ACFC ART CENTER FILM CLUB SEASON 2 SPRING 15 2.20 — 4.24 P OST-WAR I TALI AN C I N E MA ITALIAN NEOREALISM became an international force in film immediately after the end of World War II and presented an ideal of film that abandoned the studio system for non-professional actors, documentary photography, non-Hollywood scripts , and a progressive ideology that seemed directly opposed to the cinema Italy had developed under the Fascist regime from 1922 to its fall in 1943. The series examines films by such directors as Roberto Rossellini, Vittorio De Sica, Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, and Michelangelo Antonioni.
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ROBERTO ROSSELLINI
2.20 ROM E OP EN C I T Y Rome, 1944. Giorgio Manfredi, one of the leaders of the Resistance is tracked down by the Nazis. He goes to his friend Francesco’s, and asks Pina, Francesco’s fiance, for help. Pina must warn a priest, Don Pietro Pellegrini, that Giorgio needs to leave the town as soon as possible.
2.27 PAI SAN Roberto Rossellini’s film, made in the aftermath of wwii, consists of six distinct chapters, showing various relationships between the American occupiers and the newly liberated Italians. Two of the outstanding episodes see black military policeman Dotts Johnson robbed of his shoes by a cheeky street urchin while the film ends with a reminder that the war was still not won, as German troops prefer to fight a battle to the death.
3.06 STRO M BOLI Lithuanian Karin flees her war-ravaged home country and winds up in Italy, where she’s sent to an internment camp. There, she meets Antonio, a pow who’s just been freed. They enjoy a brief romance, punctuated by Antonio’s marriage proposal, and Karin, seeing her chance to escape the camp, accepts. But Antonio takes her back to Stromboli, the volcanic island he lives on, and Karin struggles with a language barrier, brutal living conditions and her outsider status.
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VITTORIO DE SICA
3.13 TH E BI CYC LE T HI EF Unemployed Antonio Ricci is elated when he finally finds work hanging posters around war-torn Rome. His wife, Maria, sells the family’s bed linens to retrieve Antonio’s bicycle from the pawnshop so he can take the job. However, disaster strikes when Antonio’s bicycle is stolen, and his new job is doomed unless he can find the thief. With the help of his lively son, Bruno, Antonio combs the city, growing increasingly desperate for justice and vindication.
3.20 T WO WOM EN During World War II, Italian widow Cesira must leave Rome with her devout daughter when the city comes under attack by Allied forces. The pair flee to a small village, where they meet—and both fall for—the charming Michele. But the war uproots the life of mother and daughter once again when soldiers attack the duo and subject them to sexual assault. Their bond is strained as they struggle to overcome the tragedy that changes them both forever.
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POST-WAR LUCHINO VISCONTI
3.27 LA T ER RA T R EM A Antonio returns to his home in an Italian fishing village, convinced that he can buck the long-entrenched practices of low-paying wholesalers by purchasing his own fishing boat and running his own business. Unfortunately, going solo is extremely demanding, and when a disaster at sea severely damages his boat, he finds that he must again work for his rivals. His family begins to disintegrate from the stress and misfortune, as do his dreams of social justice.
4.03 ROCCO & HI S BR OT HE RS An impoverished widow and her five sons migrate from a small Italian village in search of a better life. Having recently been uprooted to Milan, Rocco and his four brothers each look for a new way in life when a prostitute comes between Rocco himself and his own brother Simone.
ITALIAN CIN FEDERICO FELLINI
4.10 LA ST RADA When Gelsomina, a naïve young woman, is purchased from her impoverished mother by brutish circus strongman Zampanò to be his wife and partner, she loyally endures her husband’s coldness and abuse as they travel the Italian countryside performing together. Soon Zampanò must deal with his jealousy and conflicted feelings about Gelsomina when she finds a kindred spirit in Matto, the carefree circus fool, and contemplates leaving Zampanò.
4.17 NI GHTS OF CABI R I A The magnificent Giulietta Masina plays an eternally optimistic Rome streetwalker with a heart of gold and a head of cotton candy in her husband’s Oscar-winning masterpiece. This funny, poignant classic inspired the musical “Sweet Charity” and is a must-see for Fellini fans.
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MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI
4.24 L’AVVEN T URA In Michelangelo Antonioni’s classic of Italian cinema, two lovely young women, Claudia and Anna, join the latter’s lover, Sandro, on a boat trip to a remote volcanic island. When Anna goes missing, an extensive search is launched. In the meantime, Sandro and Claudia become involved in a romance despite Anna’s disappearance, though the relationship suffers from the guilt and tension brought about by the looming mystery.
M all films shown at lat 7pm friday. free.