RIP Remo Girone

C'hiera una volta in Italy...just visited Atrani where Equalizer 3 (and Ripley) were shot and remembered that Tano Carridi was in it...aka il signore Remo Girone. Next morning I saw on the scroll on Italian Television that he died in Monte Carlo, where he lived. He was 76. The odds to be next to one of his and most iconic last filming places ? Locals we met remembered him with respect, amazed we know Tano so well. La Piovra is still Legend in bella Italia. And in Romania too. 

Girone was one of my favorite actors after seeing him in La Piovra series on Romanian Television back in 1992. We were students but we got together on Saturday nights to watch it and Girone as Tano Carridi was the most suave dark angel, a villain of cosmic (or should we say Hellish) proportions. With his perfect hairline, impeccable suits  and a quiet voice, he was always filmed in dark shadows, like the Devil incarnate. Later on I saw him in some films but somehow his third career act  came from Hollywood films: Live By Night, Ford vV. Ferrari where he played Enzo Ferrari, and Equalizer 3, as a good doctor helping Denzel. 

`Il caricato e arrivato a Praga`.

RIP Alain Delon

 Le Samourai est parti definitivment....il est le dernier de son temps perdu...legende.

88 years Alain Delon roamed the world, changing cinema, loving women, breaking hearts, making friends out of making enemies, loving integrity, creating outrage, playing cops, flics, private dicks, gangsters, doctors, gitans...He is considered by many the most handsome man ever on the silver screen. 

He and Bebel were France incarnated on the screen and in person, old France, younger than Gabin, Ventura, but old lions. The Leopards. La race des seigneurs.

Le clan des siciliens, Plein Soleil, La Piscine, L'insoumis, Jeff, La tulipe noire, Les Aventuriers, Borsalino, Le Cercle Rouge, Flic Story, Pour la peau d'un flic, Zorro, Mr. Klein, La mort d'un pourri, Notre Histoire. Oui, Antonioni et Visconti aussi.

I met him at TIFF in 2017, it was an honor ! 

Can't say more now, listen to him singing a cheesy song about moviemaking, "Comme au Cinema".  I just love it...

In his own words here.

https://x.com/CinemaOnSundays/status/1825084162522382441

Adieu l'ami...

RIP Ion Rițiu

Ion Rițiu enchanted my childhood. He was Rică Păsărin, the lead in Duelul (1981) by Sergiu Nicolaescu,Sergiu Nicolaescu, his last "comisar" film in Ceaușescu's times. Up to Supravietuitorul (2008), in which he gave Rițiu a part too, 30 odd years later. 

He was the rich bad boy gone mad in Sergiu s Ciuleandra (1985), Puiu Faranga,on the Liviu Rebreanuțs book adaptation. 

Next on an officier in Noi, cei din linia întâi (1985).

He was also the ottoman boss, Baiazid in Mircea (1988). 

Last film, Poker (2010), also by Le Serge. Actually Sergiu NicoleascuSergiu Nicoleascu was the only one who gave him film parts. Why? :(

I saw him as a kid on a theatre play in Oradea or Cluj. Hollywood type of charisma, nice diction, ultra photogenic old style (30s). I was charmed.  He worked as a theatre actor in Târgu-Mureș. Dan Alecsandrescu, my mom's youth friend, the theatre director there put him in many plays.

Ion Rițiu was 73 (born 4 Dec. 1950).

Obit from Gândul

The Equalizer 3 (2023)

The Equaliser 3 is more like Man on Fire 2.

Also because it reunites Denzel and Dakota Fanning after 19 years after Man on Fire, the Tony Scott film based on A.J. Quinnel book. 

Actually Equaliser 3 might be more violent than MoF, more like the Italian poliziotteschi of the 70's, in the vein of Fernando Di Leo and Sergio Sollima's films. 

Denzel is great, better than in the other two, meaner, wiser, deeper. Amazingly he shot this at 67 years of age (he will be 69 this December). Hard physical work, very much like his character, Robert McCall, "Roberto".  

This time the film is set in Sicily and Italy, Naples, Altamonte, Rome. Beautiful locations, great supporting local actors, mean Camorra bad guys. 

Written by Richard Wenk (16 Blocks, ), like the other two. 

Happy to see Remo Girone in such a nice part. Dottore Enzo, a good guy for the man who fascinated me me in the early Nineties as Tano Cariddi in La Piovra series. Last time I saw Girone as Enzo Ferrari in Ford v Ferrari/Le Mans '66, another very nice part. But I remember him being in an episode of Killing Eve and doing nothing more than being part of the scenery.

The best of the series imo (they are based on The Equaliser TV series) , was very disappointed by the Second one (2018), and the first one (2014) was ok, but that's all. Expected more from Fuqua and Denzel re-teaming (this is their Fifth project together), they did greater stuff before (Training Day), and worse (The Magnificent Seven remake), so this is a plus for their re-match. Also it's supposed to be "The Final Chapter", as advertised.

Biggest asset, Robert Richardson stepping in as DOP, major change, the shadows, flares and the darkness are superb !

Also Marcelo Zarvos did a great job as the composer of the score, taking his cue from Harry Gregson-Williams who did the previous two  film scores and the theme of the EQ. Zarvos pushes a very poignant new Eq theme, loud and urgent, like an angry Sonar, a la Trent Reznor & Nine Inch nails.  The rest of the score is very dramatic, with classic cues and symphonic orchestrations, a Sicilian theme reminiscent of The Godfather, some Turandot ("Nessun Dorma") and it made me happy to hear the Sacha Distel's song, La Belle Vie in a less turbulent moment of the picture. 

You can listen to the whole soundtrack here.

I couldn't give a s*it about the end credits song (Monster 2.0) though. 

Final showdown very much Scarface like, even the line is there: 

liked this one, as spoken by Remo Girone: "They're like Cancer. and like Cancer, there's no Cure". 

Well, there is. 

And It's called "Roberto' McCall. 

Wiki here. 

Spolier***there's a clue on who the Dakota Fanning character is, related to the Plummers, Bill Pullman & Melissa Leo, very important for the plot in Eq 1 & 2, they can be seen on a photograph next to Fanning's bed.

3 1/2 out of 5, 7 out of 10/Seven out of Ten. 

RIP Rick Dalton

Tarantino posted on his Video Archives twitter account that Rick Dalton, his fictional actor, (anti) hero from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood had died. He would've been 90. 

He wrote a biography of the actor, entitled The Films of Rick Dalton. One of them, featuring Cliff Booth in the 80's is The Fireman (a trilogy, no less!!, produced of course by Cannon!), which sounds like a rip-off (homage?) of The Exterminator (1980) and its sequel, Exterminator 2 (1984), both with Robert Ginty,  ;). Is that where the flamethrower of McClusky came by, or was it from Le Vieux Fusil;) ?

Rest in peace, Rick...;)

more here

https://deadline.com/2023/05/once-upon-a-time-in-hollywood-star-rick-dalton-dead-quentin-tarantino-declares-1235373860/

Rick passed away peacefully in his home in Hawaii and is survived by his wife Francesca.

(so, that one was a keeper ;)

https://the-video-archives-podcast-with-quentin-tarantino-and-roger.simplecast.com/episodes/day-of-the-dalton-pt-1-the-marshal-of-madrid-manhunter-NJWVhg9w

Bensonhurst Blues -SOTD:(

Oscar Benton played Brezoi Open Air Blues Festival for the 1st and only time last year, July 21st. He was once before in Bucharest in 2013 (see here), when he had a comeback tour after almost 20 years break from stage.

Transilvania Blues was here and met the maestro. We talked about how Alain Delon got the rights for his 1973 hit song Bensonhurst Blues (composed originally by Artie Kaplan in 1971) and used in in Pour la Peau d'un flic (1981), mythical film to all Romanians, under the name it was shown in Romanian Theaters, Afacerea Pigot, back in 1983.

Baptised ad hoc `Bui Bui Bui` there's also a Romanian cover of this, by Margareta Pislaru (see it here) and another one by Aurelian Andreescu!!!

The song got a second life due to the Delon flick, in France and all Europe and was the Dutch artist most loved and famous song. Amazingly Oscar Benton never met Alain Delon then but he died November 8th 2020, on the French icon's 85th birthday. Benton was 71. That's a blues in itself....

There's also a video of Bensonhurst Blues in Breazoi from the backstage here. And the whole Brezoi live gig professionally filmed is here !

Here's to you Oscar and the Bensonhurt Blues in Eternity. RIP...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO8boNBJC40&feature=emb_title

Cannes 72: jour 10-Il Traditore

https://cinemap.ro/stire/137/jurnal-de-cannes--jour-dix-jeudi--il-traditore

or 

here 

Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)

The Black Belly of the Tarantula (La tarantola dal ventre nero) is considered one of the superior giallos. And it\s been staying in my Giallo B collection for at least ten years since I saw it now. And now I can concur. It is.
A film by Paulo Cavara who might be unknown now but he worked on the Mondo Cane movies.
Music by Ennio Morricone, conducted by Bruno Nicolai
Uncommon for the giallos of the perios the protagonist is a police inspector, played by an "unual suspect" of giallo genre, a very young Giancarlo Giannini.
The very hot blonde Barabara Bouchet is killed in the very beginning and the also very hot future Bond girl and mrs. Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach is killed later, and she shows up just a few minutes, enough to undress and..be of course stabbed to death...The real two female protagonists of the film are Claudine Auger, a deja Bond girl -in Thunderball- and Stefania Sandrelli (Il Conformista).
Shot with plenty of zooms by Marcello Gatti, who filmed Battle of Algiers, Quiemada/Burn and Ogro fpr Pontecuorvo, A\L'anonimo Veneziano, The Salamander and la Piovra for TV !
a great chase on the rooftops is the highlight except the MO of the murders which remind a Tarantula being killed by a black WASP !
format -1.85 :1

3 1/2 -7 out of 10 !

All the Money in the World (2017)

All the Money in the World/Pentru toţi banii din lume *
cronica mea din noul Zile si Nopti Brasov-aici extended + media.
aici filmul poate fi văzut la Cinema One.

Italia, 1973. Un caz real care a făcut vâlva la vremea lui: răpirea nepotului de 18 ani al miliardarului J.Paul Getty, cel mai bogat om din lume
.
Noul film al lui Ridley Scott, realizat în timp record (a avut 2 premiere într-un an, cealaltă fiind Alien: Covenant) va rămâne în primul rând filmul care l-a înlocuit pe Kevin Spacey cu Christopher Plummer. Scott a luat decizia alături de executivii de la Sony, deși filmul era gata la cheie. Ei au amânat premiera și au fost de acord să suplimenteze bugetul cu încă 10 milioane de dolari pentru a redistribui rolul, asta după ce Spacey a fost acuzat, în noiembrie, de molestare sexuală și spirala sa descendentă a dus și la concedierea din serialul House of Cards (Netflix), și de la conducerea teatrului Old Vic din Londra.

trailerul cu Spacey !!!!

S-a refilmat cu Christopher Plummer (in numai 9 zile !), actor cu 29 de ani mai bătrân ca Spacey. J. Paul Getty, avea la vremea incidentului, în 1973, 80 de ani. Se ia un Getty de 88 de ani, se scoate un Getty de 59 de ani, Până la urmă Scott a gândit-o bine.
                                                                          80+88

Plummer este în mod natural un excelent Getty, iar pe Spacey, sub straturile de machiaj și proteze estetice oricum cu greu puteai să îl recunoști. În mod ironic Plummer este singura nominalizare a filmului la Oscar, la BAFTA și a fost și la Globul de Aur. Dincolo de reconstituirea de epocă minuțioasă, de cazul în sine, există anumite schimbări deranjante, neverosimilități și stereotipuri. De ce Romain Duris in rol de calabrez ? accente, scena de urarire dins at care nu a avut loc, etc.
Pustiul Getty jr. (Charlie Plummer, nicio legatura cu Christopher) este si el foarte bun si veridic. Despre Michelle Williams si Mark Wahlberg, ma abtin. Posibil sa nu fie actorii mei preferati.
un teaser poster excelent care nu a prea fost folosit. Cea mai celebra ureche taiata dupa cea a lui Van Gogh este cea alui Getty jr. Sorry Quentin !

Muzica simfonica a lui Daniel Pemberton (preferatul meu in soundtrackurile anilor trecuti) e un real plus. La fel si soundtrackul, cu The Zombies (Time of the Season-care e si in trailer), Rolling Stones      (Wild Horses intr-o secventa in Maroc  care aduce a Performance) si piese din epoca-Gianni Morandi, Camaleonti.
trivia-cadrul cu turnul din Maroc este cel din Mogadishu din Black Hawk Down (filmat in Maroc !)

***
Pentru cei ce-și doresc o altă variantă, o mini-serie (10 episoade) de Danny Boyle, Trust, cu Donald Sutherland în rolul miliardarului, va avea premiera TV pe 25 martie (FX in SUA). (NA: si vazut Trust e de departe mult mult mai bun, so...)

3 stele din 5 / 6 din 10

amanunte intr-un ABC special cu participarea lui Ridley Scott, care povesteste ce s-a intimplat.

Johnny Hallyday RIP

74 de ani. Aici in L'homme du train, unde a jucat alaturi de Jen Rochefort, mort si el anul acesta. Rol super(b) !
Ultima oara l-am vazut la Cannes in Vengeance al lui Johnny To.
Johnny H. nu m-a spart ca rocker, dar tin minte ca in inceputul anilor 90 un concert cu el la Bercy dat de TVR ! m-a dat pe spate, si lookul de Mad Max, cu motocicleta si piele, Gen personajul lui din Termins (1987)
L-am vazut in :áventure c'est láventure al lui Lelouch, Detective al lui Godard, in I Specialisti al lui Corbucci,  cu Gastone Moschine, disparut tot anul asta....Conseil de famille al lui Costa Gavras...

Comrade Detective (2017)

"What would Lenin do ?"
I do not know yet, I am conflicted about this. Was waiting with anticipation for:
Comrade Detective aka Tovarasul militian (previously named Iron Fisting, good riddance of that title that sounded like brutal porn)
6 episodes for Amazon. A police show spoof, shot in Romania in Romanian. Then all dubbed in English.

When you get Florin Piersic jr.(Gregor--- Gregor ???! Anghel) to be dubbed by Channing Tatum, there's reason to be proud. For Piersic, who's doing a real serious job.

And his partner, Laurentiu Ulici (Iosif Baciu, who's name makes for jokes of him being a Goat Fucker, wtf ?, dudes could've used Cioban as that is more of a shepherd....) dubbed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. You get a supporting female character to be voice played by Kim Basinger ? Yep.

But the screenwriters of this novelty concept series (as novel as Woody Allen-s 1966s Whats up with Tiger Lily  whre he spoofed a Japanese film), haven't done their Romanian/RSR / 80's communism homework seriously. At all. So for Romanians this might be offendable and bad or just dumb. Of course we're just the stand-ins of this spoof series, and I don't know if the American audience bought that it "was discovered" and dubbed after 5 years of digging for it and with the cooperation of "Romanian Film Archive". And yes, it would have been cool to have a series like that in those years. But we didn't. And if we did it sure wouldn't look like this.
RULE #1 of parody/spoof- Know thy subject (and like thy subject as well).
And yes, we're happy this is not Comrade Detective from Moscow but Nikita, Joseph, Ivan and other names are just poor bullshit (all credits of Romania crew is made out of Animal names, up to director Bebelus Pisicuta, -Baby Pussy more likely, or Puss), sorry but in Romanian it spells & sounds just like crap ..and NOT funny) and the captions in Romanian look like they are done with Google Translate. It's obvious their references were Russian (USSR) and any other than Romanian. Plus the buddy cop influences of 80's flicks- 48 Hrs., Red Heat, even Seven (a dinenr scene is lifted directly from there).
Production values are great -and there's a catch, that is where the professionals in the film industry had greenlight and it worked, and btw, who gives a shit in America if it's Dacias with the 4 numbers licence, or b&w TV's and the right uniforms, but they could hire a consultant to improve the accuracy of the plot and names and other anachronisms or goofs- (remember the case of War Dogs last year and Albanian being spoken in Romanian ?, the Bucharest /Budapest syndrome- yep but Holly wood doesn't give a fuck, right?) and it's cool to see Gabriel Spahiu in a white suit with a big white hat (Cuban Fedora !)- an extended cameo and a reminder that great talented Romanian actors have made a career (and money to built houses and shit ;) in playing whatever 9th banana in whatever production is thrown here by any company-and yes, we'll take it. No shame in it, also no glory...
The Cool stuff- The Reagan mask (via Point Break ?), well it adds up to the Reagan era (was it really a Reagan mask on the time of his administration ?), the surreal Jordache jeans plot, the Marx Communist party  book (signed by Marx -probably Groucho ;), the Monopoly game, the mention of Nadia Comaneci and the obsession of gymnastics and...wrestling, the music of Adrian Enescu (from Ringul 7 more).
-Va urma=to be continued...(there are 6 episodes to watch, anyway, ep.2 a vast improvment over ep. 1)
conclusion:
-it gets better and better and finally,  its a subversive surreal little gem. And funny.

Morricone@87 !

Ennio Morricone a implinit azi, pe 10 noiembrie 2015, 87 de ani. Noul sau score este primul la un film de Tarantino, care i-a "canibalizat' muzica in deja 4 filme, incepind cu Kill Bill, si anume la THE HATEFUL EIGHT (la noi in ianuarie 2016).
Indiewire a facut un articol-omagiu cu 30 din cele mai bune soundtrackuri de Morricone, clasicele din westernuri, de la Leone la Clanul sicilienilor, Untouchables, si Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, printre care si piese mai putin cunoscute, asa cum am descoperit-o pe aceasta, Guerra E Pace, Pollo E Brace - o combinatie geniala de cor de copii si percutie, paroxistica si psihedelica, dintr-un film din 1968, “Gracie Zia,” de Salvatorre Samperi, thriller erotic despre incest !

LMA e Grazie, Maestro !
* Ennio Morricone va fi din nou in turneu in 2016, incepind cu Budapesta in ianuarie ! Relik ??!

Sergio Sollima RIP

“I don’t live to be a director. I direct so I can live.”
Sergio Sollima 1924-2015

pe 1 iulie s-a dus inca un nume cultissim, Sergio Sollima. Avea 94 de ani.
Este unul din cei mai interesanti regizori italieni of the golden sixties, printre Sergio-uri, de la westernuri, la politiottesco-uri, si filme d e capa si spada, Corsarul negru si marele Sandokan (1976), cu Kabir Bedi, care desi miniserie tv, a devenit faimos pe ecranele romanesti ale vremii ca un unic film !!!
Sollima si-a incheiat cariera cu filmele Sandokan pt TV dar ramine unul din preferatii lui Tarantino si alti kinosseuri, pentru cele 3 westernuri (Cuori Uomo Cuori, La resa dei conti si Faccia a Faccia), si pentru Citta Violenta (1970) aka The Family si Revolver.



Am scris aici despre filmele sale, Citta Violenta si The Big Gundown, locul 7 in topul de westernuri spaghetti !

necrolog pe indiewire

LMA Enzo G. Castellari

Astazi il maestro Enzo G. Castellari (Enzo Girolami) a implinit 76 de ani. Auguri !
L-am ratat anul trecut la festivalul Grossmann, unde era invitat de onoare, mare pacat ca nu am ajuns !

Filmul meu preferat, Quel maledetto treno blindato, ACEL BLSTEMAT TREN BLINDAT, la cinema la noi in 1978, despre care am scris pe larg aici
Unul din cel mai chull filme ale copilariei mele (alaturi de Lumea Atlantidei, Taramul uitat de timp, Revansa, Sub patru steaguri, Seaua de argint, Pentru un pumn de ceapa, Zorro-astea pina la Razboiul stelelor si Superman). (2014: adaug Tunurile din navarone...si Uraganul ca atunci nu stiam ca e prost)...Probabil cel mai bun comando de razboi (Cinci pentru infern revazut nu e atit de khull, exceptindu-l pe Klaus Kinski), pina la 10 ani. Folosind hipnoza regresiva
s-ar putea afla ca am patit ceva in timpul vizionarii acestor filme di guerra (mi-a sugerat un prieten de curind), din moment ce primul film pe care l-am vazut ever a fost Ziua cea mai lunga.

read more"> asa sau:
http://aldmovieland.blogspot.ro/2007/09/film-cult-82007-acel-blestemat-tren.html
si care, banuiesc ca stiti, s-a numit in engleza Inglorious Bastards si a fost referentiat si updatat de Tarantino in INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, filmul meu preferat al lui QT, alaturi de Reservoir Dogs.
In curind o sa dau filmul lui Tarantino la Cinemateca Patria, si sper in double bill cu Quel maledetto treno blindato !!!!

Tony Musante RIP

Detectivul Toma, Incidentul, Mercenarul, Anonimul venetian, Un ostatic in plus, pe cind eram mic filme cu Tony Musante erau peste tot la cinema. Actorul italo-american a murit marti (26 noiembrie) la New York, avea 77 de ani. S-a intors in atentia publicului cu rolul din serialul Oz (1997) si filmele lui James Gray, The Yards (2000) si We Own the Night (2007).

Lansat cu percutantul Incident al lui Larry Peerce(1968), cu doi golani care terorizeaza metroul newyorkez (alaturi de Mratin Sheen), Musante a devenit mai intii star in Italia, in westernul spaghetti a lui Sergio Corbuccci din 1968, Il Mercenario (A Professional Gun), alaturi de Franco Nero, in lovstoryul-erotic- Metti, una sera a cena (1969, v. o scena aici), in triunghi amoros cu Florinda Bolkan si Jean-Louis Trintignant, in primul giallo si prima parte a trilogiei animaliere a lui Dario Argento, L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo/The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (1970), si in lovestoryul tragic pe muzica de Benedetto Marcello, Anonimul venetian de Enrico Maria Salerno (1971), tot cu Florinda Bolkan (muzica filmului de Stelvio Cipriani). Apoi, intors in SUA a jucat in The Grissom Gang al lui Robert Aldrich (1971), in The Last Run alaturi de George C. Scott (1971) si a avut rolul principal in serialul TOMA (la noi la cinema, pilotul a rulat sub titlul Detectivul Toma), intre 1973-74. Musante nu a vrut sa continue serialul, care, extrem de violent pentru epoca sa, avea un succes fulminant. Studioul a mai scos din violenta si a creat Baretta, care l-a facut faimos pe Robert Blake. Cariera lui Musante a intrat intr-un cond e umbra, cu mult TV in roluri episodice. S-a intors in Italia unde a facut Goodbye e amen de Damiano Damiani (1978), unul din filmele care mi-au marcat copilaria si unul dinn cele mai bune roluri ale sale. Apoi un comeback in 1984, cu roul unchiului mafiot al lui Eric Roberts din The Pope from Greenich Village. Goodbye e Amen :(

Necrolog aici

Georges Lautner RIP

une aussi longue absence...:( intre timp au murit Geo Costiniu si Syd Field, guru of screenwriting, si acum, Georges Lautner, grand realisateur francais. L-am vazut la Cannes in 2011 la FNAC in Cannes, cu Remy Julienne, si anul trecut la Cannes Classics cu Les Brabouzes (1964), cu dialoguri delirante de Michel Audiard .

Pentru mine va ramine cu titlurile Flic ou Voyou -Politist sau delicvent-la cinema in, si Le Professionel, pe video, ambele cu Belmondo, de care l-a legat o prietenie si filmografie selecta, si excelentul Mort d'un pourri (Alibi pentru un prieten, pe ecrane in 1978), cu Alain Delon si un episodic fascinant Klaus Kinski). Si n-o sa uit nciodata vizionarea deliranta la Les tontons flingueurs (1963) la tonton Antoine, parca dintr-o lume si vreme diferita.
Alte clasice, seria Le Monocle-1962-cu paul Meurisse, Ne nous fâchons pas -1966, cu Lino Ventura si Michel Constantin, prezent in multe din filmele sale, ca si Mireille Darc si Bertrand Blier, si Le Pacha -1968, cu Jean Gabin. Georges Lautner avea 87 de ani si era retras din cinema din 2000.

Ennio Morricone-Chi Mai, din Le Professionel la carui final (de vazut aici) ne-a descumpanit si facut sa plingem in 1981, ca si acum :(

Carlo Lizzani RIP

Inca o veste trista pentru cinematograful italian. Dupa Luciano Vincenzoni si Giuliano Gemma a urmatCarlo Lizzani,. Scenaristul si regizorul roman s-a sinucis, la 91 de ani, exact la fel ca si omonimul sau, Mario Monicelli, aruncindu-se de la balcon.
Lizzani a fost un membru al curentului neo-realist, documentarist, critic, presedintele festivalului de film de la Venetia. A fost co-scenarist la Orez amar (1950, Giuseppe De Santis, nominalizare la Oscar). In 1951 Lizzani regizeaza primul sau film, “Achtung! Banditi!,” drama de razboi cu rezistnta si...Gina Lollobrigida. "Cronache di poveri amanti"(1954), cu Marcello Mastroianni, ia premiul international la Cannes. Il gobbo (1960) e un alt titlu de referinta din filmografia sa. A regizat si filme de gen, western-Un fiume di dollari/The Hills Run Red (1966), polizioteschi, Svegliati e uccidi (1966), Banditi a Milano (1968), Torino nera (1972), Crazy Joe (1973), sexdrama, Kleinhoff Hotel (1977) si giallo...La casa del tappeto giallo (1983). E unul din cei cinci regizori ai filmului in schetciuri Amore e rabbia (1969), alaturi de Godard, Bertolucci, Pasolini si Bellocchio. La fel si cu filmul de spionaj in scechiuri, The Dirty Game, aka The Secret Agents (1965), co-regizat cu Terence Young, Christian-Jaque, Werner Klingler.
Necrolog in Variety aici.

am aflat via Alina Nedelea de pe FB, careia Lizzani i-a oferit o sansa si un rol in Italia.

Giuliano Gemma RIP

Aflu in mijlocul noptii de pe wikipedia ca a murit Giuliano Gemma, in urma unui accident de masina. Avea 75 de ani si ultima data a aparut in filmul lui Woody Allen de anul trecut, From Rome With Love. Gemma a fost unul din idolii copilariei mele, prin westernurile spaghetti Il bianco, il giallo, il nero, Seaua de argint, comediile de aventuri Africa Express si Safari Express (cu Ursula Andress, jack Palance, si un cimpanzeu simpatic, Biba, de unde si salutul copilariei la cel moment era "Ave, Biba" :) si prin politiottesco-urile Prefectul de fier, Corleone, Avertismentul. L-am vazut la Bucuresti cind a fost la un Dakino in prima parte a anilor '90 sa prezinte Desertul tatarilor (1976, pentru care a primit premiul David di Donatello). Unul din eroii filmelor italienesti in perioada lor de aur, a jucat in vreo 100 de filme, a intrat in cinema cascador, a avut un rolisor in Ghepardul lui Visconti (1963, ca general), a aparut in primele Angelici si a devenit faimos cu westernuri spaghetti esentiale, in America sub pseudonimul Montgomery Wood, Una pistola per Ringo (1964) si continuarile lui, in Un dollaro bucato (1965), Arizona Colt (1966), I lunghi giorni della vendetta (1967), si l-a secondat pe Lee Van Cleef in I giorni dell'ira (Tonino Valerii, 1967). Un rol atipic intr-un western politic, tot al lui Tonino Valerii, Il prezzo del potere (1969). Un rol important si tot atipic in post-giallo-ul lui Dario Argento, Tenebre, in 1982. In anii '80 japonezii au scos un scuter numit dupa el, Suzuki Gemma scooter. La batrinete Gemma s-a apucat de sculptura, si se pare ca era un sculptor foarte bun. Fiica sa, Vera Gemma, e actrita.

Cred ca ultimul film pe care l-am vazut pe dvd cu el a fost Un uomo in ginocchio (1980, Damiano Damiani, regizor care s-a dus si el, in martie a.c), dar ma simt extrem de legat de unicul CIRCUIT INCHIS/"Circuito chiuso" de Giulano Montaldo (1980), film care mi-a schimbat oarecum impresia despre cinema, in care Gemma apare doar in filmul de pe ecran, sub titlul laconic, il pistolero. Am aflat 20 de ani mai tirziu ca era un film TV (cu toate astea a participat in selectia festivalului de la Berlin), dar vi-l recomand, este un thriller psihologic, eseu despre puterea cinematografului, care poate -literal-sa ucida. Si se gaseste greu, sau deloc.

Cum zice titlul filmului sau din 1991, Non ci sono più uominie :(

Goodnight, arrivederci Giuliano, grazie...

Luciano Vincenzoni RIP

Luciano Vincenzoni a fost unul din marii scenaristi ai filmului italian. 65 de filme si mult script doctoring. Am aflat ca a murit cautind informatii despre disparitia lui Giuliano Gemma. Dar am postat la data decesului. Vincenzoni avea 87 de ani. Lui i se datoreaza partial nasterea si succesul westernului spaghetti, a scris alaturi de Sergio Leone Per qualche dollaro in più?pentru citiva dolari in plus si l-a ajutat pe aceta, prin relatiile sale sa il vinda la United Artists, si este cel care a venit cu titlul The Good, the Bad and The Ugly/Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, film pe care l-a co-scris. Tot cu Leone a colabarat la westernul sau final, despre revolutia mexicana, Giù la testa/A Fistful of Dynamite/Duck, you sucker.
A scris La grande guerra-1959-al lui Mario Monicelli, colaborator apropiat al lui Pietro Germi (Sedusa si abandonata), si al lui Dino de Laurentiis, dar nu s-a sfiit de comedia populara: Piedone lo sbirro, Cipolla Colt. Ultimul film, Malena lui Tornatore. Autobiografia sa "Pane e cinema" (2005), a fost adaptata si intr-un documentar, Il falso bugiardo (2008).
necrolog in Repubblica

"The sense of humor was coming from me, because I didn't take the movies seriously. I came up with some humour because I hated writing western. I find ridiculous that an Italian, or a Venician like me, writing a western. So, being so detached came about a lot of humour. That's it!"

Luciano Vincenzoni dintr-un interviu genial (mostly about Leone, nah)

RIP Damiano Damiani

? Quien Sabe ? veteranul regizor si scenarist italian Damiano Damiani, s-a dus si el. Avea 90 de ani ! Ultimul film in 2002. Ultimul film pe care l-am vazut al sau, acum un an, Un uomo in ginocchio din 1980. Primul film al sau pe care l-am vazut si preferatul meu, Goodbye e Amen (Un ostatic in plus, 1978), cu Tony Musante si John Steiner. La noi la cinema, in anii 80, la fel ca L-avertimento, 1980, cu Giuliano Gemma. TV, La Piovra. Clasice, Io paura, Confesiunile unui comisar de politie, Giorno de la Civetta. Western- Quien Sabe-A Bullet for the General, 1966, si parodie western, Un genio, un pollo, due compari, ambele cu Klaus Kinski. Atitudine politica hotarita, de stinga.
"the most American of Italian directors"

zice criticul de film Paolo Mereghetti

Damiano Damiani (23 July 1922 - 7 March 2013)


Genericul si inceputul de la Goodbye & Amen, cu muzica de Guido si Maurizio de Angelis, unul din filmele care mi-au schimbat viata :)