Versatility and eye for talent made him leading figure
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| Alberto Lattuada helped launch many careers in Italian cinema |
A leading figure in the Italian cinema, Alberto Lattuada was
born on this day in 1914 in Vaprio d’Adda in Lombardy.
Lattuada was the son of the composer Felice Lattuada, who
made him complete his studies as an architect before allowing him to enter the
film business.
As a student, Lattuada was a member of the editorial staff
of the antifascist publication Camminare and also of Corrente di Vita, an
independent newspaper. Corrente di Vita was closed by the Fascist regime just
before Italy entered the Second World War.
Lattuada, who is said to have detested fascism, helped to
organise a screening of a banned anti-war film at about this time, which got
him into trouble with the police.
In 1940 Lattuada started his cinema career as a screenwriter
and assistant director on Mario Soldati’s Piccolo mondo antico (Old-Fashioned
World).
He directed his own first movie, Giacomo l’idealista
(Giacomo the Idealist) in 1942.
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| Lattuada with Federico Fellini (left) on the set of the latter's first movie in 1950 |
In 1950 he co-directed Luci del Varietà with Federico
Fellini. This was the first film directed by Fellini.
In the 1960s his best film is considered to be Il Mafioso,
in which he helped Alberto Sordi give one of his best performances as a
miserable desk clerk who in return for a family favour finds himself obliged to
become a hit man for a mafia killing in New York.
Lattuada’s film La Steppa, made in 1962, was entered at the 12th Berlin International Film Festival. And in 1970 he was a member of the
jury at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival.
His work as a director spanned almost every genre and he
helped launch the careers of many film stars, whose talent he had recognised.
Lattuada married the actress Carla del Poggio in 1945 and
they had two sons, Francesco and Alessandro. The couple were still together
when he died in 2005 at the age of 90. He is buried in the Cimitero Monumentale
in Milan.
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| The ferry boast designed by Leonardo da Vinci |
Travel tip:
Vaprio d’Adda, where Alberto Lattuada was born is about 30km
(18 miles) northeast of Milan in Lombardy. One of the main sights is the Villa
Melzi, where Leonardo da Vinci stayed when studying channelling of waters in
the area. The villa has a fresco of the Madonna with Child that has been
attributed to him or his school. A ferry boat designed by Da Vinci still operates on the river, linking Villa d'Adda with Imbersago.
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| Lake Como was formed by the waters of the Adda |
Travel tip:
The Adda river, which rises in the Alps close to the Swiss
border, initially flows from east to west, which is unusual for a river in
Italy, before turning south to join the Po river just upstream from
Cremona. Some 313km (194 miles) in
length, it passes through several important towns and cities such as Bormio,
Sondrio, Lecco and Lodi, as well as some smaller historic towns such as Trezzo,
Crespina and Cassano. The waters from
the Adda were responsible for forming Lake Como.
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