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Home , Antonio Pietrangeli

Antonio Pietrangeli (, 19 January 1919 – Gaeta, 12 July 1968) by Elena Dagrada University of Milan

life), but his interests for literature and cin- ema always prevailed. He wrote for the film magazine Cinema as well (only one ar- ticle), and in 1942, with Mino Donati and Massimo Mida Puccini, he founded and directed Si gira, a journal that promoted a realistic renovation of Italian cinema, but was suppressed by Fascism after a few is- sues. Between 1941 and 1942, he started to visit film sets. He was production assistant of Via delle Cinque Lune (The Five Moons Street, Luigi Chiarini, 1942) and, with , assistant director of Ossessione (Obsession, , 1943), revising dialogues and being cred- Antonio Pietrangeli was born in Rome on ited as screenwriter. In 1943, these experi- 19 January 1919. His father was an engi- ences likely lead him to write, together neer and his mother a school teacher. Alt- with Umberto Barbaro, the important es- hough already enrolled in the Faculty of say Appunti sulla regia cinematografica Medicine, in 1941 he started to attend the (Notes on Film Direction), that remained cinema circles revolving around the Cen- unpublished until 1995. tro Sperimentale di Cinematografia; then, After the Liberation of Rome, his cultural Umberto Barbaro, Luigi Chiarini and activities extended further, and came to in- Francesco Pasinetti enlisted him as a film clude translations, editing of book series, critic in the editorial board of Bianco e collaborations to cultural papers (Dome- Nero, the periodical of the Centro Speri- nica, Mercurio, Città, Cosmopolita, mentale di Cinematografia. In 1945, he Cronache); up to April 1946, he collabo- graduated in Medicine (he also practiced rated with the column Sala di proiezione for a while, renewing his registration with with the film magazine Star, earning the the Doctors’ registry until the end of his 430 reputation of uncompromising critic. Be- conti, 1948). As a screenwriter he collabo- tween 1946 and 1947, he also wrote film rated with in Gioventù per- critiques for several journals, such as Foto- duta (Lost Youth, 1948), Alessandro grammi, La critica cinematografica and Film Blasetti in Fabiola (Id., 1949), Alberto Lat- Rivista. Most importantly, he was an essay- tuada in Senza pietà (Without Pity, 1948) ist: among others, he wrote the second and La lupa (She Wolf, 1953), William Di- (chronologically speaking) organic essay eterle in Vulcano (Volcano, 1950), Mario on Neorealism (the first one being pub- Camerini in Due mogli sono troppe (Hon- lished by André Bazin a few months ear- eymoon Deferred, 1951), Gianni Franci- lier), Panoramique sur le cinéma italien, olini in Amanti senza amore (Prelude to which came out first in France, in May Madness, 1948), Anselmo ha fretta, also 1948, on the prestigious La Revue du Ci- known as La sposa non può attendere (The néma, and only afterwards in . He also Bride Couldn't Wait, 1949), Ultimo incon- became the first national president of the tro (Last Meeting, 1951), Il mondo le con- “Federazione Italiana dei Circoli del Cin- danna (The World Condemns Them, ema”, founded in 1947. 1953) and , for whom It is worth mentioning that in 1948, he he co-wrote Europa ’51 (Europe ’51, stood on the Fronte Democratico Popo- 1952)—where he also played the role of lare ballot for the first parliament elections the psychiatrist—Dov'è la libertà (Where of the newly born Italian Republic. He was Is Freedom, 1954) and Viaggio in Italia not elected, but such an event testifies to (Journey to Italy AKA Strangers, 1954). his genuine interest for society and its im- Yet, numerous are his unfulfilled collabo- portant transformations then occurring, rations (particularly with Visconti) and which Pietrangeli sensitively analysed in projects, among which the most signifi- his films. Not by accident, the protagonist cant is probably Le ragazze chiacchierate of his pictures is very often the contempo- (The Girls They Talked About), which rary woman, with her mutations in the so- became I delfini (Silver Spoon Set, Fran- cial context of the time. Even when he re- cesco Maselli, 1960). turned to a male perspective, or to com- His first film direction was Il sole negli occhi edy, he never renounced to depict the inti- (Empty Eyes, 1953), a sharp portrait of a mate dimension and deep solitude of his young maid, Celestina, arrived in Rome characters, and women’s roles and re- from the country. Still close to Neoreal- newed behaviour is always the trigger ele- ism, but characterised by a deep costume ment. analysis, it stands out for the detailed Among others, he wrote the commentary cross-hatching of characters, especially the for the documentary La nostra guerra (Our protagonist, who foreshadows the depic- War, , 1945) and La terra tion of many future Pietrangeli’s women, trema (The Earth Trembles, Luchino Vis- 431 who are marked by spontaneity, inno- Spaak in the role of the unconventional cence, sincerity, and yet a life-exploitation Dora, La Parmigiana presents an uncon- by mean and self-serving men. ventional narrative structure too, mostly After the short Girandola 1910 (Pin- composed by flashbacks. An unconven- wheel), episode of Amori di mezzo secolo, tional narrative structure also characterises (Mid-Century Loves, 1954), Pietrangeli La visita (The Visit, 1963), where another experimented with comedy in Lo scapolo woman—an excellent Sandra Milo in the (The Bachelor, 1955), a box-office hit role of a small-town single lady—is por- with , yet a movie capable of trayed with deep delicacy and sharpness. drawing a scathing society picture, antici- Then, after the success of Il magnifico cor- pating somehow the “comedy Italian nuto (The Magnificent Cuckold, 1964), style” for its in-depth bitterness where from a pièce by Fernand Crommelynck, comedy meets tragedy. Alberto Sordi also where once more costume comedy meets plays the leading role in the next Souvenir social analysis, notably love and sexual re- d’Italie (It Happened in Rome, 1957), also lationships, Pietrangeli could finally make starring and Massimo Io la conoscevo bene (I Knew Her Well, Girotti, in perhaps the most impersonal 1965), unanimously considered his mas- film by Pietrangeli. The following film, terpiece. Nata di marzo (March’s Child, 1958), on Planned since 1961, Pietrangeli based it the contrary, is another very personal por- upon the investigation of the pin-up world, trait of a young woman, apparently spoiled populated with wannabe actresses in mov- and fickle, actually a litmus test for an anal- ies and advertising. And again, he recurred ysis of a bourgeois couple relationships, in to an unconventional narrative structure, the social context of the economical boom rhapsodic and fragmented, to tell the story in Northern Italy. of Adriana (a young and perfect Stefania For Pietrangeli, the ‘60s started with the Sandrelli), who arrives in Rome from the important Adua e le compagne (Love à la country looking for fun and success, but carte, 1960), a remarkable fresco about the accumulates private and public failures, social exclusion of four ex-prostitutes after humiliating jobs, wrong encounters with the closure of the whorehouses that fol- men, mostly profiteers. Her sudden sui- lowed the implementation of the Merlin cide reveals that her indifference was prob- Law. Then, after Fantasmi a Roma ably only apparent, and, in a way, it con- (Ghosts of Rome, 1961), an unusual fair- cludes the attempted suicide of Celestina ytale and yet a satirical picture, attained in Il sole negli occhi. with the collaboration of Italian writer En- After directing Sordi again in the short nio Flaiano, the decade continued with an- Fata Marta (Marta, the Fairy), an episode other female portrait, La Parmigiana (The of Le fate (The Queens, 1966), Pietrangeli Girl from Parma, 1963), from a novel by died accidentally by drowning near Gaeta Bruna Piatti. Starring a young Catherine on 12 July 1968, during the shooting of his 432 last film, a work about the marriage crisis SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY of a wealthy couple from Turin, which was Carpiceci, S., Antonio Pietrangeli, released in 1969 with the title Come Dizionario biografico degli italiani, vol. quando perché (How, When and with 83, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Whom) and completed by . Roma 2015. He was only 49 years old. Detassis, P. – Morreale, E. – Sesti, M. (eds.), Antonio Pietrangeli: il regista che FILMOGRAPHY amava le donne, Edizioni Sabinae, Il sole negli occhi (Empty Eyes, 1953) Roma, 2015. Girandola 1910 (Pinwheel 1910, 1954) – Detassis, P. – Masoni, T. – Vecchi, P. Episode of Amori di mezzo secolo (Mid- (eds.), Il cinema di Antonio Pietrangeli, Century Loves, 1954) Marsilio, Venezia 1987. Lo scapolo (The Bachelor, 1955) Maraldi, A, Antonio Pietrangeli, La Nuova Souvenir d’Italie (It Happened in Rome, Italia, Firenze 1991. 1957) * In USA the movie was released Morelli, Guglielmina – Martini, Giulio – in 1959 Zappoli, Giancarlo (eds.), Un’invisibile Nata di marzo (March’s Child, 1958) presenza. Il cinema di Antonio Pie- Adua e le compagne (Love à la carte AKA trangeli, Centro Studi Cinematografici, Hungry for Love, 1960) Il Castoro 1998. Fantasmi a Roma (Phantom Lovers AKA Pietrangeli, A., Panoramique sur le cinéma Ghosts of Rome, 1961) italien, La Revue du Cinéma, n. 13, May La Parmigiana (The Girl from Parma, 1948, it. tr. Cinema italiano sonoro, 1963) Quaderno FICC, 1950. La visita (The Visit, 1963) * In USA the Tosi, V., Quando il cinema era un circolo movie was released in 1966 with the (1945-1956), Edizioni di Bianco e Italian title Nero, Fondazione Scuola nazionale di Il magnifico cornuto (The Magnificent cinema, Rome 1999. Cuckold, 1964) Io la conoscevo bene (I Knew Her Well, 1965) Fata Marta (Marta, the Fairy) – Episode of Le fate (The Queens, AKA Sex Quar- tet, 1966) Come, quando, perché (How, When and with Whom, 1969) * completed by Va- lerio Zurlini and released posthu- mously