Carlo Lizzani

Carlo Lizzani

Birth : 1922-04-03, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Death : 2013-10-05

History

Carlo Lizzani was an Italian film director, screenwriter and critic. Born in Rome, after World War II Lizzani worked on such notable films of the late 1940s as Roberto Rossellini's Germany Year Zero, Alberto Lattuada's The Mill on the Po (both 1948) and Giuseppe De Santis' Bitter Rice (1950, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Story). After helming documentaries, he debuted as a feature director with the admired World War II drama Achtung! Banditi! (1951). He films an episode of L'Amore in Città. Respected for his awarded drama Chronicle of Poor Lovers (1954), he has proven a solid director of genre films, notably crime films such as The Violent Four (1968) and Crazy Joe (1974) or erotic comedy Roma Bene (1971). He worked frequently for Italian television in the 1980s and was a member of the jury at the Berlin Film Festival in 1994. His film Celluloide deals with the making of Rome, Open City. He committed suicide in 2013.

Profile

Carlo Lizzani

Movies

Cinecittà Babylon
Himself - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The story of Italian cinema under Fascism, a sophisticated film industry built around the founding of the Cinecittà studios and the successful birth of a domestic star system, populated by very peculiar artists among whom stood out several beautiful, magnetic, special actresses; a dark story of war, drugs, sex, censorship and tragedy.
Gian Luigi Rondi - Vita, cinema, passione
Sé stesso
Sperduti nel buio
Himself
Documentary about the lost 1914 film "Sperduti nel buio". Film historian Denis Lotto journeys across Europe following the trail of the lost movie.
Non eravamo solo... Ladri di biciclette - Il neorealismo
Narrator / Self
This short film tells the story of the most important cinema trend that Italy has ever produced - Neo Realism. Born after the Second World War, this veritable cultural revolution rapidly became a boundless source of inspiration for movie-makers throughout the entire world. Even today it influences those wanting to produce quality movies characterized and identified as Italian products able to be exported as well. It is precisely one of the masters of this unique current rich in different personalities who introduces the story - Carlo Lizzani - whose 'lesson' reconstructs the birth and development of Neorealism in Italy. It combined innovative movie techniques with a new view based on a 'true' interpretation of reality. Due to its high cultural value, this short film was given the highest reknown of the Presidency of the Republic of Italy.
Non eravamo solo... Ladri di biciclette - Il neorealismo
Writer
This short film tells the story of the most important cinema trend that Italy has ever produced - Neo Realism. Born after the Second World War, this veritable cultural revolution rapidly became a boundless source of inspiration for movie-makers throughout the entire world. Even today it influences those wanting to produce quality movies characterized and identified as Italian products able to be exported as well. It is precisely one of the masters of this unique current rich in different personalities who introduces the story - Carlo Lizzani - whose 'lesson' reconstructs the birth and development of Neorealism in Italy. It combined innovative movie techniques with a new view based on a 'true' interpretation of reality. Due to its high cultural value, this short film was given the highest reknown of the Presidency of the Republic of Italy.
Giuliano Montaldo - Quattro volte vent'anni
Self
The Years of Lost Images
Self
A documentary about director Valerio Zurlini. The "lost images" of the title are the movies Zurlini was never able to shoot: between 1962, the year he won the Golden Lion with Family Diary, and 1982, the year of his death, he directed only four features. The documentary features interviews with close collaborators (celebrated screenwriters Enrico Medioli and Nicola Badalucco) and some of his actors (Jacques Perrin and Claudia Cardinale).
Giovanna Cau - Diversamente giovane
Se stesso
Noi c'eravamo
Voi siete qui
A Dream of Women
Self
A new documentary film on Fellini's 'La Città del Donne' ('City of Women') directed by Dominique Maillet, featuring producer Renzo Rossellini, film historian Aldo Tassone, producer and film historian Carlo Lizzani, and Federico Fellini's assistant Dominique Delouche (1955-1960).
Scossa
Director
100 years ago, a terrible earthquake, followed by an equally terrible tidal wave, devastated and largely destroyed Messina and Reggio Calabria.
Portrait Of My Father
Self
A labor of love documentary, in which a daughter, with the help of various talking heads, looks back on the life work of her father.
Vittorio racconta Gassman: Una vita da mattatore
Self
Luchino Visconti: Life as in a Novel
Director
A documentary about film director Luchino Visconti
All Human Rights for All
Writer
Collective film for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with 30 directors each helming a segment about one of the 30 articles of the Declaration.
All Human Rights for All
Director
Collective film for the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with 30 directors each helming a segment about one of the 30 articles of the Declaration.
Il falso bugiardo
Self
Based upon Vincenzoni's biography, "Pane e cinema", the documentary traces the story of the screen play writer who invented many stories that became blockbusters throughout the world.
Giuseppe De Santis
Director
A brief tribute to the grat director, spanning through some insights about his character, his works, his life, through the words of critics, relatives, colleagues, with a collage technique of interviews, archive footage, and brief excerpts and pictures from some of his works.
Hotel Meina
Screenplay
How will the Germans react to the armistice of the 8th of September 1943, due to which Italy betrays them and sides with the allied forces? This is the distressing questions that a group of 16 Italian - Greek Jews evacuated at The Meina Hotel ask themselves.
Hotel Meina
Director
How will the Germans react to the armistice of the 8th of September 1943, due to which Italy betrays them and sides with the allied forces? This is the distressing questions that a group of 16 Italian - Greek Jews evacuated at The Meina Hotel ask themselves.
Through Children's Eyes - De Sica & Shoeshine
Looks back at the Sciuscià, its success abroad, its influence on later filmmakers, its Oscar win, and the social conditions at the time of its production.
Once Upon a Time... 'Rome, Open City'
Self
Television documentary about the making of Roberto Rossellini's 1945 film "Rome, Open City".
Behind Love and Anger
Interviews with directors Marco Bellocchio and Carlo Lizzani, assistant director Maurizio Ponzi, and editor Roberto Perpignani.
Le cinque giornate di Milano
Director
Western all'italiana
"Western all'italiana" is a documentary produced and broadcast by the satellite broadcaster Studio Universal in 2004, on the occasion of the broadcasting of a selection of Italian western films, the so-called "spaghetti westerns". In the course of the video, the birth, evolution and conclusion of the Italian western trend is told.
Cesare Zavattini
Director
Documentary about Italian film screenwriter Cesare Zavattini
Maria Josè, l'ultima regina
Director
Maria Josè was the daughter of the king of Belgium and she was betrothed to Umberto di Savoia, the son of Vittorio Emanuele III, the king of Italy. The movie tells her story from her teens, when she was a Red Cross nurse during World War I until her exile in 1946.
Pope John XXIII
Pio XII
This is a two-part Italian television mini-series directed by Giorgio Capitani and broadcasted in April 2002 on Rai Uno. It is the life story of Pope John XXIII, nicknamed "the good Pope".
Sergio Leone: cinema, cinema
Self - Filmmaker
The life and work of one of the great masters of Italian cinema, Sergio Leone (1929-89); a rich and fascinating portrait through unpublished testimonies of collaborators, actors, directors and critics who reconstruct every aspect of his creative activity.
Roberto Rossellini: Fragments and Jokes
Narrator
Documentary about master director Roberto Rossellini, who tells details of his life and childhood and visits the places where he has lived and shot some of his most famous movies.
Roberto Rossellini: Fragments and Jokes
Director
Documentary about master director Roberto Rossellini, who tells details of his life and childhood and visits the places where he has lived and shot some of his most famous movies.
Luchino Visconti
Self
A chronological look at the creative life of Luchino Visconti (1906-1976). It examines his theatricality, role in the neorealist movement, use of melodrama, and relation to decadence. It touches on the impact of a fabulously wealthy childhood, his writing for "Cinema," his politics, his work with Renoir, his appreciation of Thomas Mann, and his deep knowledge of literature and the arts. Visconti moves constantly between film and the theater, staging plays provocatively, working with Maria Callas at La Scala, and shooting films in theaters. Clips from his films and interviews with actors, crew members, and critics provide details for this portrait of creativity.
Luchino Visconti
Writer
A chronological look at the creative life of Luchino Visconti (1906-1976). It examines his theatricality, role in the neorealist movement, use of melodrama, and relation to decadence. It touches on the impact of a fabulously wealthy childhood, his writing for "Cinema," his politics, his work with Renoir, his appreciation of Thomas Mann, and his deep knowledge of literature and the arts. Visconti moves constantly between film and the theater, staging plays provocatively, working with Maria Callas at La Scala, and shooting films in theaters. Clips from his films and interviews with actors, crew members, and critics provide details for this portrait of creativity.
Luchino Visconti
Director
A chronological look at the creative life of Luchino Visconti (1906-1976). It examines his theatricality, role in the neorealist movement, use of melodrama, and relation to decadence. It touches on the impact of a fabulously wealthy childhood, his writing for "Cinema," his politics, his work with Renoir, his appreciation of Thomas Mann, and his deep knowledge of literature and the arts. Visconti moves constantly between film and the theater, staging plays provocatively, working with Maria Callas at La Scala, and shooting films in theaters. Clips from his films and interviews with actors, crew members, and critics provide details for this portrait of creativity.
Roberto Rossellini: Il mestiere di uomo
Self
Documentary about the life and works of Italian filmmaker Roberto Rossellini.
Celluloide
Screenplay
June 1944. In the newly liberated Rome, Roberto Rossellini and Sergio Amidei decide, against all odds, to make an unprecedented, true-to-life film on the tragic events that occurred during the Nazi occupation: Rome, Open City .
Celluloide
Director
June 1944. In the newly liberated Rome, Roberto Rossellini and Sergio Amidei decide, against all odds, to make an unprecedented, true-to-life film on the tragic events that occurred during the Nazi occupation: Rome, Open City .
The Wicked
Director
At the beginning of the 20th century, a junior resident takes an interest in a newly-arrived patient, a young Italian woman who has mysteriously developed schizophrenia. To identify the causes of her condition, he employs psychoanalytic methods to dig into her sexual past, despite objections by the old-fashioned chief physician.
Rossellini
A profile of the film director Roberto Rossellini, looking at his life, personality and films, following his career and his relationship with Ingrid Bergman.
12 Directors for 12 Cities
Director
Promotional omnibus film, made for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, featuring portraits of 12 Italian cities.
Caro Gorbaciov
Screenplay
Caro Gorbaciov
Director
Assicurazione sulla morte
Director
Mamma Ebe
Writer
Based on the story of the woman recently brought to trial on charges of moral plagiarism and witchcraft.
Mamma Ebe
Director
Based on the story of the woman recently brought to trial on charges of moral plagiarism and witchcraft.
Stato d'emergenza - Il caso Dozier
Director
Farewell to Enrico Berlinguer
Director
A film of Enrico Berlinguer's funeral in Rome, briefly tracing his career as leader of the Italian Communist Party.
The House of the Yellow Carpet
Director
Franca and her husband Antonio decide to sell a yellow rug which was a gift of Franca's stepfather. One day, while Antonio is out, a strange man rings saying he wishes to buy the rug. But the man's visit becames a nightmare. He kidnaps Franca and says he killed his wife on that same yellow rug. Then Franca kills the man. But is that really all that has happened? And who was that strange man?
Inverno di malato
Writer
Girolamo, a teenager from a good family suffering from bone tuberculosis, is hospitalized in a sanatorium where he is forced to suffer the harassment of his rough roommate, sadistically backed by an Austrian nurse. To alleviate his suffering a little will be the tender friendship with Polly, a sweet English girl.
Inverno di malato
Director
Girolamo, a teenager from a good family suffering from bone tuberculosis, is hospitalized in a sanatorium where he is forced to suffer the harassment of his rough roommate, sadistically backed by an Austrian nurse. To alleviate his suffering a little will be the tender friendship with Polly, a sweet English girl.
Venezia
Director
Fontamara
Screenplay
Fontamara is a village in the Marsica, forgotten by all but God and its inhabitants are called 'cafoni' (boors). Berardo Viola wants to marry Elvira but only after gaining enough money to buy some land and in order to reach his aim he has the idea of going to a great city. When Maria Grazia is raped by the fascists, Berardo and Antonio decide to leave Fontamara and go to Rome. Here they are swindled by a lawyer and afterwards they are invited by an antifascist to a restaurant where they are arrested by the police because of some subversive papers they had.
Fontamara
Director
Fontamara is a village in the Marsica, forgotten by all but God and its inhabitants are called 'cafoni' (boors). Berardo Viola wants to marry Elvira but only after gaining enough money to buy some land and in order to reach his aim he has the idea of going to a great city. When Maria Grazia is raped by the fascists, Berardo and Antonio decide to leave Fontamara and go to Rome. Here they are swindled by a lawyer and afterwards they are invited by an antifascist to a restaurant where they are arrested by the police because of some subversive papers they had.
Kleinhoff Hotel
Director
Pascale, married to an architect, misses her flight to London and is forced to stay in Berlin, at the Kleinhoff Hotel where she stayed as a student. Karl, a would-be revolutionary lives in the adjoining room and Pascale spies him and his ex-girl-friend through a hole. Then she follows him to a questionable place where she is arrested by the police during a revolutionists raid. When she returns to the Kleinhoff Hotel, Pascale finds Karl crying, and enters his room to console him and they have a love affair.
San Babila-8 P.M.
Writer
A quartet of young neo-Fascists terrorise the Milanise locals while the Police mostly look the other way.
San Babila-8 P.M.
Director
A quartet of young neo-Fascists terrorise the Milanise locals while the Police mostly look the other way.
The Teenage Prostitution Racket
Writer
A drama about several teenage girls from different backgrounds who are drawn to prostitution and enter a world of violence and abuse that is almost impossible to leave behind.
The Teenage Prostitution Racket
Director
A drama about several teenage girls from different backgrounds who are drawn to prostitution and enter a world of violence and abuse that is almost impossible to leave behind.
The Last Four Days
Screenplay
In 1945, the dictator of fascist Italy and Hitler's close ally Benito Mussolini faces defeat. In a desperate attempt to avoid capture, he tries to flee the country with his lover Claretta Petacci, but Italian partisans are on their tail.
The Last Four Days
Director
In 1945, the dictator of fascist Italy and Hitler's close ally Benito Mussolini faces defeat. In a desperate attempt to avoid capture, he tries to flee the country with his lover Claretta Petacci, but Italian partisans are on their tail.
Crazy Joe
Director
The rise and fall of a Mafia gangster, based on the life of murdered New York gangster "Crazy" Joey Gallo.
Black Turin
Director
Mino and Lello, two sons of a worker wrongly accused of murder, try to find out evidence of his innocence and begin to investigate mafia business in Torino.
Roma bene
Screenplay
Nino Manfredi is a police captain, giving an onlooker's point-of-view towards the decadent society folk. Party itself features a down & out baron, who dances with the party's glamorous hostess Virna Lisi so that he can steal her valuable earrings. When they're missing, she's angry enough to call in the cops (Manfredi shows up) and have the baron taken away.
Roma bene
Director
Nino Manfredi is a police captain, giving an onlooker's point-of-view towards the decadent society folk. Party itself features a down & out baron, who dances with the party's glamorous hostess Virna Lisi so that he can steal her valuable earrings. When they're missing, she's angry enough to call in the cops (Manfredi shows up) and have the baron taken away.
The Tough and the Mighty
Writer
Based on the story of real life Sardinian bandit Graziano Mesina.
The Tough and the Mighty
Journalist (uncredited)
Based on the story of real life Sardinian bandit Graziano Mesina.
The Tough and the Mighty
Director
Based on the story of real life Sardinian bandit Graziano Mesina.
Love and Anger
Producer
Five short stories with contemporary settings. In New York, people are indifferent to derelicts sleeping on sidewalks, to a woman's assault in front of an apartment building, and to a couple injured in a car crash. A man, stripped of his identity, dies in bed with actors expressing his agony. A cheerful, innocent young man walking a city street in a time of war pays a price for this innocence. A couple talks about cinema while it watches another couple talk of love and truth on the eve of one character's return to Cuba. Striking students take over a university classroom; an argument follows about revolution or incremental change.
Love and Anger
Writer
Five short stories with contemporary settings. In New York, people are indifferent to derelicts sleeping on sidewalks, to a woman's assault in front of an apartment building, and to a couple injured in a car crash. A man, stripped of his identity, dies in bed with actors expressing his agony. A cheerful, innocent young man walking a city street in a time of war pays a price for this innocence. A couple talks about cinema while it watches another couple talk of love and truth on the eve of one character's return to Cuba. Striking students take over a university classroom; an argument follows about revolution or incremental change.
Love and Anger
Director
Five short stories with contemporary settings. In New York, people are indifferent to derelicts sleeping on sidewalks, to a woman's assault in front of an apartment building, and to a couple injured in a car crash. A man, stripped of his identity, dies in bed with actors expressing his agony. A cheerful, innocent young man walking a city street in a time of war pays a price for this innocence. A couple talks about cinema while it watches another couple talk of love and truth on the eve of one character's return to Cuba. Striking students take over a university classroom; an argument follows about revolution or incremental change.
The Bandit
Writer
Sicily, 1865. Two peasants, Gramigna and his father are tricked by Baron Nardò and robbed of their field, which then the baron lets to Assunta, her daughter Gemma and her fiancé Ramarro. Determined to take revenge, Gramigna begins to hunt down Nardò's complicit mediators. Unbeknownst to Gramigna, Gemma, to escape her arranged marriage, goes after him. Love and violence will follow all till their desperate ends.
The Bandit
Director
Sicily, 1865. Two peasants, Gramigna and his father are tricked by Baron Nardò and robbed of their field, which then the baron lets to Assunta, her daughter Gemma and her fiancé Ramarro. Determined to take revenge, Gramigna begins to hunt down Nardò's complicit mediators. Unbeknownst to Gramigna, Gemma, to escape her arranged marriage, goes after him. Love and violence will follow all till their desperate ends.
Black Jesus
Producer
A thinly-disguised biography of African leader Patrice Lumumba, here called Lalubi. Lalubi, a Christ-like leader determined to save his people, by passive resistance, from the dictatorial regime propped up by European colonialists, is imprisoned and tortured, along with a thief who comes to a greater understanding through his contact with Lalubi.
The Violent Four
Story
A detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.
The Violent Four
Police official (uncredited)
A detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.
The Violent Four
Screenplay
A detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.
The Violent Four
Director
A detective is assigned to head a manhunt for four violent bank robbers.
Kill and Pray
Producer
A Mexican community is slaughtered by Confederate troops; the lone survivor, a boy, is taken in by a preacher. Years later, the boy is now a soft-spoken, devout young man with perfect shooting skills (despite being a pacifist). On his journey to help his half-sister out of a complicated situation, he crosses paths with the men who killed his family, unbeknownst to him.
Kill and Pray
Director
A Mexican community is slaughtered by Confederate troops; the lone survivor, a boy, is taken in by a preacher. Years later, the boy is now a soft-spoken, devout young man with perfect shooting skills (despite being a pacifist). On his journey to help his half-sister out of a complicated situation, he crosses paths with the men who killed his family, unbeknownst to him.
The Hills Run Red
Director
After the Civil War ends, two soldiers return home with a cache of stolen money. They are caught by Union troops. One escapes, but the other is sent to prison for five years. When he gets out and goes home, he finds that his wife has died in poverty because his partner kept all the money, and is now a major power in the area with an army of deadly gunmen to back him up.
Wake Up and Die
Producer
A petty hoodlum pulls jewellery store heists in broad daylight. The cop on his tail knows he has accomplices and focuses on the gangster's girl friend is his attempt to catch him.
Wake Up and Die
Director
A petty hoodlum pulls jewellery store heists in broad daylight. The cop on his tail knows he has accomplices and focuses on the gangster's girl friend is his attempt to catch him.
Thrilling
Director
An anthology film / black comedy about three ordinary men who become involved in violent crimes.
The Dirty Game
Director
A U.S. intelligence general recalls three Cold War cases of Soviet, French and Italian spies.
La Celestina P… R…
Screenplay
La Celestina P… R…
Director
Amori pericolosi
Writer
Three episodes of varying pitch and quality. In the first a maid plans the elimination of her lover's wife with him, but she doesn't enjoy the fruits of victory. In the second (The patrol) a soldier of the Foreign Legion neglects his duties for running after a prostitute. The third segment has as its protagonist a general of the belle époque that goes on a date.
Amori pericolosi
Director
Three episodes of varying pitch and quality. In the first a maid plans the elimination of her lover's wife with him, but she doesn't enjoy the fruits of victory. In the second (The patrol) a soldier of the Foreign Legion neglects his duties for running after a prostitute. The third segment has as its protagonist a general of the belle époque that goes on a date.
It's a Hard Life
Screenplay
Luciano Bianchi lives with his wife and son in the small town of Guastalla. As an intellectual and bibliophile, he works as head of cultural initiatives at a mining plant.
It's a Hard Life
Director
Luciano Bianchi lives with his wife and son in the small town of Guastalla. As an intellectual and bibliophile, he works as head of cultural initiatives at a mining plant.
The Verona Trial
Director
This film is the moving story of Edda Ciano, the daughter of Italian dictator Mussolini, who was unable to prevent the atrocious assassination of her husband by fanatics of her father.
To Arms, We Are Fascists!
Thanks
Documentary compiled from archives and accompanied by a poet's commentary, shows the sweep of modern Italian history from 1911 to 1961, centering on the conditions leading to Fascism and the post-WWII reaction to the Fascist experience.
Gold of Rome
Screenplay
Rome 1943. The German Commandant of the city causes a turmoil in the Jewish community by offering them what seems to be an expensive way out of imprisonment and death.
Gold of Rome
Story
Rome 1943. The German Commandant of the city causes a turmoil in the Jewish community by offering them what seems to be an expensive way out of imprisonment and death.
Gold of Rome
Director
Rome 1943. The German Commandant of the city causes a turmoil in the Jewish community by offering them what seems to be an expensive way out of imprisonment and death.
Duel of Champions
Screenplay
A Roman nobleman, Horatius leads an imperial legion during the long and bloody war between the Romans and the Albans. A desperate arrangement is agreed on how to settle the war. Three valiant brothers are chosen from each side to fight one last fierce and bloody duel...
The Policeman on Horseback
Director
A soldier has his horse stolen on his wedding day and spends the first day of his honeymoon looking for it.
The Hunchback
Screenplay
Alvaro Cosenza, also known as the Hunchback from Quarticciolo, during Rome's occupation by Nazis in 1943, decides to revolt.
The Hunchback
Director
Alvaro Cosenza, also known as the Hunchback from Quarticciolo, during Rome's occupation by Nazis in 1943, decides to revolt.
Esterina
Director
Esterina, a young war orphan, joins two truck drivers, Gino and Piero, on their trips along Northern Italy. She wants to find her luck in the big city, but her dreams turn into disappointing experiences. She falls in love with Gino but he is not interested in her, until she disappears...
La muraglia cinese
Director
A travelogue of China.
The Screwball
Writer
Achilles, a Hulot-like factotum for an evening newspaper, travels around looking for a scoop in the Milan of the "economic miracle."
The Screwball
Director
Achilles, a Hulot-like factotum for an evening newspaper, travels around looking for a scoop in the Milan of the "economic miracle."
Chronicle of Poor Lovers
Screenplay
In 1925, young Florentine typographer Mario moves to via del Corno to be near his girlfriend Bianca. Here befriends Maciste, his landlord, and Ugo, anti-fascists both of them. After a resident is beaten by the fascists, Mario meets her wife Milena at the hospital, falling in love with her and leaving Bianca. Maciste is killed, again by fascists, while Ugo is wounded and he seeks shelter in a nearby house. Here he falls in love with Gesuina and the two marry. Milena's husband dies, but she and Mario part ways. Later, Mario is arrested by the police.
Chronicle of Poor Lovers
Director
In 1925, young Florentine typographer Mario moves to via del Corno to be near his girlfriend Bianca. Here befriends Maciste, his landlord, and Ugo, anti-fascists both of them. After a resident is beaten by the fascists, Mario meets her wife Milena at the hospital, falling in love with her and leaving Bianca. Maciste is killed, again by fascists, while Ugo is wounded and he seeks shelter in a nearby house. Here he falls in love with Gesuina and the two marry. Milena's husband dies, but she and Mario part ways. Later, Mario is arrested by the police.
Human Torpedoes
Screenplay
A team of highly trained Italian seamen are taken to the island of Stampalia where there are to take their torpedo-laden attack craft on a daring attack on the port of Suda.
Love in the City
Director
Six separate episodes exploring themes of love, sex and romance in the Italian capital. "Paid Love" offers a glimpse into prostitution; "Attempted Suicide" features would-be suicides discussing their despair; "Paradise for Three Hours" depicts an evening at a provincial dance hall; "Marriage Agency" follows an investigative reporter posing as a husband-to-be; "Story of Caterina" tells the story of a young unwed mother forced to abandon her child; and "Italians Stare" catalogues the girl-watching techniques of Italian men.
At the Edge of the City
Writer
Based on real events, in Rome a lawyer is not sure whether to accept defending a lower-class worker wrongly accused of the murder of his girlfriend.
At the Edge of the City
Director
Based on real events, in Rome a lawyer is not sure whether to accept defending a lower-class worker wrongly accused of the murder of his girlfriend.
Attention! Bandits!
Story
During the winter of 1944, the partisans stationed in the Ligurian Apennines must go to a factory in Genoa, in order to pick up a delivery of weapons. Meanwhile, there's a strike in the city and the Nazis are trying to suppress it violently. The factory becomes the scene of fighting between the Germans and the partisans but the latter, aided by the workers, will be able to get the better.
Attention! Bandits!
Screenplay
During the winter of 1944, the partisans stationed in the Ligurian Apennines must go to a factory in Genoa, in order to pick up a delivery of weapons. Meanwhile, there's a strike in the city and the Nazis are trying to suppress it violently. The factory becomes the scene of fighting between the Germans and the partisans but the latter, aided by the workers, will be able to get the better.
Attention! Bandits!
Director
During the winter of 1944, the partisans stationed in the Ligurian Apennines must go to a factory in Genoa, in order to pick up a delivery of weapons. Meanwhile, there's a strike in the city and the Nazis are trying to suppress it violently. The factory becomes the scene of fighting between the Germans and the partisans but the latter, aided by the workers, will be able to get the better.
Nel mezzogiorno qualcosa è cambiato
Director
The film by the well-known Italian director Carlo Lizzani is one of the now classic documentaries about the post-war problems of southern Italy. It focuses primarily on the congress concerning the post-war reconstruction of the region, but its main themes are poverty, exploitation of workers and the underdevelopment of the southern regions, exacerbated by WWII, and emphasizes the role of protesting workers as the leading force of transformation. While scenes of workers’ demonstrations were to be cut from the film in Italy, its original form won the Best Short Film Outline award at the 1950 Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Under the Olive Tree
Screenplay
A young shepherd returns home after the Second World War having been held in a prisoner of war camp. He finds that the local landowner has stolen his sheep and his girlfriend. When he also assaults and murders his sister, the shepherd takes revenge.
Bitter Rice
Story
Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.
Bitter Rice
Screenplay
Francesca and Walter are two-bit criminals in Northern Italy, and, in an effort to avoid the police, Francesca joins a group of women rice workers. She meets the voluptuous peasant rice worker, Silvana, and the soon-to-be-discharged soldier, Marco. Walter follows her to the rice fields, and the four characters become involved in a complex plot involving robbery, love, and murder.
The Mill on the Po
First Assistant Director
In the Po Valley during the 19th century, a rich girl engaged to a well-to-do farmer ends up penniless and is forced to work for her fiancé’s relatives. Peasant unrest, carried to extremes by both workers and landowners, leads to violence and tragedy.
Germany, Year Zero
Assistant Director
In the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, a twelve-year-old boy is left to his own devices in order to help provide for his family.
Germany, Year Zero
Writer
In the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, a twelve-year-old boy is left to his own devices in order to help provide for his family.
Tragic Hunt
Co-Director
Immediately after the war, bandits attack a truck that is transporting newlyweds Michele and Giovanna and the accountant of an agricultural cooperative charged with bringing four million lire into office.
Tragic Hunt
Screenplay
Immediately after the war, bandits attack a truck that is transporting newlyweds Michele and Giovanna and the accountant of an agricultural cooperative charged with bringing four million lire into office.
Tragic Hunt
Story
Immediately after the war, bandits attack a truck that is transporting newlyweds Michele and Giovanna and the accountant of an agricultural cooperative charged with bringing four million lire into office.
Outcry
Don Camillo, il prete
A neorealist tribute to the Italian resistance fighters of World War II.
Outcry
Screenplay
A neorealist tribute to the Italian resistance fighters of World War II.
Amore che si paga
Director
Carlo Lizzani's short film for the anthology film Love in the City