Maria Grazia Francia Movies
- 1953
La Voca del Silenzio (Voice of Silence) was the only Italian production of fabled German director G. W. Pabst. Based on a concept by neorealism specialist Cesar Zavattini (fleshed out by a team of =12= prominent writers, including Pabst himself and Jean Cocteau), the film follows a small group of very troubled men during a three-day spiritual sojourn. One is a politician, laden with guilt over his comportment during WW II. The second is a war veteran whose wife has "grown away" from him. The third is a writer of detective novels whose works might have inspired a real-life killing. The fourth is a thief who has come to the spiritual retreat to avoid capture. And the fifth is a candle merchant whose livelihood is threatened by modern technology. One of the few concessions to popular taste is a striptease sequence involving Rosanna Podesta. In keeping with the film's title, few words are spoken in La Voca del Silenzio; in this respect, the film is an intriguing throwback to Pabst's classic silent films. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Italian filmmaker Giuseppe De Santis followed his internationally acclaimed Bitter Rice with another exercise in neorealism, Non C'e Pace Tra Girl Ulivi (No Peace Under the Oliver Tree). Raf Vallone stars as shepherd Francesco, whose sister is raped by the villain of the piece. Thrown into jail on a trumped-up charge, Francesco escapes, vowing a horrible revenge against the man who framed him and violated his sister. Somewhat self-consciously directed, Non c'e Pace etc. isn't quite in the same league as Bitter Rice, though the performances are convincing and the cinematography (by Piero Portalupi) is first-rate. Welcome comedy relief is provided by Dante Maggio as Vallone's best friend. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raf Vallone, Lucia Bosé, (more)
- 1950
I Fuorilegge was based on the career of the late and unlamented Sicilian bandit chieftain Giuliamo. Ermanno Randi plays the Giuliamo counterpart, here renamed Cosimo. The film unfolds in a sketchy, anecdotal fashion, concluding with a reasonably faithful recreation of the events leading up to the bandit's capture. In the film, Cosimo is killed by the police; in real life, Giuliamo was still alive--but not for long. For box-office insurance, Vittorio Gassman and Umberto Spadaro appear in secondary roles. Though director Aldo Vergano made no secret of sentiments in his previous films, I Fuorilegge is admirably objective, permitting the viewer to decide whether Giuliamo was hero or villain. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Umberto Spadaro, (more)
- 1948
Originally released as Riso Amaro, Bitter Rice was one of the landmark films of the postwar Italian neorealist movement. Silvana Mangano portrays one of hundreds of women toiling slavishly in the Po Valley rice fields. She is courted by two men: respectable Raf Vallone and no-good fugitive from justice Vittorio Gassman. Mangano chooses Gassman, a decision which brings disaster not only to her but to her co-workers. The rice-field scenes are realistic enough to pass muster as documentary footage, though they tend to be undercut in the English-language version by the amateurish dubbing. Critics were unanimous in their praise for Bitter Rice; their words were, however, ignored by the male fans who came to see the film solely on the strength of the now-famous production still of the buxom Silvana Mangano standing in the rice field wearing tight shorts and torn black stockings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vittorio Gassman, Doris Dowling, (more)
- 1947
Anna Magnani won Best Actress at the 1947 Venice Film Festival for her stirring comic performance in this charming film, which she co-wrote with director Luigi Zampa, [$Suso Cecchio D'Amico, and Piero Tellini. Magnani portrays Angelina, an impoverished housewife who begins a passionate battle to improve the standard of living in her slum neighborhood in the days following World War II. The problems of flooding, suitable housing and other hardships take a backseat to Magnani's whirlwind energy and courage, but she and Zampa never forget the warmth behind the humor. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anna Magnani, Nando Bruno, (more)
