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The history of Italian Cinema began a just few months after the Lumière Brothers had discovered the medium, when Pope Leo XIII was filmed for a few seconds in the act of blessing the camera. EARLY YEARS The Italian film industry took shape between 1903 and 1908 , led by three major companies - the Roman '' Cines '', the '' Ambrosio '' of Turin and '' Itala Film ''. Other companies were soon to follow in Milan and Naples . In a short period of time, these early companies attained a respectable production quality and soon were selling films abroad as well as inside Italy. One of the first Italian ''filoni'' (sub-genres) was the historical film: the first work in the genre was Filoteo Alberini 's '' La Presa Di Roma, 20 Settembre 1870 '' (The Capture of Rome, September 20, 1870), filmed in 1905 . Other films portrayed famous historical figures such as Nero , Messalina , Spartacus , Julius Caesar and Cleopatra . Arturo Ambrosio 's '' Ultimi Giorni Di Pompei '' ( 1908 - The Last Days of Pompeii ) quickly became famous, so famous that it was remade by Mario Caserini in 1913. In the same year Enrico Guazzoni directed the widely appreciated '' Mark Antony and Cleopatra''. Actresses Lyda Borelli and Francesca Bertini were the first ''"divas"'' (stars), specialising in passionate tragedies. Francesca Bertini became the first "star" of cinema, as well as the first Actress to appear on film partly naked. Other ''filoni'' featured social themes, often based on published literature. In 1916 the film '' Cenere '' (Ash) was based on Grazia Deledda 's book, and interpreted by the Theatre actress Eleonora Duse (also famous as Gabriele D'Annunzio 's lover). INTRODUCTION OF SOUND Despite the introduction of sound, economic problems stemming from World War I caused the quality of Italian films to decline. It was only at the end of the 1920s that the industry began to recover, with innovative films directed by Alessandro Blasetti , Mario Camerini and his cousin Augusto Genina . Blasetti opened his long career with a vanguard project (''Sole'', 1928 ) and in the following years directed the famous Italian comedian Ettore Petrolini in his comic ''Nero'' (an extremely sophisticated Satire of Mussolini that, it is said, the Dictator himself allowed to pass Censorship ). Another burgeoning genre was '' Telefoni Bianchi '' (white telephones), so named because of the characteristic presence of these objects in scenes. The ''Telefoni Bianchi'' included films that illustrated high society, with a heavy dose of formal Morality reflecting the culture of the age. These films, generally little thought-of, launched the careers of many stars, such as Vittorio De Sica and Alida Valli . CINECITTà Meanwhile, , the son of the dictator, created a national production company and organised the work of the most gifted authors, directors and actors (including even some political opponents), thereby creating an interesting communication network among them, resulting in several famous friendships and, beyond that, stimulating cultural interaction. Roberto Rossellini , Federico Fellini among many others. NEOREALISM See Also: Italian neorealism Italian cinema had only a small price to pay for dictatorship. With the approaching War , many works were produced for Propaganda purposes, as is the case in many countries at-war. Nevertheless, in 1942 Blasetti produced his '' Quattro Passi Tra Le Nuvole '' (Four Steps in the Clouds), which is the story of a humble employee, considered by many as the first neorealist work. Neorealism exploded soon after the war, with unforgettable works such as Rossellini's trilogy and with extraordinary actors such as Anna Magnani , as an attempt to describe the difficult economic and moral conditions of Italy and the changes in public mentality in everyday life. Also, because Cinecittà was occupied by refugees, films were shot outdoors, on the devastated roads of a defeated country. This genre soon also became an important political tool, although in most cases directors were able to keep a distinguishing barrier between art and politics. Poetry and cruelty of life were harmonically combined in the works that '' (Shoeshine - 1946 ), '' Ladri Di Biciclette '' ( The Bicycle Thief , 1948 ) and '' Miracolo A Milano '' (Miracle in Milan, 1950 ). The sad, bitter Umberto D. ( 1952 ), the touching story of a poor old man with his little dog, who life forces to beg for alms against his dignity in the loneliness of the new society, is perhaps De Sica's masterpiece and one of the most important works in Italian cinema. Baptised with a heavy polemic with government, that would have censored it for alleged anti-national sentiments, the film was not a commercial success and since then it has been shown on Italian television only a few times. Yet it is perhaps the most violent attack, in the apparent quietness of the action, against the rules of the new economy, the new mentality, the new values, and it happens to have at the same time both a conservative and a progressive view. PINK NEOREALISM AND COMEDY It has been said that after "Umberto D." nothing more could be added to neorealism. Whether because of this, or for other reasons, neorealism effectively ended with this film. Following works turned toward lighter atmospheres, perhaps more coherent with the improving conditions of the country, and this genre has been called ''pink neorealism''. It was this ''filone'' that allowed better "equipped" actresses to become real celebrities: the encouraging figures of Sophia Loren , Gina Lollobrigida , Silvana Pampanini , Lucia Bosé , together with other beauties like Eleonora Rossi Drago , Silvana Mangano , Claudia Cardinale , and Stefania Sandrelli populated the imaginations of Italians just before the so-called "boom" of the 1960s . Soon pink neorealism was replaced by the ''Commedia all'Italiana'' (Italian Comedy), a unique genre that, born on an ideally humouristic line, talked instead very seriously about important social themes. At this time, on the more commercial side of production, the phenomenon of Totò , a Neapolitan actor who is acclaimed as the major Italian comic, exploded. His films (often with Peppino De Filippo and almost always with Mario Castellani ) expressed a sort of neorealistic satire, in the means of a Guitto as well as with the art of the great dramatic actor he also was, like Pier Paolo Pasolini would have shown. A "film-machine" who produced dozens of titles per year, his repertoire was frequently repeated. His personal story (a prince born in the poorest ''rione'' of Naples ), his unique twisted face, his special mimic expressions and his gesture, created an inimitable personage and made this man one of the most beloved Italians in his own country. Italian Comedy is generally considered to have started with Mario Monicelli 's ''I soliti Ignoti'' ( Big Deal On Madonna Street ) and derives its name from the title of Pietro Germi 's ''Divorzio all'Italiana'' (Divorce Italian Style - 1961 ). For a long time this definition was used with a derogatory intention. Vittorio Gassman , Marcello Mastroianni , Ugo Tognazzi , Alberto Sordi , Claudia Cardinale , Monica Vitti and Nino Manfredi were among the stars of these movies, that described the years of the economical reprise and investigated Italian dress, a sort of self-ethnological research. In 1961 , Dino Risi directed ''Il sorpasso'', now a cult-movie, then ''Una vita difficile'' (A Difficult Life), ''I mostri'' (The Monsters, a.k.a. 15 From Rome), ''In nome del Popolo Italiano'' (In the Name of the Italian People) and ''Profumo di donna'' (Scent of a Woman). Monicelli's works include ''La grande guerra'' (The Great War), ''I compagni'' (Comrades, a.k.a. The Organizer), ''L'armata Brancaleone'', ''Vogliamo i colonnelli'' (We Want the Colonels), ''Romanzo popolare'' (Popular Romance) and ''Amici miei''. THE SPAGHETTI WESTERN See Also: Spaghetti Western At the same time, another genre, the Spaghetti Western began to achieve great success, not only in Italy, but throughout the world. These films differed from traditional Western s not only in that they were filmed in Italy on low budgets, but also by their unique, vivid cinematography. The most important and popular spaghetti westerns were those of Sergio Leone , whose Dollars Trilogy , consisting of A Fistful Of Dollars , For A Few Dollars More , and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly , which also featured Clint Eastwood and scores by Ennio Morricone , came to define the genre. Also considered spaghetti westerns is a genre of film that married the traditional western ambience with the comic tradition of the Commedia All'italiana . Included among such films are Lo Chiamavano Trinità... and ...continuavano A Chiamarlo Trinità , which featured Bud Spencer and Terence Hill , the stage names of Carlo Pedersoli and Mario Girotti , respectively. THE CRISIS OF THE 80'S Between the late 70's and mid-80's, Italian cinema endured a long period of crisis. During this time, "art films" became increasingly isolated, separating from the mainstream Italian cinema. Among the major artistic films of this era were '' La Città Delle Donne '' of Fellini, '' L'albero Degli Zoccoli '' by Ermanno Olmi , winner of the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival , and '' Bianca '' by Nanni Moretti . Although not entirely Italian, Bertolucci's The Last Emperor , winner of 9 Oscars, cannot be ignored. At the same time, "trash films" reached great success with the Italian public. Films of little artistic value, these comedies reached their popularity by confronting Italian social taboos, most notably in the sexual sphere. Several actors, including Lino Banfi , Diego Abatantuono , Alvaro Vitali , Gloria Guida and Edwige Fenech owe much of their popularity to these films. Also considered part of the trash genre are a group of films that have the ragionier Fantozzi, a comic personage invented by Paolo Villaggio ; this character had a great impact on Italian society, to such a degree that the adjective ''fantozziano'' entered the lexicon. Of the many films telling of Fantozzi's misadventures, the most notable were Fantozzi and Il Secondo Tragico Fantozzi 1990 TO TODAY A new generation of directors has helped return Italian cinema to a healthy level since the end of the 80's. The sign-bearer for this renaissance is Nuovo Cinema Paradiso , for which Giuseppe Tornatore won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1990. This victory was followed two years later by another, when Gabriele Salvatores 's Mediterraneo won the same prize. ... RENOWNED FIGURES Directors Actors and Actresses
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