The Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney, as part of the FARE CINEMA project of Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation), has organized a mini-series of four feature films dedicated to the great Italian actress, Claudia Cardinale, in collaboration with Cinecittà, Moving Story, and Cinema Reborn.
The films will be screened at the Ritz Cinema in Randwick on 18, 19, 20 and 21 July. The titles on the program are iconic in the more than 150 films of her career: Once Upon a Time in the West (, 1968), 8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963), The Girl with the Suitcase (Valerio Zurlini, 1961) and Enrico IV (Marco Bellocchio, 1984).
Before the screening of Once Upon a Time in the West on 18 July, film critic and former presenter of ABC Radio National Julie Rigg will be presenting the series. Rigg has been part of juries at film festivals around the world, including San Sebastián, Toronto, Venice, Havana and Dubai.
Intended as a tribute to what has universally been considered one of the most enchanting figures of Italian cinema, the series offers the opportunity to appreciate Cardinale’s artistic talents, as recognized by the many awards obtained during her sixty-year career, both in familiar and rarely seen performances. The scope of her brilliance is such that she could effortlessly move from the spaghetti western of Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time to the neo-realism of Valerio Zurlini’s Girls with the Suitcase to the surreality of Fellini’s 8 1/2 and Bellocchio’s Henry IV. All films have been restored by the Cinecitta’s labs and will be presented in 4K digital screenings.
Claudia Cardinale (Tunis, 1938) is one the most important Italian actresses to emerge in the 1960s and achieve international fame, on a par with Sophia Loren and Monica Vitti. During her long career, she acted in a vast range of film genres participating in more than 150 films, some of which are considered milestones of cult cinema. She played to great public success against the most acclaimed actors of her generation — Marcello Mastroianni, Gian Maria Volontè, Sean Connery, William Holden, Henry Fonda, Eli Wallach, David Niven, Burt Lancaster, just to name a few. Like other actresses of the 1960s and 1970s, she embodied a new female model, an emancipated, strong-willed and combative woman, striving to be free and independent, and aspiring to an equal role in emotional and professional relationships. Cardinale was awarded multiple prizes and recognitions for her performances, including five David di Donatello, five Nastri d’argento, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Bear for Lifetime Achievement at the Berlin Film Festival, and the Lumière Prize. Once upon a time in the West: a modest plot of land near Flagstone (an imaginary US Western city) is at the center of a conflict since it has the only supply of water in the area that is necessary for the upcoming steam locomotives. Sent by railroad magnate Morton to intimidate the plot’s owner into leaving, the hitman goes too far and kills the owner. When the property seems to be up for grabs, a former prostitute arrives from New Orleans, revealing that she is the murdered man’s new wife and therefore the legitimate owner of the plot. 8 ½: Guido Anselmi is a film director with a successful career, who is now dealing with a crisis of inspiration that is stalling his next film and making the producer anxious. At the spa where Guido consumes his apathy, while the making of the film continues to lag behind, a varied humanity drifts about — film critics, technicians, cardinals, psychics, as well as Guido’s women: Carla the devoted lover, Luisa the disillusioned wife, and Claudia the beautiful actress that Guido has idealized as a sort of muse. The girl with the suitcase: On a hot summer between Parma and the Romagna Riviera, young Aida Zepponi is left alone after Marcello, a Casanova who seduced her and made her false promises, departed in the attempt to get rid of her. Aida eventually catches up with Marcello. But when sees her in front of his house, he sends his sixteen-year-old brother, Lorenzo, to meet her. The boy, while not revealing the truth, first takes pity on Aida, then develops a crush on her. Henry IV: An adaptation of the play by Luigi Pirandello. To indulge the madness of an Italian nobleman who believes he is Henry IV, the family reenacts the German Emperor’s court in the castle. After a while, the man suddenly regains his wisdom and, recognizing in a friend the cause of his madness, he kills him. At that point, all he can do is continue pretending to be mad.
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