstrong, Bruce Beresford, David Gulpilil, and Peter Weir, as well as one on bad vacations with Joanna Hogg’s Unrelated, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers, and more.
See the lineup below and explore more on their platform. One can also see our weekly streaming picks here.
25 Ways to Quit Smoking, Bill Plympton, 1989
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Roy Rowland,...
In terms of new releases, they also have Kleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles’ Bacurau, the fascinating documentary John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection, the Kenyan LGBTQ drama Rafiki, and more. There’s also a series on Australian New Wave with films by Gillian Armstrong, Bruce Beresford, David Gulpilil, and Peter Weir, as well as one on bad vacations with Joanna Hogg’s Unrelated, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers, and more.
See the lineup below and explore more on their platform. One can also see our weekly streaming picks here.
25 Ways to Quit Smoking, Bill Plympton, 1989
The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, Roy Rowland,...
- 7/24/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
In Max Winkler’s “Jungleland,” Jack O’Connell and Charlie Hunnam have a very familiar movie-sibling dynamic, playing brothers respectively “good” and ne’er-do-well, tough guys in the brutal business of boxing who’ve been knocked around a bit too much by life in general. This may inevitably recall the fairly recent likes of “The Fighter” and “Warrior,” excellent movies with other fine lead actors that likewise tipped hat to the gritty ’70s cinema of “Fat City” and “Rocky” — which in turn cast a critical yet longing gaze back to palooka dramas from Hollywood’s golden age.
“Jungleland” isn’t as good as any of those above-named films, but it’s good enough to make you wish it weren’t just so incredibly redolent of them. It’s the kind of enterprise that has everything but a single fresh idea, or even moment. It’s a very serious film in...
“Jungleland” isn’t as good as any of those above-named films, but it’s good enough to make you wish it weren’t just so incredibly redolent of them. It’s the kind of enterprise that has everything but a single fresh idea, or even moment. It’s a very serious film in...
- 9/9/2019
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Kantemir Balagov comes from Kabardino-Balkaria, a region in the Russian Caucasus that is very poor and has a high level of youth unemployment. Balagov studied under Russian director Alexander Sokurov for three years, and made his debut feature with “Closeness,” which was in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard in 2017, and won the Fipresci prize. “Beanpole,” his second feature, plays in Un Certain Regard this year. Set in 1945 in Leningrad, which was devastated in World War II, the film centers on two young women, Iya and Masha, who are struggling to rebuild their lives.
What impact did Alexander Sokurov have on you as a filmmaker?
Other than giving me an understanding of the profession of the director, he helped me to achieve self-consciousness and taught me how to love literature. To me these two things are interconnected, because consciousness feeds on literature.
How do you describe your approach to directing?
I am...
What impact did Alexander Sokurov have on you as a filmmaker?
Other than giving me an understanding of the profession of the director, he helped me to achieve self-consciousness and taught me how to love literature. To me these two things are interconnected, because consciousness feeds on literature.
How do you describe your approach to directing?
I am...
- 5/16/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Alain Delon, the French star of “Le Samouraï,” “The Leopard” and “Rocco and His Brothers,” will receive an honorary Palme d’Or at 2019’s Cannes Film Festival, the festival announced on Wednesday.
Jeanne Moreau, Woody Allen, Bernardo Bertolucci, Jane Fonda, Clint Eastwood, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Manoel de Oliveira, Agnès Varda and Jean-Pierre Léaud have all previously been received an honorary Palme d’Or.
Delon starred in Luchino Visconti’s “The Leopard,” which received the festival’s top prize in 1963. He starred in more than 80 films, and is revered in Japan as the “Spring Samurai.”
Also Read: Jim Jarmusch's 'The Dead Don't Die' Set as Cannes Opening Night Film
“Pierre Lescure and I are delighted that Alain Delon has accepted to be honoured by the Festival,” Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of Cannes says in a statement. “He hesitated for a long time, having long been reluctant to this Palme...
Jeanne Moreau, Woody Allen, Bernardo Bertolucci, Jane Fonda, Clint Eastwood, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Manoel de Oliveira, Agnès Varda and Jean-Pierre Léaud have all previously been received an honorary Palme d’Or.
Delon starred in Luchino Visconti’s “The Leopard,” which received the festival’s top prize in 1963. He starred in more than 80 films, and is revered in Japan as the “Spring Samurai.”
Also Read: Jim Jarmusch's 'The Dead Don't Die' Set as Cannes Opening Night Film
“Pierre Lescure and I are delighted that Alain Delon has accepted to be honoured by the Festival,” Thierry Frémaux, general delegate of Cannes says in a statement. “He hesitated for a long time, having long been reluctant to this Palme...
- 4/17/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Welcome to a pair of vintage mysteries with George Simenon’s popular Inspector Jules Maigret, a gumshoe who gets the tough cases. Top kick French actor Jean Gabin is the cop who keeps cool, until it’s time to rattle a recalcitrant suspect. In two separate cases, he tracks a serial killer in the heart of Paris, and travels to his hometown to unearth a murder conspiracy.
Maigret Sets a Trap
and
Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
Blu-ray (separate releases)
Kino Classics
1958, 1959 / B&W /1:37 flat; 1:66 widescreen / 118, 101 min. / Street Date December 5, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber: Trap, St. Fiacre / 29.95 ea.
Starring: Jean Gabin, Annie Girardot, Jean Desailly, Olivier Hussenot, Lucienne Bogaert, Paulette Dubost, Lino Ventura, Dominique Page / Jean Gabin, Michel Auclair, Valentine Tessier, Michel Vitold, Camille Guérini, Gabrielle Fontan, Micheline Luccioni, Jacques Marin, Paul Frankeur, Robert Hirsch.
Cinematography: Louis Page
Film Editor: Henri Taverna
Original Music: Paul Misraki...
Maigret Sets a Trap
and
Maigret and the St. Fiacre Case
Blu-ray (separate releases)
Kino Classics
1958, 1959 / B&W /1:37 flat; 1:66 widescreen / 118, 101 min. / Street Date December 5, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber: Trap, St. Fiacre / 29.95 ea.
Starring: Jean Gabin, Annie Girardot, Jean Desailly, Olivier Hussenot, Lucienne Bogaert, Paulette Dubost, Lino Ventura, Dominique Page / Jean Gabin, Michel Auclair, Valentine Tessier, Michel Vitold, Camille Guérini, Gabrielle Fontan, Micheline Luccioni, Jacques Marin, Paul Frankeur, Robert Hirsch.
Cinematography: Louis Page
Film Editor: Henri Taverna
Original Music: Paul Misraki...
- 12/9/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Writer-director Elio Petri scores big in his first feature, the story of a heel suspected of murder. Is he a killer, or just an average guy trying to get ahead, who uses women to his advantage? Marcello Mastroianni impresses as well in a serious role, with Salvo Randone shining as the police inspector trying to pry a confession from him. Beautifully restored in HD; the show is from a time when Italian film was at its zenith.
The Assassin
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / L’Assassino / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Micheline Presle, Cristina Gaioni, Salvo Randone, Andrea Checchi, Francesco Grandjacquet, Marco Mariani, Franco Ressel.
Cinematography: Carlo Di Palma
Film Editor: Ruggero Mastroianni
Original Music: Piero Piccione
Written by Tonino (Antonio) Guerra, Elio Petri, Pasquale Fest Campanile, Massimo Franciosa
Produced by Franco Cristaldi
Directed by Elio Petri
Fans of Elio Petri...
The Assassin
Blu-ray + DVD
Arrow Video USA
1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 97 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / L’Assassino / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Marcello Mastroianni, Micheline Presle, Cristina Gaioni, Salvo Randone, Andrea Checchi, Francesco Grandjacquet, Marco Mariani, Franco Ressel.
Cinematography: Carlo Di Palma
Film Editor: Ruggero Mastroianni
Original Music: Piero Piccione
Written by Tonino (Antonio) Guerra, Elio Petri, Pasquale Fest Campanile, Massimo Franciosa
Produced by Franco Cristaldi
Directed by Elio Petri
Fans of Elio Petri...
- 5/8/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A just-unveiled poster for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is raising eyebrows for all the wrong reasons. Featuring Claudia Cardinale, the new artwork has been criticized online for airbrushing the Italian actress to make her appear thinner than she did in the original 1959 snapshot. Joining the chorus is “The Fits” director Anna Rose Holmer, who tweeted her displeasure: “Why the need to alter Claudia Cardinale’s body so dramatically for #Cannes2017 official poster?”
Read More: Cannes 2017: 70th Anniversary Festival Poster Features Joyous Claudia Cardinale
“I am honored and proud to be flying the flag for the 70th Festival de Cannes,” Cardinale said in a statement, “and delighted with this choice of photo. It’s the image I myself have of the festival, of an event that illuminates everything around. That dance on the rooftops of Rome was back in 1959. No one remembers the photographer’s name … I’ve also forgotten it.
Read More: Cannes 2017: 70th Anniversary Festival Poster Features Joyous Claudia Cardinale
“I am honored and proud to be flying the flag for the 70th Festival de Cannes,” Cardinale said in a statement, “and delighted with this choice of photo. It’s the image I myself have of the festival, of an event that illuminates everything around. That dance on the rooftops of Rome was back in 1959. No one remembers the photographer’s name … I’ve also forgotten it.
- 3/29/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Claudia Cardinale is this poster girl for the 70th edition of the Cannes Film Festival (May 17th-28th).
The Italian star, whose credits include classics like 8½, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Leopard, Big Deal on Madonna Street, and Rocco and His Brothers is 78 now. She's still a regular on film festival red carpets. This photo of her was taken in 1959 when she was just 21 (and people are not happy that it's been reportedly airbrushed to make her thighs smaller.)
More news: Another Italian goddess Monica Bellucci has been named the Mistress of Ceremonies; Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu (4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Beyond the Hills) will preside over the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury; and the Main Competition Jury president is Spain's Pedro Almodóvar. We don't yet know what the films he'll be judging are (and who will be on his jury) but speculated titles include Alexander Payne's Downsizing,...
The Italian star, whose credits include classics like 8½, Once Upon a Time in the West, The Leopard, Big Deal on Madonna Street, and Rocco and His Brothers is 78 now. She's still a regular on film festival red carpets. This photo of her was taken in 1959 when she was just 21 (and people are not happy that it's been reportedly airbrushed to make her thighs smaller.)
More news: Another Italian goddess Monica Bellucci has been named the Mistress of Ceremonies; Romanian auteur Cristian Mungiu (4 Months 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Beyond the Hills) will preside over the Cinéfondation and Short Films Jury; and the Main Competition Jury president is Spain's Pedro Almodóvar. We don't yet know what the films he'll be judging are (and who will be on his jury) but speculated titles include Alexander Payne's Downsizing,...
- 3/29/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Cannes Film Festival turns 70 this year, and they are having fun doing so. This year’s official poster features a dancing Claudia Cardinale, the legendary actress who has appeared Once Upon a Time in the West, 8 1/2, The Leopard, Rocco and His Brothers, Fitzcarraldo, and more. Created by Bronx Agency, the mix of luxurious gold and vibrant red is a fitting kick-off for the festival, which begins on May 17.
“She dances, she laughs, she lives! Who better to symbolize the next Festival than Claudia Cardinale, the image of an adventurous actress, independent woman and social activist?,” the festival said in an official statement. “Throughout the 12-day festival, the spirit of openness and welcome will infuse the Croisette — as it does every year — with pictures of a world that dares to look itself in the mirror, to stand proud and to speak out.”
“I am honored and proud to be flying the...
“She dances, she laughs, she lives! Who better to symbolize the next Festival than Claudia Cardinale, the image of an adventurous actress, independent woman and social activist?,” the festival said in an official statement. “Throughout the 12-day festival, the spirit of openness and welcome will infuse the Croisette — as it does every year — with pictures of a world that dares to look itself in the mirror, to stand proud and to speak out.”
“I am honored and proud to be flying the...
- 3/29/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The British Film Institute has recently started their own podcast discussing the film industry, and they recently turned their attention to Martin Scorsese. In a two-part episode, the BFI Podcast plays clips from a previously unreleased interview with the director from 1987. It’s great listening to a relatively early interview with the legendary director discussing his influences.
The interview followed a special screening of three hand-selected films from the director, “Citizen Kane,” “8 1/2,” and finally, “Rocco and his Brothers.” Scorsese speaks about each film and the influence it had on his own art.
Continue reading Martin Scorsese Talks ‘Citizen Kane,’ ‘8 1/2,’ & ‘Rocco And His Brothers’ On BFI Podcast at The Playlist.
The interview followed a special screening of three hand-selected films from the director, “Citizen Kane,” “8 1/2,” and finally, “Rocco and his Brothers.” Scorsese speaks about each film and the influence it had on his own art.
Continue reading Martin Scorsese Talks ‘Citizen Kane,’ ‘8 1/2,’ & ‘Rocco And His Brothers’ On BFI Podcast at The Playlist.
- 3/23/2017
- by Charles Dean
- The Playlist
We return with a look at Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers. Enjoy!
From Masters of Cinema:
From Luchino Visconti — the master director of such classics as La terra trema, Bellissima, and The Leopard — comes this epic study of family, sex, and betrayal. Alongside Fellini’s La dolce vita and Antonioni’s L’avventura, Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers [Rocco e i suoi fratelli] ushered Italian cinema into a new era, one unafraid to confront head-on the hypocrisies of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living, and the collision between generations.
When a tight-knit family moves from Italy’s rural south to metropolitan Milan, the new possibilities – and threats – present in their fresh surroundings have alarming, unforeseen consequences. Operatically weaving the five brothers’ stories across a vast canvas, with an extraordinary cast including Alain Delon, Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale, Rocco and His Brothers stands as one of the most majestic and influential works of its era.
From Masters of Cinema:
From Luchino Visconti — the master director of such classics as La terra trema, Bellissima, and The Leopard — comes this epic study of family, sex, and betrayal. Alongside Fellini’s La dolce vita and Antonioni’s L’avventura, Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers [Rocco e i suoi fratelli] ushered Italian cinema into a new era, one unafraid to confront head-on the hypocrisies of the ruling class, the squalor in urban living, and the collision between generations.
When a tight-knit family moves from Italy’s rural south to metropolitan Milan, the new possibilities – and threats – present in their fresh surroundings have alarming, unforeseen consequences. Operatically weaving the five brothers’ stories across a vast canvas, with an extraordinary cast including Alain Delon, Annie Girardot and Claudia Cardinale, Rocco and His Brothers stands as one of the most majestic and influential works of its era.
- 2/15/2017
- by Tom Jennings
- CriterionCast
In this special episode of Off The Shelf, Ryan and Brian take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for Tuesday, March 15th, 2016.
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Follow-Up Target: Star Wars The Force Awakens exclusive supplements are download-only News Kino Lorber: My Bodyguard, Sam Fuller’s Fixed Bayonets, Yellow Sky, The Legend of Hillbilly John, Daddy Long Legs Warner Archive: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Milestone: Losing Ground Vinegar Syndrome: Dolemite Misc Links Dan Trachtenberg’s post Delicious Library Links to Amazon Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip The Big Short Braddock: Missing in Action III Brooklyn Carol The Centurions: Part Two Burden of Dreams Game of Thrones: Season 5 Invasion U.S.A. Just Visiting Love The Manchurian Candidate Monster Dog My Boyfriend’s Back Rage of Honor Rocco and His Brothers Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine Sun, Sand and Sweat 4 Pack...
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Follow-Up Target: Star Wars The Force Awakens exclusive supplements are download-only News Kino Lorber: My Bodyguard, Sam Fuller’s Fixed Bayonets, Yellow Sky, The Legend of Hillbilly John, Daddy Long Legs Warner Archive: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Milestone: Losing Ground Vinegar Syndrome: Dolemite Misc Links Dan Trachtenberg’s post Delicious Library Links to Amazon Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip The Big Short Braddock: Missing in Action III Brooklyn Carol The Centurions: Part Two Burden of Dreams Game of Thrones: Season 5 Invasion U.S.A. Just Visiting Love The Manchurian Candidate Monster Dog My Boyfriend’s Back Rage of Honor Rocco and His Brothers Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine Sun, Sand and Sweat 4 Pack...
- 3/16/2016
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
★★★★☆ 1960 was a memorable year for Italian cinema. It saw the releases of several major films: Federico Fellini's legendary La Dolce Vita; the first instalment of Michelangelo Antonioni's trilogy of decadence, L'Avventura; Vittorio de Sica's Two Women, for which Sophia Loren won her Best Actress Oscar. Another of the major success stories of the year was a film by Luchino Visconti, a director spoken of far less often than his illustrious contemporaries. Rocco and His Brothers is a novelistic tragedy on an epic melodramatic scale. A social drama about mass internal migration during the economic boom, it serves as a crushing indictment of traditional forms of masculinity. Alain Delon stars as the charismatic and dutiful Rocco, though it would be difficult to tell from the opening third.
- 3/15/2016
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Dailies is a round-up of essential film writing, news bits, videos, and other highlights from across the Internet. If you’d like to submit a piece for consideration, get in touch with us in the comments below or on Twitter at @TheFilmStage.
See the full list of the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards, including Spotlight, Room, Beasts of No Nation, Tangerine, and more.
Watch Martin Scorsese discuss the restoration of Rocco and His Brothers:
Paul Schneider on his top 10 Criterion films:
I saw Blue for the first time when I was in film school. I checked out a VHS tape from the library and watched it on a twelve-inch TV/Vcr. The movie finished and I sat staring at the dark screen while the tape auto-rewound. When it reached the beginning, I pressed “Play” and watched it a second time. When it stopped the second time, I turned everything off,...
See the full list of the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards, including Spotlight, Room, Beasts of No Nation, Tangerine, and more.
Watch Martin Scorsese discuss the restoration of Rocco and His Brothers:
Paul Schneider on his top 10 Criterion films:
I saw Blue for the first time when I was in film school. I checked out a VHS tape from the library and watched it on a twelve-inch TV/Vcr. The movie finished and I sat staring at the dark screen while the tape auto-rewound. When it reached the beginning, I pressed “Play” and watched it a second time. When it stopped the second time, I turned everything off,...
- 2/29/2016
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
A note for readers – although I will attempt not to reveal crucial plot details that don’t fall under the general umbrella of the film’s premise (and which will certainly be incorporated into future trailers and the like), everyone has their own definitions of these things, so consider this fair warning.
All three of Kenneth Lonergan’s films deal with how people cope after tragedies. In You Can Count on Me, it was the past – two siblings who lost their parents in a car accident at a young age develop different ways of surviving that. In Margaret, the present; a teenager witnesses a horrific bus accident that leaves a woman dead in her arms. Manchester by the Sea folds a tragedy of the past into one of the present.
Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a handyman for a block of Boston apartments.. He’s stuck in mundanity – shoveling snow,...
All three of Kenneth Lonergan’s films deal with how people cope after tragedies. In You Can Count on Me, it was the past – two siblings who lost their parents in a car accident at a young age develop different ways of surviving that. In Margaret, the present; a teenager witnesses a horrific bus accident that leaves a woman dead in her arms. Manchester by the Sea folds a tragedy of the past into one of the present.
Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a handyman for a block of Boston apartments.. He’s stuck in mundanity – shoveling snow,...
- 1/27/2016
- by Scott Nye
- CriterionCast
Next month, Turner Classic Movies will celebrate the 25th anniversary of essential distributor Milestone Film & Video and honor the late, great Irish actress Maureen O'Hara, who died Saturday at 95, with two must-see slates of special programming. Read More: "Maureen O'Hara and the Road to the Academy Governors Awards" First, on Nov. 12, TCM devotes an entire evening to Milestone, founded by the husband-and-wife team of Dennis Doros and Amy Heller in their one-bedroom New York apartment in 1990. In recent years, the company has turned its attention to restoring and releasing "forgotten" films from black, gay, and women filmmakers to both film and digital formats—including such groundbreaking films as Charles Burnett’s "Killer of Sheep," Luchino Visconti’s "Rocco and His Brothers," and Kathleen Collins’ "Losing Ground." Among the highlights of TCM's programming is the television premiere of Shirley Clarke's "The...
- 10/27/2015
- by Matt Brennan
- Thompson on Hollywood
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Museum of the Moving Image
Several more titles play in the Museum’s excellent Maurice Pialat retrospective. Read more about his work here.
Wiseman‘s Model and Central Park show on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Anthology Film Archives
Olivier Assayas‘s Irma Vep and its central inspiration, Louis Feuillade‘s eight-hour Les Vampires, play on Friday and Saturday & Sunday,...
Museum of the Moving Image
Several more titles play in the Museum’s excellent Maurice Pialat retrospective. Read more about his work here.
Wiseman‘s Model and Central Park show on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Anthology Film Archives
Olivier Assayas‘s Irma Vep and its central inspiration, Louis Feuillade‘s eight-hour Les Vampires, play on Friday and Saturday & Sunday,...
- 10/23/2015
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Museum of the Moving Image
A retrospective covering the career of Maurice Pialat begins on Friday. His debut feature, The Naked Childhood, will be the first screening, and several others will show over the next few days.
La Ciudad screens on Saturday.
Nitehawk Cinema
Rebels of the Neon God plays at midnight.
“Halloween at Nitehawk” brings Re-Animator and the 1931 Dr.
Museum of the Moving Image
A retrospective covering the career of Maurice Pialat begins on Friday. His debut feature, The Naked Childhood, will be the first screening, and several others will show over the next few days.
La Ciudad screens on Saturday.
Nitehawk Cinema
Rebels of the Neon God plays at midnight.
“Halloween at Nitehawk” brings Re-Animator and the 1931 Dr.
- 10/16/2015
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
"Among the slew of great Italian directors of the postwar era—Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Roberto Rossellini—it is Luchino Visconti whose posthumous reputation has seemed the most imperiled, perhaps because of his refusal to type himself," suggests Scott Eyman in Film Comment. A new restoration of Rocco and His Brothers is set to tour the country. More goings on: Dustin Guy Defa and Eric Leiser in New York, Matthew Barney and abstract video in Los Angeles, films by Guillermo del Toro reimagined as Victorian book covers in London, the sounds of the silent era in Berlin—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/14/2015
- Keyframe
"Among the slew of great Italian directors of the postwar era—Vittorio De Sica, Federico Fellini, Michelangelo Antonioni, Roberto Rossellini—it is Luchino Visconti whose posthumous reputation has seemed the most imperiled, perhaps because of his refusal to type himself," suggests Scott Eyman in Film Comment. A new restoration of Rocco and His Brothers is set to tour the country. More goings on: Dustin Guy Defa and Eric Leiser in New York, Matthew Barney and abstract video in Los Angeles, films by Guillermo del Toro reimagined as Victorian book covers in London, the sounds of the silent era in Berlin—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/14/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
A new 4K restoration of Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers opens today. More goings on include a Robert Zemeckis retrospective in New York, Agnès Varda in Chicago, Seijun Suzuki in Austin, Pier Paolo Pasolini in Bologna, and the guest list for the 2015 edition of Festival Lumière includes Martin Scorsese, Nicolas Winding Refn, John Lasseter, Géraldine Chaplin, Sophia Loren, Alexandre Desplat, Mads Mikkelsen, Jacques Audiard, Costa-Gavras, Salma Hayek, Alice Rohrwacher, Michel Hazanavicius, Vincent Lindon, Dario Argento, Pablo Trapero, Rolf de Heer, Michel Franco and on and on. » - David Hudson...
- 10/9/2015
- Keyframe
A new 4K restoration of Luchino Visconti’s Rocco and His Brothers opens today. More goings on include a Robert Zemeckis retrospective in New York, Agnès Varda in Chicago, Seijun Suzuki in Austin, Pier Paolo Pasolini in Bologna, and the guest list for the 2015 edition of Festival Lumière includes Martin Scorsese, Nicolas Winding Refn, John Lasseter, Géraldine Chaplin, Sophia Loren, Alexandre Desplat, Mads Mikkelsen, Jacques Audiard, Costa-Gavras, Salma Hayek, Alice Rohrwacher, Michel Hazanavicius, Vincent Lindon, Dario Argento, Pablo Trapero, Rolf de Heer, Michel Franco and on and on. » - David Hudson...
- 10/9/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Since any New York City cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options, we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list. Displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon, and many of which are, also, on 35mm. If you have a chance to attend any of these, we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well-spent.
Film Society of Lincoln Center
To commemorate her passing, free screenings of Chantal Akerman‘s Jeanne Dielman (on 35mm) and her self-portrait Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman will screen for free on Friday.
Hou Hsiao-hsien‘s The Boys from Fengkuei will play on Friday night, with Hou making an appearance.
Museum of the Moving...
Film Society of Lincoln Center
To commemorate her passing, free screenings of Chantal Akerman‘s Jeanne Dielman (on 35mm) and her self-portrait Chantal Akerman by Chantal Akerman will screen for free on Friday.
Hou Hsiao-hsien‘s The Boys from Fengkuei will play on Friday night, with Hou making an appearance.
Museum of the Moving...
- 10/9/2015
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
'Million Dollar Baby' movie with Hilary Swank and Clint Eastwood. 'Million Dollar Baby' movie: Clint Eastwood contrived, overlong drama made (barely) watchable by first-rate central performance Fresh off the enthusiastically received – and insincere – Mystic River, Clint Eastwood went on to tackle the ups and downs of the boxing world in the 2004 melo Million Dollar Baby. Despite the cheery title, this is not the usual Rocky-esque rags-to-riches story of the determined underdog who inevitably becomes a super-topdog once she (in this case it's a “she”) puts on her gloves, jumps into the boxing ring, and starts using other women as punching bags. That's because about two-thirds into the film, Million Dollar Baby takes a radical turn toward tragedy that is as unexpected as everything else on screen is painfully predictable. In fact, once the dust is settled, even that last third quickly derails into the same sentimental mush Eastwood and...
- 10/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
While Cannes, Toronto, and Venice premiere some of the year’s best films, no annual cinematic event is better curated than the New York Film Festival, which kicks off this weekend. Those attending will witness, over two weeks, some of the best features this year — and next — have to offer.
A simple copy-and-pasting of the line-up would suffice, but we’ve done our best to narrow it down to 25 selections that are the most worth your time. For honorable mentions, we’re looking forward to the stellar line-up of revivals, including The King of Comedy, All That Jazz, Blow Out, Rocco and His Brothers, Ran, Heaven Can Wait, and The Boys from Fengkuei.
We’ve also reviewed a few titles (The Forbidden Room, My Mother, Chevalier) that we were a bit cooler on. Lastly, the festival announced a sneak preview screening of Ridley Scott‘s The Martian, and one can read our review here.
A simple copy-and-pasting of the line-up would suffice, but we’ve done our best to narrow it down to 25 selections that are the most worth your time. For honorable mentions, we’re looking forward to the stellar line-up of revivals, including The King of Comedy, All That Jazz, Blow Out, Rocco and His Brothers, Ran, Heaven Can Wait, and The Boys from Fengkuei.
We’ve also reviewed a few titles (The Forbidden Room, My Mother, Chevalier) that we were a bit cooler on. Lastly, the festival announced a sneak preview screening of Ridley Scott‘s The Martian, and one can read our review here.
- 9/23/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
Studiocanal
To celebrate the release of L’Eclisse, available on Est 21 September 2015 and released on Blu-ray for the first time (as well as on DVD) 28 September 2015, we are giving 3 lucky WhatCulture readers the chance to win one of three copies on Blu-ray.
Filmed in sumptuous black and white, and full of scenes of lush, strange beauty, it tells the story of Vittoria (the beautiful Monica Vitti – L’Avventura, La Notte, Red Desert – Antonioni’s partner at the time), a young woman who leaves her older lover (Francisco Rabal – Viridiana, The Holy Innocents, Goya in Bordeaux), then drifts into a relationship with a confident, ambitious young stockbroker (Alain Delon – Le Samourai, Rocco and his Brothers, Le Cercle Rouge). But this base narrative is the starting point for much, much more, including an analysis of the city as a place of estrangement and alienation and an implicit critique of colonialism.
Using the...
To celebrate the release of L’Eclisse, available on Est 21 September 2015 and released on Blu-ray for the first time (as well as on DVD) 28 September 2015, we are giving 3 lucky WhatCulture readers the chance to win one of three copies on Blu-ray.
Filmed in sumptuous black and white, and full of scenes of lush, strange beauty, it tells the story of Vittoria (the beautiful Monica Vitti – L’Avventura, La Notte, Red Desert – Antonioni’s partner at the time), a young woman who leaves her older lover (Francisco Rabal – Viridiana, The Holy Innocents, Goya in Bordeaux), then drifts into a relationship with a confident, ambitious young stockbroker (Alain Delon – Le Samourai, Rocco and his Brothers, Le Cercle Rouge). But this base narrative is the starting point for much, much more, including an analysis of the city as a place of estrangement and alienation and an implicit critique of colonialism.
Using the...
- 9/23/2015
- by Laura Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
After being a major influence on his work, Martin Scorsese worked with Milestone Films to bring forth a stellar-looking restoration of Luchino Visconti’s 1960 classic drama Rocco and His Brothers. After stopping by various festivals, including Tiff and Nyff, it’ll be released in NYC and Los Angeles next month, followed by hopefully a home release.
We now have a new trailer, which is fairly brief, but gives us a glimpse at the restoration while introducing our main ensemble. Starring Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, and Claudia Cardinale, check out the trailer and gorgeous poster (designed by Lauren Caddick) below for the film which kicks off its three-week run at Film Forum on Friday, October 9.
Joining the tragic exodus of millions from Italy’s impoverished south, the formidable matriarch of the Parondi clan (Katina Paxinou, Best Supporting Oscar winner, For Whom the Bell Tolls) and her brood emerge from Milan’s...
We now have a new trailer, which is fairly brief, but gives us a glimpse at the restoration while introducing our main ensemble. Starring Alain Delon, Annie Girardot, and Claudia Cardinale, check out the trailer and gorgeous poster (designed by Lauren Caddick) below for the film which kicks off its three-week run at Film Forum on Friday, October 9.
Joining the tragic exodus of millions from Italy’s impoverished south, the formidable matriarch of the Parondi clan (Katina Paxinou, Best Supporting Oscar winner, For Whom the Bell Tolls) and her brood emerge from Milan’s...
- 9/17/2015
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The 59Th BFI London Film Festival Announces Full 2015 Programme
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
You can peruse the programme at your leisure here.
The programme for the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership launched today, with Festival Director Clare Stewart presenting this year’s rich and diverse selection of films and events. BFI London Film Festival is Britain’s leading film event and one of the world’s oldest film festivals. It introduces the finest new British and international films to an expanding London and UK-wide audience. The Festival provides an essential platform for films seeking global success; and promotes the careers of British and international filmmakers through its industry and awards programmes. With this year’s industry programme stronger than ever, offering international filmmakers and leaders a programme of insightful events covering every area of the film industry Lff positions London as the world’s leading creative city.
The Festival will screen a...
- 9/1/2015
- by John
- SoundOnSight
Films set to show at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), updated as announcements are made in the run up to the event.
Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.
Tiff 40
Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.
GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPDisorder (Maryland) (France-Belgium), Alice Winocour NAPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPMan Down (Us), Dito Montiel NAPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPMiss You Already (UK), Catherine Hardwicke WPMississippi Grind (Us), Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden CPMr. Right (Us), Paco Cabezas WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall ([link...
Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.
Tiff 40
Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.
GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPDisorder (Maryland) (France-Belgium), Alice Winocour NAPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPMan Down (Us), Dito Montiel NAPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPMiss You Already (UK), Catherine Hardwicke WPMississippi Grind (Us), Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden CPMr. Right (Us), Paco Cabezas WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall ([link...
- 8/25/2015
- ScreenDaily
Since its beginning in 1963, the New York Film Festival has grown into one of the more anticipated stops for film fans on the festival circuit, with the 2014 incarnation of the festival alone seeing Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice and David Fincher’s Gone Girl make their world premiere at the event. As the festival’s importance has grown, the lineup presented has also piqued the interest of film fans. With the 2015 event set to run from September 25th to October 11th, a second wave of the lineup has now been announced to go with the previous Main Slate announcement.
The festival had previously announced that Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk would be the opening night film, making its World Premiere at the event, and the Don Cheadle film Miles Ahead would be the closing night feature, also making its World Premiere. The following films, with their official synopses, will also be playing at the event.
The festival had previously announced that Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk would be the opening night film, making its World Premiere at the event, and the Don Cheadle film Miles Ahead would be the closing night feature, also making its World Premiere. The following films, with their official synopses, will also be playing at the event.
- 8/21/2015
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
Following its announcement of its Main Slate and Projections titles, the New York Film Festival springs a few surprises with the lineups for its Special Events and Revivals sections—not the least of which is a new film by Paul Thomas Anderson. More highlights: Athina Rachel Tsangari's Chevalier, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's documentary on Brian De Palma, Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog, revivals of King Hu's A Touch of Zen, Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers with Annie Girardot and Alain Delon—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/21/2015
- Fandor: Keyframe
Following its announcement of its Main Slate and Projections titles, the New York Film Festival springs a few surprises with the lineups for its Special Events and Revivals sections—not the least of which is a new film by Paul Thomas Anderson. More highlights: Athina Rachel Tsangari's Chevalier, Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's documentary on Brian De Palma, Laurie Anderson's Heart of a Dog, revivals of King Hu's A Touch of Zen, Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers with Annie Girardot and Alain Delon—and more. » - David Hudson...
- 8/21/2015
- Keyframe
Luchino Visconti may be known in some cinephile circles as the director of “Death in Venice” and "The Leopard," but he also directed the moving, operatic “Rocco and his Brothers,” a sort of post-script to Italian neorealism that cast its eye on a family of immigrants striving to prosper and assimilate in a new city. Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, well known for its tireless preservation of neorealist films (in addition to a host of others), has recently restored Visconti’s masterful film with the help of Cineteca di Bologna. The newly restored version — complete with two scenes that were previously censored for content — screened at Cannes this past spring and will play at this year’s Tiff as part of the fest’s Cinematheque lineup. Read More: Watch: Trailers For Martin Scorsese's 39 Foreign Films To See Before You Die It’s hard to dispute that the new image looks great.
- 8/12/2015
- by Nicholas Laskin
- The Playlist
Films set to show at the 40th Toronto International Film Festival (Tiff), updated as announcements are made in the run up to the event.
Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.
Tiff 40
Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.
GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall (Us), Roland Emmerich, Wpspecial PRESENTATIONSAnomalisa (Us), Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson, CPBeasts of No Nation (Ghana), Cary Fukunaga, CPBlack Mass (Us), Scott Cooper, CPBorn To Be Blue (Canada-uk), Robert Budreau WPBrooklyn (UK-Ireland-Canada), John...
Tiff will open on September 10 with Jean-Marc Vallée’s Demolition starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.
Tiff 40
Key: Wp = world premiere; Nap = North American premiere; IP = international premiere; Cp = Canadian premiere.
GALASBeeba Boys (Canada), Deepa Mehta, WPDemolition, Jean-Marc Vallée WPThe Dressmaker (Aus), Jocelyn Moorhouse, WPEye In The Sky (UK), Gavin Hood WPForsaken (Canada), Jon Cassar, WPFreeheld (Us), Peter Sollett, WPHyena Road (Canada), Paul Gross, WPLolo (France), Julie Delpy, NAPLegend (UK), Brian Helgeland, IPThe Man Who Knew Infinity (UK), Matt Brown, WPThe Martian (Us), Ridley Scott, WPThe Program (UK), Stephen Frears, WPRemember (Canada), Atom Egoyan, NAPSeptembers Of Shiraz (Us), Wayne Blair, WPStonewall (Us), Roland Emmerich, Wpspecial PRESENTATIONSAnomalisa (Us), Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson, CPBeasts of No Nation (Ghana), Cary Fukunaga, CPBlack Mass (Us), Scott Cooper, CPBorn To Be Blue (Canada-uk), Robert Budreau WPBrooklyn (UK-Ireland-Canada), John...
- 8/11/2015
- ScreenDaily
Organisers unleashed their latest volley of programming, an embarrassment of riches featuring new non-fiction work about education activist Malala Yousafzai, Russia’s Bolshoi Theatre, the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and the iconic tango pairing of María Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes.
Midnight Madness brings a Turkish glimpse of hell, new work from the directors of Almost Human and The Loved Ones, a cyborg Pov story and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, which premiered in Cannes and backer Broad Green Pictures recently made available for Us distribution after electing not to self-release.
Vanguard entries include Gaspar Noé’s Love, Alex de la Iglesia’s My Big Night and Ryoo Seung-wan’s South Korean cop thriller Veteran.
The Masters Of Cinema programme features Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, while the Tiff Cinematheque selection of restored classics includes Luchino Viconti’s Rocco And His Brothers and Marcel Ophüls...
Midnight Madness brings a Turkish glimpse of hell, new work from the directors of Almost Human and The Loved Ones, a cyborg Pov story and Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room, which premiered in Cannes and backer Broad Green Pictures recently made available for Us distribution after electing not to self-release.
Vanguard entries include Gaspar Noé’s Love, Alex de la Iglesia’s My Big Night and Ryoo Seung-wan’s South Korean cop thriller Veteran.
The Masters Of Cinema programme features Jafar Panahi’s Taxi, Alexander Sokurov’s Francofonia and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister, while the Tiff Cinematheque selection of restored classics includes Luchino Viconti’s Rocco And His Brothers and Marcel Ophüls...
- 8/11/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Milestone is currently offering a brand-new 4K restoration on Dcp of Luchino Visconti's masterpiece "Rocco and His Brothers" for this coming fall, beginning with a three-week calendar run at Film Forum 2 in NYC, October 9–29.
The restoration, by Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with Titanus, TF1 Droits Audiovisuels and Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation with restoration funding provided by Gucci and The Film Foundation premiered this spring at Cannes and will also be shown at select fall festivals.
You can see Milestone's MailChimp announcement Here...
The restoration, by Cineteca di Bologna at L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratory in association with Titanus, TF1 Droits Audiovisuels and Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation with restoration funding provided by Gucci and The Film Foundation premiered this spring at Cannes and will also be shown at select fall festivals.
You can see Milestone's MailChimp announcement Here...
- 6/23/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Wes Anderson’s meticulous attention to design and detail in all his films, in which each frame looks like a carefully fine-tuned diorama full of colors and careful staging, has made for a plethora of charming fantasy worlds, but very few in our real world. Now however, Anderson has created a project in which he has designed a cafe/bar for a new art gallery opening this month in Milan.
Bar Luce, designed by Anderson, is located inside the Fondazione Prada in Milan, a new art gallery space commissioned by the fashion designer Prada. According to Conde Nast Traveler, who visited the cafe this week, the space is complete with “retro formica chairs in bright pastel colors, jukeboxes”, and perhaps best of all, “Steve Zissou-themed pinball machines.”
According to the Fondazione Prada’s website, Anderson retained some of the original building’s architecture, including an arched ceiling once part of...
Bar Luce, designed by Anderson, is located inside the Fondazione Prada in Milan, a new art gallery space commissioned by the fashion designer Prada. According to Conde Nast Traveler, who visited the cafe this week, the space is complete with “retro formica chairs in bright pastel colors, jukeboxes”, and perhaps best of all, “Steve Zissou-themed pinball machines.”
According to the Fondazione Prada’s website, Anderson retained some of the original building’s architecture, including an arched ceiling once part of...
- 5/6/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Section to also include celebrations of Ingrid Bergman and Orson Welles as well as screenings of The Terminator and Jurassic Park 3D.
Costa-Gavras has been named guest of honour at this year’s Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24).
The Greek-French film director and producer won the Palme d’or with Missing in 1982, was member of the jury in 1976 that crowned Taxi Driver and picked up the award for best director with Section spéciale in 1975.
The filmmaker will be present for a screening of Z, which won the jury prize in 1969, and has had the original negative scanned in 4k and restored frame by frame in 2K, supervised by Costa-Gavras.
Orson Welles
Marking 100 years since the birth of Orson Welles, Cannes will screen restorations of films from the legendary Us actor, director, writer and producer, who died in 1985.
The titles include his staggering debut Citizen Kane (1941), which has received a 4k restoration completed...
Costa-Gavras has been named guest of honour at this year’s Cannes Classics section of the Cannes Film Festival (May 13-24).
The Greek-French film director and producer won the Palme d’or with Missing in 1982, was member of the jury in 1976 that crowned Taxi Driver and picked up the award for best director with Section spéciale in 1975.
The filmmaker will be present for a screening of Z, which won the jury prize in 1969, and has had the original negative scanned in 4k and restored frame by frame in 2K, supervised by Costa-Gavras.
Orson Welles
Marking 100 years since the birth of Orson Welles, Cannes will screen restorations of films from the legendary Us actor, director, writer and producer, who died in 1985.
The titles include his staggering debut Citizen Kane (1941), which has received a 4k restoration completed...
- 4/29/2015
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
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