News

Actor Giancarlo Giannini’s collaboration with writer-director Lina Wertmüller, who died Dec. 9 at age 93, spans nine films, including raucous sex comedy and social satire “The Seduction of Mimì” — his first leading role in a Wertmüller movie — which brought them both their first taste of international fame. Giannini spoke to Variety by phone from Rome about their symbiotic relationship and unique rapport.

How did you and Lina first intersect?

I was studying acting at the National Academy in Rome. She came to see two plays I was in — one was by Molière — and offered me parts in two musical movies with the great pop singer Rita Pavone. Then when Lina had the idea for “The Seduction of Mimì” [1972], no other Italian actor wanted to play the lead. She had offered it to Marcello Mastroianni, among others, but he turned it down. So, she offered it to me, and I leaped at it.

Lina Wertmüller, the Italian filmmaker who made history in 1977 when she became the first woman to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar, has died at the age of 93.

Her passing was widely reported in the Italian press including in La Republica, which noted that she died at home in her birthplace of Rome.

Born in 1928, Wertmüller described her childhood as adventurous, being expelled from 15 different Catholic schools. A love of comic books was a key influence in her getting into the entertainment business, particularly Flash Gordon, and she became determined to work in film and theater from a young age.

After graduating from drama school in Rome, she began producing plays and worked in a variety of roles including as a set designer, publicist and puppeteer; the latter saw her spend years touring with an avant-garde puppet group.

In the 1960s she set her sights on film and through...

Guest reviewer Lee Broughton returns with a review of a previously hard to find Gallic Spaghetti Western. Filmed in the Dolomites mountain range and primarily existing as a vehicle for the French rock ‘n’ roll singer Johnny Hallyday, this might well be Corbucci’s best looking Western. The respected French actresses Francoise Fabian and Sylvie Fennec bring a noticeable touch of class to a show that ends with wide shots of dozens of butt naked backsides.

The Specialists

Region B Blu-ray

Eureka Entertainment

1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 104 min. / Gli Specialisti, Drop Them or I’ll Shoot / Street Date May 18, 2020 / £14.99

Starring: Johnny Hallyday, Francoise Fabian, Gaston Moschin, Mario Adorf, Sylvie Fennec, Gino Pernice, Angela Luce, Serge Marquand, Gabriella Tavernese, Andres Jose Cruz, Christian Belaygue, Stefano Cattarossi.

Cinematography: Dario Di Palma

Film Editor: Elsa Armanni

Production Designer: Riccardo Domenici

Original Music: Angelo Francesco Lavagnino

Written by Sergio Corbucci and Sabatino Ciuffini

Produced by Edmond Tenoudji,...

Ask Lina Wertmüller if she’s pleased to be honored by Hollywood, and here’s the typical response you get from the groundbreaking director, who at 91 is still out to shock: “I certainly am. It beats a kick in the balls!”

Wertmüller, in 1976, became the first female director to receive an Academy Award nomination for helming grotesque Holocaust drama “Seven Beauties,” which received four nominations, including original screenplay for her, foreign-language film and lead actor Giancarlo Giannini. She will be celebrated on Oct. 27 with an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards ceremony, followed the next day by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Genoma Films, which funded the restoration of her Oscar winning “Seven Beauties,” and Sardinia Film Commission are spearheading a retrospective of her films at the American Cinematheque on Oct. 20 and 25.

Wertmüller has always been a free spirit. After being kicked out of 11 convent schools, by her count,...

The Venus in Fur actress will also accept the Legend Award on behalf of her husband and director Roman Polanski.

The 11th annual Ischia Film & Music Festival is to celebrate women in the arts with awards for actress Emmanuelle Seigner, creative artist Amanda Eliasch and Oscar-nominated director Christina Comencini.

At the festival, which runs from July 14-21 off the coast of Naples, Seigner will receive the Ischia Actress of the Year award, Eliasch will receive the Enrico Job Prize for creativity and the Career Cult Award will go to Italian film director and novelist Comencini.

Seigner’s award will be presented on July 14, Eliasch’s on July 18 and Comenchini’s on July 20.

“We are happy to have the talented Emmanuelle Seigner with us in Ischia for the Festival’s July 14 opening night presentation – the Italian premiere of her latest film, Venus In Fur directed by her husband Roman Polanski, which is appropriately...