Showing posts with label Rimini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rimini. Show all posts

21 September 2024

Clara Calamai - actress

Star remembered for groundbreaking moments in Italian cinema history

Clara Calamai enjoyed huge popularity with Italian cinema audiences in the '30s and '40s
Clara Calamai enjoyed huge popularity with
Italian cinema audiences in the '30s and '40s
The actress Clara Calamai, best known for two Italian cinema classics of the 1940s and for a cult 1970s horror film, died in the Adriatic resort of Rimini on this day in 1998, at the age of 89.

Calamai’s career is generally seen to have peaked with her appearances in Luchino Visconti’s 1943 crime drama Ossessione and, three years later, in Duilio Coletti’s melodrama L’adultera, for which she won a Nastro d’Argento award as best actress.

She scaled down her career drastically after marriage but won fresh acclaim three decades later for her role as Marta, a murderous ageing actress in ‘Master of Horror’ Dario Argento’s box office smash Profondo Rosso.

For many years, Calamai was also known as the first woman to bare her breasts in Italian cinema - in a 1942 movie that not surprisingly caused scandal at the time - although it was later accepted that another actress, Vittoria Carpi, had beaten her to that claim to fame. 

Calamai, sometimes known as Clara Mais, was born in the Tuscany city of Prato, about 25km (16 miles) northwest of Florence, in 1909. She had two sisters, Vittorina and Paola, yet little is known about her early life before her big screen debut in Aldo Vergano’s 1938 historical epic, Pietro Micca.

She made a good living by accepting multiple parts in what then was a somewhat sanitised Italian film industry, which was regulated so tightly within the guidelines set by the Fascist authorities that approved film-makers were limited mainly to lightweight comedies and heroic costume dramas. 

Calamai in La Cena delle Beffe, a film largely remembered for her 'nude' scene
Calamai in La Cena delle Beffe, a film
largely remembered for her 'nude' scene
Her ‘nude’ scene came relatively early in her career, although it scarcely constituted a scene, occupying just 18 frames of Alessandro Blasetti’s La Cena delle Beffe, a drama set in Renaissance Florence starring Amedeo Nazzari. Although it was so brief that an audience member could literally blink and miss it, the outrage provoked was such that minors under the age of 16 were not permitted to watch.

Despite the furore, the episode did no harm to Calamai’s career and her popularity maintained its upwards trajectory, putting her on a par with actresses such as Alida Valli and Valentina Cortese. It later transpired that Blasetti had already shown Vittoria Carpi's naked breast the previous year in La corona di ferro, although because Carpi was a young comparatively unknown actress, it attracted much less attention.

Indeed, the publicity generated may have helped Calamai land her most famous role, in 1943, when Visconti chose her to replace Anna Magnani, who was pregnant, in Ossessione, his debut film.

Co-written as well as directed by Visconti, the film was an adaptation of the 1934 novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice, by the American author, James M Cain. It was the second of seven adaptations of Cain’s novel, although Visconti’s - controversially - was not authorised or even credited.

The film was condemned by the Fascist regime for its unvarnished depictions of Italy’s working class population. But Calamai’s performance as Giovanna, who embarks on an affair with a young hobo and is eventually persuaded to murder her husband, was outstanding and the film is regarded today as a pioneering work of Italian cinema, perhaps the first neorealist film.

Calamai and co-star Massimo Girotti in a scene from Luchino Visconti's 1943 drama Ossessione
Calamai and co-star Massimo Girotti in a scene
from Luchino Visconti's 1943 drama Ossessione
Three years later, in Coletti’s L'adultera, her performance as Velca, a peasant woman who marries a wealthy but elderly landowner and goes on to be the adulteress of the title, resulted in Calamai winning a Nastro d’Argento - silver ribbon - award from Italian film critics as best actress of 1946.

The year before L’adultera’s success, Calamai had married Leonardo Bonzi, a former Italian tennis champion who also competed in bobsleigh at the Olympics. A qualified pilot, Bonzi was from noble stock and could call himself a count, if he so wished. They met when he embarked on a career in film directing and producing.

With the arrival of the first of their two children, Calamai severely limited her acting commitments, taking  parts only sporadically. She and Bonzi divorced in 1961, after which she began to accept invitations from directors she favoured. Her playing of a prostitute in Visconti’s Le notti bianchi reminded cinemagoers of her acting ability. She appeared on television, too, in a Rai adaptation of Henry Fielding’s 18th century novel, Tom Jones.

What turned out to be her final film was hailed as one of her finest. Cast as Marta, an eccentric multiple killer, Calamai’s performance in Dario Argento’s 1975 hit Profondo Rosso - Deep Red - turned her into something of a cult figure among fans of the director’s work. Argento would later describe the film, which starred David Hemmings as the musician who ultimately identified Marta as the murderer, as his greatest work.

Profondo Rosso kept Calamai in the public eye for a number of years but eventually she disappeared from view. After living alone in her home in Rome not far from Termini station, she spent her final years in Rimini, where her sister, Vittorina, had lived since starting a family.

She died there at the age of 89, reportedly following a heart attack. She is buried at the Cimitero Monumentale di Rimini, where the Emilia-Romagna resort’s greatest cinema icon, Federico Fellini, was laid to rest alongside his wife, the actress Giulietta Masina.

The Palazzo Pretorio is one of Prato's notable buildings
The Palazzo Pretorio is one
of Prato's notable buildings
Travel tip:

Prato, a city of just under 200,000 inhabitants, is less than 20 minutes by train from Florence, yet Clara Calamain’s home city is something of an overlooked gem among Tuscany's many attractions. Prato is the home of the Datini archives, a significant collection of late mediaeval documents concerning economic and trade history, produced between 1363 and 1410, as well as many artistic treasures, including frescoes by Filippo Lippi, Paolo Uccello and Agnolo Gaddi inside its Duomo, which has an external pulpit by built by Michelozzo and decorated by Donatello. The Palazzo Pretorio is a building of great beauty, situated in the pretty Piazza del Comune, and there are the ruins of the castle built for the mediaeval emperor and King of Sicily Frederick II.  Prato’s commercial heritage is founded on the textile industry and its growth in the 19th century earned it the nickname the "Manchester of Tuscany".


Rimini's Tempio Malatestiano has frescoes by Piero della Francesca and paintings by Giotto
Rimini's Tempio Malatestiano has frescoes by
Piero della Francesca and paintings by Giotto
Travel tip:

Rimini has become one of the most popular seaside resorts in Europe, with wide sandy beaches and plenty of hotels and restaurants. But it is also a historic town with many interesting things to see. One of Rimini’s most famous sights is the Tempio Malatestiano, a 13th century Gothic church originally built for the Franciscans but which was transformed on the outside in the 15th century and decorated inside with frescoes by Piero della Francesca and works by Giotto and many other artists. Rimini had a role in the unification of Italy in the 19th century. It was there that Joachim Murat, the brother-in-law of Napoleon and King of Naples, issued his Proclamation in 1815, calling for all Italians to unite into a single people and drive out foreigners, namely the Austrians, who occupied large parts of northern Italy at the time. Although Murat was almost certainly acting out of self-interest at the time - he had just declared war on Austria and desperately needed support - the Proclamation is often seen as the opening statement of the Risorgimento.

Also on this day:

1559: The birth of painter and architect Cigoli

1744: The birth of architect Giacamo Quarenghi

1960: The birth of controversial conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan


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30 March 2020

Rimini Proclamation

Opening statement of the Risorgimento came from a Frenchman



Murat's Rimini Proclamation is seen as the rallying call for the Risorgimento
Murat's Rimini Proclamation is seen as the
rallying call for the Risorgimento
The first political proclamation calling for all Italians to unite into a single people and drive out foreigners was issued on this day in 1815 in Rimini.

But the stirring words: ‘Italians! The hour has come to engage in your highest destiny…’ came from a Frenchman, Gioacchino (Joachim) Murat, who was at the time occupying the throne of Naples, which he had been given by his brother-in-law, Napoleon.

Murat had just declared war on Austria and used the Proclamation to call on Italians to revolt against the Austrians occupying Italy. He was trying to show himself as a backer of Italian independence in an attempt to find allies in his desperate battle to hang on to his own throne.

Although Murat was acting out of self-interest at the time, the Proclamation is often seen as the opening statement of the Risorgimento, the movement that helped to arouse the national consciousness of the Italian people. It led to a series of political events that freed the Italian states from foreign domination and unified them politically.

Murat’s Proclamation impressed the Milanese writer Alessandro Manzoni, who wrote a poem about it later that year, Il proclama di Rimini. However, he abandoned it unfinished after Murat’s military campaign failed.

Joachim Murat was one of Napoleon's most trusted military aides
Joachim Murat was one of Napoleon's
most trusted military aides
Napoleon had originally installed his brother, Joseph, as King of Naples in 1806. But two years later he moved Joseph to the throne of Spain and installed Murat, the husband of his sister, Carolina, in his place.

Murat was one of Napoleon’s most trusted military aides, who had shown himself to be a daring and capable military leader.

While in charge of Naples, Murat made social and economic changes, reformed the University and introduced new scientific facilities. He built new roads and started work on Piazza del Plebiscito and the Church of San Francesco di Paola.

After Napoleon’s exile to Elba in 1814, Murat signed a treaty with Austria, pledging his help against the French troops in the north.

He took over the Papal States and Tuscany in return for an Austrian assurance that he would remain on the throne of Naples. From Rimini he writes in his Proclamation: 'Providence has called you to be an independent nation. From the Alps to the straits of Sicily, there is but one cry – Italian independence.’

But then Napoleon escaped from Elba and set out for Paris. Murat decided to realign himself with his brother-in-law and declared war on the Austrians.

He fought battles to save his own throne and to prevent the Austrians from moving into France to take on Napoleon. But after he lost a major battle at Tolentino in May and his army was in tatters, he fled from Italy to France, where he was snubbed by Napoleon.

Murat was killed by a firing squad in the Calabrian town of Pizzo
Murat was killed by a firing squad
in the Calabrian town of Pizzo
Murat set sail for Italy again to make one last desperate attempt to regain his kingdom, which by now was back in Bourbon hands.

With a small group of soldiers he landed at Pizzo on the coast of Calabria, planning to march north to Naples. Instead, he was captured, imprisoned and sentenced to death.

On 13 October 1815 he faced his firing squad, smartly dressed and fearless, having refused the offer of a blindfold.

Within another 46 years Italy had become a unified country.

The Tempio Malatestiano, a 13th century Gothic church in Rimini, has works by Piero della Francesca and Giotto
The Tempio Malatestiano, a 13th century Gothic church in
Rimini, has works by Piero della Francesca and Giotto
Travel tip:

The coastal city of Rimini was part of Napoleon’s Cisalpine Republic when Murat launched his Proclamation from there to the Italian people in 1815. The city looking out over the Adriatic Sea was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860. Now part of the Emilia-Romagna region it has become one of the leading seaside resorts in Europe, with wide sandy beaches and plenty of hotels and restaurants. One of Rimini’s most famous sights is the Tempio Malatestiano, a 13th century Gothic church originally built for the Franciscans that was transformed on the outside in the 15th century and decorated inside with frescos by Piero della Francesca and works by Giotto.

The Palazzo Reale, on the Piazza del Plesbiscito, was  Murat's luxurious home in Naples
The Palazzo Reale, on the Piazza del Plesbiscito, was
Murat's luxurious home in Naples
Travel tip:

Murat lived a luxurious lifestyle during his brief rule over the Kingdom of Naples and resided at the Royal Palace in Naples (Palazzo Reale), which is at the eastern end of Piazza del Plebiscito. The 17th century palace now houses a 30-room museum and the largest library in southern Italy, which are both open to the public. A statue of Murat was erected in the 1880s in the west façade of the Royal palace.

Also on this day:

1282: French driven out by the Sicilian Vespers

1892: The birth of painter and designer Fortunato Depero

1905: The birth of architect and engineer Ignazio Gardella


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7 October 2019

Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta - condottiero

Brutal tyrant or sensitive patron of the arts?


A portrait of Sigismondo by Piero della Francesca, painted in about 1451
A portrait of Sigismondo by Piero della
Francesca, painted in about 1451
One of the most daring military leaders in 15th century Italy, Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, died on this day in 1468 in Rimini.

He had been Lord of Rimini, Fano and Cesena since 1432 and is remembered as a generous patron of the arts during his rule.

Sigismondo commissioned the architect Leon Battista Alberti to build the most famous monument in Rimini, the Church of San Francesco, which is also known as the Tempio Malatestiano, and he welcomed artists and writers to his court.  But partly as a result of a systematic campaign of defamation by his enemy, Pope Pius II, some historians have ascribed a reputation for brutality to him.

Sigismondo was one of three illegitimate sons of Pandolfo Malatesta, who had ruled over Brescia and Bergamo between 1404 and 1421.

At the age of ten, after the death of his father, Sigismondo went to Rimini with his brothers to the court of his uncle, Carlo Malatesta. His birth was later legitimised by Pope Martin V.

After Carlo’s death, Sigismondo’s older brother inherited the Lordship of Rimini, but after two years he abandoned it to go into a monastery and handed over power to Sigismondo.

Pope Pius II accused Sigismondo of a number of crimes
Pope Pius II accused Sigismondo
of a number of crimes
From the age of 16, Sigismondo sold his military talents as a condottiero (mercenary captain) to all sides during the Italian wars.

In 1434, when he was 17, he married Ginevra, the daughter of Niccolò III d’Este and a few years later he commissioned the building of Castel Sismondo in Rimini.

After the death of Ginevra, he married Polissena, the daughter of Francesco Sforza. When she died eight years later, Sigismondo could finally make his relationship with his lover, Isotta degli Atti, public and they married in 1456.

Sigismondo surrounded himself with artists and intellectuals, including Piero della Francesca, one of the greatest painters of the Renaissance.

After Pope Pius II was elected in 1459 he imposed humiliating conditions on Sigismondo who rebelled against him. He was excommunicated and his reputation was tarnished by the Pope.

Sigismondo was deprived of all his land, apart from the city of Rimini, and was ruined financially. In an attempt to improve his fortunes, Sigismondo went to Morea, the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece, in 1464 to fight on behalf of Venice against the Turks and he did not return to Italy until after the death of Pope Pius II.

He died on 7 October 1468 in Castel Sismondo in Rimini and was buried in the Malatesta Temple, even though it was still not finished. He was succeeded by his son and nominated heir, Sallustio, who ruled Rimini under the regency of his mother, Isotta.

Sigismondo Malatesta with Galeazzo Maria Sforza in a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli
Sigismondo Malatesta with Galeazzo Maria
Sforza in a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli
Sigismondo was popular as a ruler and admired as a condottiero but he also gained a reputation for brutality, which was perpetuated by historians, partly because he was repeatedly defamed by one of his most powerful enemies, Pope Pius II, who accused him of murder, rape, adultery and incest. In a unique ceremony, Pius II ‘canonised him to hell’ while he was still alive.

One theory is that the Pope wanted Sigismondo’s land and resorted to invoking supernatural aid and using earthly propaganda against him when he couldn’t beat him in war.

Sigismondo acknowledged he was not without sins and tried to justify them in a series of love sonnets dedicated to Isotta.

In 1906, Edward Hutton published the historical novel, Sigismondo Malatesta, which was mostly sympathetic to its hero.

The American poet Ezra Pound published Malatesta Cantos in 1923, which were about Sigismondo’s career as a soldier, lover and patron of the arts. But more than 500 years after his death, some of the mud the Pope threw at Sigismondo still sticks.

The remains of the Castel Sismondo, designed in part by the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi
The remains of the Castel Sismondo, designed in part by
the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi
Travel tip:

Work began on Castel Sismondo in 1437 but only the central part of the structure remains today in Piazza Malatesta in Rimini.  Sigismondo is said to have designed it himself but the architect Brunelleschi also worked on it, visiting Rimini in 1438. You can see how the castle would have looked originally in one of Piero della Francesca’s paintings in the Tempio Malatestiano. Sigismondo died in the castle in 1468. In 1821 the castle was turned into barracks for the local Carabinieri but it is now used for cultural exhibitions.

The Tempio Malatestiano is the cathedral church of the Italian Adriatic resort town of Rimini
The Tempio Malatestiano is the cathedral church of the
Italian Adriatic resort town of Rimini
Travel tip:

The Tempio Malatestiano is the cathedral church of Rimini, originally dedicated to St Francis. Sigismondo commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to rebuild the original 13th century Gothic church and make it into a mausoleum for himself and his wife, Isotta. The building was never finished because Sigismondo’s fortunes declined after his excommunication. Inside there is a fresco by Piero della Francesca portraying Sigismondo kneeling before St Sigismund, the patron saint of soldiers.

More reading:

How Piero della Francesca explored the use of perspective

Niccolò III d'Este and the rise of Ferrara

Giovanni Sforza - Lord of Pesaro and Gradara

Also on this day:

304: The execution of Saint Giustina of Padua

1675: The birth of Venetian portrait painter Rosalba Carriera

1972: The birth of celebrity cook Gabriele Corcos


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27 January 2019

Roberto Paci Dalò – composer and film maker

Music maker coined the definition ‘media dramaturgy’


Roberto Paci Dalò has composed and directed more than  30 groundbreaking music-theatre works
Roberto Paci Dalò has composed and directed more than
30 groundbreaking music-theatre works
The award-winning contemporary musician and composer Roberto Paci Dalò was born on this day in 1962 in Rimini.

Paci Dalò is the co-founder and director of the performing arts ensemble Giardini Pensili and has composed music for theatre, radio, television and film.

After completing musical, visual and architectural studies in Fiesole, Faenza and Ravenna, Paci Dalò focused on sound and design and their use in film, theatre and collaborative projects.

He has been a pioneer in the use of digital technologies and telecommunication systems in art and has been particularly interested in performing arts as a meeting point of languages.

Since 1985 he has written, composed and directed more than 30 groundbreaking music-theatre works which have been presented worldwide.

Roberto Paci Dalò has worked at some of Italy's leading universities
Roberto Paci Dalò has worked at some
of Italy's leading universities
Paci Dalò has composed music for acoustical ensembles, electronics and voices and has produced radio works for the main European broadcasting corporations.

His films and videos have been regularly presented in international festivals.

Paci Dalò taught Media Dramaturgy at the University of Siena and collaborates with institutions such as the University of Bologna, University of Rome, University of Ascoli Piceno and the Brera Fine Arts Academy in Milan, where he develops projects in collaboration with designers, architects, planners, artists, programmers and hackers.

He coined the term ‘media dramaturgy’ - an extension of the study of composition of drama and adapting stories to actable form to cover not only the theatre but radio, television and film - in describing his own work.

He has been internationally acclaimed for leading the way in multimedia.

As a performer he has also developed extended techniques on the clarinet and with electronics.

Paci Dalò currently lives and works in the hills above Rimini.

The 13th century Tempio Maletestiano in Rimini has frescoes by Piero della Francesca and works by Giotto
The 13th century Tempio Maletestiano in Rimini has
frescoes by Piero della Francesca and works by Giotto
Travel tip:

With wide sandy beaches and plenty of hotels and restaurants, Rimini is one of the most popular seaside resorts in Europe, but it is also a historic town with many interesting things to see. The Tempio Maletestiano is a 13th century Gothic church originally built for the Fransiscans that was transformed on the outside in the 15th century and decorated inside with frescoes by Piero della Francesca and works by Giotto and many other artists. In 1993 Paci Dalò conceived the project Publiphono for his native town, using the public address system of the beach at Rimini to create environmental audio performances along 15km (9 miles) of the coast.


The Piazza della Libertà in the centre of Faenza, the city
in Emilia Romagna where Paci Dalò studied
Travel tip:

Paci Dalò studied at Faenza, a city about 72km (45 miles) kilometres northwest of Rimini, which is famous for the manufacture of a type of decorative majolica-ware known as faience. It is also home to the International Museum of Ceramics, which has examples of ceramics from ancient times, the Middle Ages and the 18th and 19th centuries as well as displaying work by important contemporary artists. The museum is in Viale Baccarini in Faenza. For more information visit www.micfaenza.org

More reading:

The unique style of contemporary composer Ludovico Einaudi

The Futurist artist who invented 'noise music'

How Luigi Nono used avant-garde music as a means of political expression

Also on this day:

98AD: Trajan becomes Roman Emperor

1901: The death of Giuseppe Verdi

1927: The birth of novelist Giovanni Arpino


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3 May 2018

Battle of Tolentino

Murat is defeated but ignites desire for Risorgimento


Joachim Murat led an army of 50,000 men into battle against the Austrians
Joachim Murat led an army of 50,000 men
into battle against the Austrians
Neapolitan troops were defeated by Austrian forces on this day in 1815 near Tolentino in what is now the Marche region of Italy.

It was the decisive battle in the Neapolitan War fought by the Napoleonic King of Naples, Joachim Murat, in a bid to keep the throne after the Congress of Vienna had ruled that the Bourbon Ferdinand IV, King of Sicily, should be restored.

The conflict was similar to the Battle of Waterloo, in that it occurred during the 100 days following Napoleon’s return from exile.

Murat had declared war on Austria in March 1815 after learning about Napoleon’s return to France and he advanced north with about 50,000 troops, establishing his headquarters at Ancona.

By the end of March, Murat’s army had arrived in Rimini, where he incited all Italian nationalists to go to war with him against the Austrians.

But his attempts to cross the River Po into Austrian-dominated northern Italy were unsuccessful and the Neapolitan army suffered heavy casualties.

The United Kingdom then declared war on Murat and sent a fleet to Italy. Murat retreated to Ancona to regroup his forces, with two Austrian armies pursuing him.

Vincenzo Milizia's representation of the Battle of  Tolentino, in which the Neapolitan forces were defeated
Vincenzo Milizia's representation of the Battle of
Tolentino, in which the Neapolitan forces were defeated
Murat sent a division north, commanded by General Michele Carrascosa, to stall one of the armies, while his main force headed west to deal with the other.

By the end of April the Austrians had driven out the small Neapolitan garrison based at Tolentino and Murat was forced to face their forces on a battlefield near the town on 2 May.

After two days of inconclusive fighting, Murat learned that the Austrians had defeated Carrascosa’s troops at the Battle of Scapezzano and were advancing towards him, so he ordered a retreat. Murat fled to Corsica disguised as a sailor on board a Danish ship.

A few months later he returned to Italy, landing in Pizzo in Calabria with a small force to try to retake Naples. But he was soon captured and sentenced to death.

His execution by firing squad in the town’s castle marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and Naples and Sicily were united to create the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

However, it is considered that Murat had given impetus to the movement for Italian unification and the Battle of Tolentino later became regarded as the first conflict of the Risorgimento.

The Piazza della Libertà in Tolentino
Travel tip:

Tolentino is a town in the province of Macerata in the Marche region. From the end of the 14th century it was ruled by the Da Varano family and then the Sforza family before becoming part of the Papal States. After the arrival of Napoleon’s forces in Italy, the Treaty of Tolentino was signed between Napoleon and Pope Pius VI in 1797, imposing territorial and economic restrictions on the papacy. After the 1815 Battle of Tolentino, the town returned to papal control until Italy became a unified kingdom in 1861.

The Castle of La Rancia just outside Tolentino  stages re-enactments of the battle annually
The Castle of La Rancia just outside Tolentino
stages re-enactments of the battle annually
Travel tip:

The medieval Castle of La Rancia, which is seven kilometres (4 miles) from Tolentino, was at the centre of the battle in 1815 and the countryside around it is still used for re-enactments. It has been claimed many of the dead from the battle were buried in a tank below the courtyard of the castle. The 2018 re-enactment takes place between May 5 and 6. The castle is open to the public between Tuesday and Sunday from 10.30 to 18.30 from May to September and for limited hours during the winter. For more information visit www.tolentinomusei.it

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15 June 2017

Hugo Pratt – comic book creator

Talented writer and artist travelled widely


Hugo Pratt pictured in 1989
Hugo Pratt pictured in 1989
The creator of the comic book character, Corto Maltese, was born Hugo Eugenio Pratt on this day in 1927 in Rimini.

Pratt became a famous comic book writer and artist and was renowned for combining strong story telling with extensive historical research.

His most famous character, Corto Maltese, came into being when he started a magazine with Florenzo Ivaldi.

Pratt spent most of his childhood in Venice with his parents, Rolando Pratt and Evelina Genero. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Pratt, was English and Hugo Pratt was related to the actor, Boris Karloff, who was born William Henry Pratt.

Hugo Pratt moved to Ethiopia with his mother in the late 1930s to join his father, who was working there following the conquest of the country by Benito Mussolini.

Pratt’s father was later captured by British troops and died from disease while he was a prisoner of war.

Pratt and his mother were interned in a prison camp where he would regularly buy comics from the guards.

After the war, Pratt returned to Venice where he organised entertainment for the Allied troops. He later joined what became known as ‘the Venice group’ with other Italian cartoonists, including Alberto Ongaro and Mario Faustinelli.

In the late 1940s he moved to Buenos Aires to work for an Argentine publisher where he published some of his important early cartoon series. He then produced his first comic book as a complete author, both writing and illustrating Ann of the Jungle -  Anna della jungla.

He moved to London and drew a series of war comics for Fleetway Publications working with British scriptwriters.

Pratt's most famous character on the cover of his most famous story
Pratt's most famous character on the cover
of his most famous story
When Pratt moved back to Italy he collaborated with a children’s comic book magazine, for which he adapted classics such as Treasure Island and Kidnapped.

After starting a comic magazine with Florenzo Ivaldi, he published his most famous story in the first issue, A Ballad of the Salty Sea - Una balata del mare salato, which first introduced Corto Maltese.

Corto’s adventures continued in a French magazine with many of the stories taking place in historical eras that were well researched by Pratt.

Corto was a psychologically complex character as a result of the travel experiences and inventiveness of his creator.

He brought Pratt much success and his series was published in an album format and translated into 15 languages.

Pratt died of bowel cancer in 1995 in Switzerland . In 2005 he was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame at the Will Eisner Comic Industry awards in San Diego.

Rimini's duomo - the Tempio Malatestiano
Rimini's duomo - the Tempio Malatestiano
Travel tip:

Rimini, where Hugo Pratt was born, has wide sandy beaches and plenty of hotels and restaurants. It is one of the most popular seaside resorts in Europe, but it is also a historic town with many interesting things to see. The Tempio Malatestiano is a 13th century Gothic church originally built for the Franciscans. It was transformed on the outside in the 15th century and decorated inside with frescos by Piero della Francesca and works by Giotto and many other artists.

Golden mosaics cover the vaulted ceilings inside the Basilica of St Mark in Venice
Golden mosaics cover the ceilings inside
the Basilica of St Mark in Venice
Travel tip:

St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, where Hugo Pratt spent most of his life, is the Cathedral Church and one of the best examples of Italo-Byzantine architecture in existence. Because of its opulent design and gold ground mosaics it became a symbol of Venetian wealth and power and has been nicknamed Chiesa d’Oro (Church of Gold). The spacious interior with its multiple choir lofts inspired the development of the Venetian polychoral style used by the Gabrielis, uncle and nephew, and Claudio Monteverdi.


  

21 March 2017

Alberto Marvelli - Rimini's Good Samaritan

Heroic deeds helped victims of bombing raids


Alberto Marvelli devoted his life to serving his community
Alberto Marvelli devoted his life to
serving his community
Alberto Marvelli, who came to be seen as a modern day Good Samaritan after risking his life repeatedly to help the victims of devastating air raids in the Second World War, was born on this day in 1918 in Ferrara.

He died in 1946 at the age of only 28 when he was struck by a truck while riding his bicycle but in his short life identified himself to many as a true hero.

He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004.

Marvelli's acts of heroism occurred mainly in Rimini, his adopted home town, which suffered heavy bombing from the Allies due to its proximity to the Gothic or Green Line, a wide belt of German defensive fortifications that ran across the whole peninsula from La Spezia to the Adriatic coast.

As well as giving aid and comfort to the wounded and dying and to those whose homes and possessions had been destroyed, Marvelli also rescued many Rimini citizens from trains destined for concentration camps.

Alberto was the second of six children born to Luigi Marvelli and Maria Mayr. Growing up, he was set a powerful example by his mother, who always kept open house for the poor and regularly gave away food intended for her own family.

In June 1930 the Marvellis moved to Rimini on the Adriatic coast and Alberto, having already embraced the strong values instilled in him by his devoutly Catholic parents, began to attend the Salesian Oratory and Catholic Action group.

Alberto Marvelli was a prominent member of the group Catholic Action, becoming president at the age of 18
Alberto Marvelli was a prominent member of the group
Catholic Action, becoming president at the age of 18
He had a wide social circle - his friends included Federico Fellini, who would go on to become famous as a film director - and enjoyed sport, in particular cycling. Yet he also maintained a strict observance of the rituals of his faith, which included Mass every morning, Holy Communion, and 30 minutes each of meditation and spiritual reading every day.

He was held in such high esteem that he was elected president of Catholic Action for the whole of Italy at the age of just 18.

Marvelli attended Bologna University and graduated in engineering in 1941.  He moved to Turin, where he began working for Fiat, but left after only a few weeks to do military service in Trieste.  In the event, he returned to Rimini after only a few months after he was exempted on account of three of his brothers being already in service

By then he was effectively head of the family following the unexpected death of his father and took a teaching job at a local high school, devoting his spare time to helping the sick and poor on behalf of Catholic Action.

When the bombing of Rimini began in earnest in 1944, ahead of the Battle of Rimini in which the Allies achieved a decisive victory, the Marvelli family moved inland to the village of Vergiano.

German soldiers in Rimini in 1944 before being driven  out by the Allies at the Battle of Rimini
German soldiers in Rimini in 1944 before being driven
out by the Allies at the Battle of Rimini
With each report of new air raids, however, Alberto would insist on taking his bicycle and riding the 8km into Rimini to lend assistance to the clear-up operations, giving no thought to his own safety, often arriving with bombs still dropping.

He bought food, clothing, mattresses and blankets with his own money or money he had collected, using his bicycle to distribute it to those in need. Many times, it is said, he would return to Vergiano having given away his bicycle and even the shoes on his feet.

During the German occupation, he made repeated journeys from Vergiano to the nearby village of Santarcangelo, sneaking past security at the railway station and breaking open the doors of carriages into which Jews and others had been herded for deportation to the concentration camps, saving many lives in the process, at grave risk of his own.

He helped many refugees reach the safety of San Marino by arranging transportation to the nearby republic, which remained neutral during the conflict.  When he was beatified in 2004, San Marino issued some stamps commemorating his life.

Once the war was over, the interim authorities entrusted Marvelli with the allocation of housing. Within a few months, he was appointed to Rimini's town council as an alderman and was put in charge of civil engineering as the city began to rebuild.

He also opened a soup kitchen for the poor and, as co-founder of Italian Workers' Catholic Action, formed a cooperative for construction workers.

Marvelli had not expressed a strong interest in politics previously but he became convinced he could make a difference and joined the Christian Democrats.

San Marino commemorated Marvelli with a set of stamps
San Marino commemorated Marvelli with a set of stamps
He planned to stand in local elections and appeared to have considerable support and respect, even from the Communists, whose ideology he openly criticized. He was seen by all sides as an honest candidate dedicated to the well-being of the community.

Sadly, Marvelli never had the chance to serve.  Cycling to a party meeting on a poorly lit road on the evening of October 5, 1946, the day before polling, he was run over by an army truck and died a few hours later without regaining consciousness.

Voting was under way as news of his death spread throughout the city. Many citizens still voted for him, to express their faith in him and respect for him, and he was posthumously elected. Afterwards, his mother agreed to serve in his place.

He was buried in the Church of Sant' Agostino in Rimini.  The Catholic Church has honoured him by marking October 5 as a feast day in his name.

A square at the end of Viale Tripoli has been renamed Piazza Alberto Marvelli in his honour, while the Alberto Marvelli Foundation set up in his name helps fund projects dedicated to the community including the Alberto Marvelli Institute, a comprehensive school in Rimini.

The Grand Hotel on the seafront at Rimini
The Grand Hotel on the seafront at Rimini
Travel tip:

Rimini's history as a tourist resort began in the mid-19th century with the construction of the Kursaal, a seafront bathing establishment that doubled as a prestigious venue for social events.  It became the symbol of Rimini's Belle Époque, the period of European history before the First World War, which also saw the town's first major hotel, the Grand Hotel, built near the beach.  Its major development as a resort came after the Second World War and the city now has a population close to 150,000.

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Travel tip:

Ferrara, the city of Marvelli's birth, is notable for being a combination of Medieval and Renaissance architecture, its history bound up with that of the d'Este family, whose castle has dominated the centre of the city since the late 14th century.  The most significant legacy of the city's thriving status in the Middle Ages is the Cattedrale di San Giorgio, built in the 1100s, which has a facade that blends Romanesque style in the lower section with Gothic in the upper.

22 February 2017

Giulietta Masina - actress

Married to Fellini and excelled in his films



Giulietta Masina in a picture taken in about 1960
Giulietta Masina in a picture taken
in about 1960
The actress Giulietta Masina, who was married for 50 years to the film director Federico Fellini, was born on this day in 1921 in San Giorgio di Piano, a small town in Emilia-Romagna, about 20km (12 miles) north of Bologna.

She appeared in 22 films, six of them directed by her husband, who gave her the lead female role opposition Anthony Quinn in La Strada (1954) and enabled her to win international acclaim when he cast her as a prostitute in the 1957 film Nights of Cabiria, which built on a small role she had played in an earlier Fellini movie, The White Sheik.

Masina's performance in what was a controversial film at the time earned her best actress awards at the film festivals of Cannes and San Sebastián and from the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (SNGCI).

Both La Strada and Nights of Cabiria won Oscars for best foreign film at the Academy Awards.

Masina also won best actress in the David di Donatello awards for the title role in Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits (1965) and a second SNGCI best actress award for his 1986 film Ginger and Fred.

Although born in northern Italy, one of four children, her parents sent her to live with a widowed aunt in Via Lutezia in the Parioli area of Rome. They hoped it would improve her prospects by obtaining a better education.  Ultimately, she graduated from the Sapienza University of Rome with a degree in Literature.

Giulietta Masini as Cabiria in the Fellini film Nights of Cabiria, for which she won a string of awards
Giulietta Masina as Cabiria in the Fellini film Nights of
Cabiria
, for which she won a string of awards
Having earlier studied music and dance, she turned to acting while at university, appearing in productions at the university's own Ateneo Theatre and the Compagnia del Teatro Comico Musicale.  It was there in 1942 that she was spotted by Fellini, who cast her in his radio serial, Terziglio.

The two hit it off immediately and married after only one year, in October 1943.  Masina continued to work on stage, in some productions alongside Marcello Mastroianni, who would become Fellini's leading man, before her husband helped her make the transition to the big screen, where she excelled in the portrayal of innocent, pathetic and troubled outcasts.

She was renowned for being able to use her expressive face to convey a range of emotions from sorrow and pathos to happiness and love. Many critics described her as a female Charlie Chaplin.  In her private life, she was noted for her impish sense of humour.

The original movie poster for Fellini's film Nights of Cabiria
The original movie poster for
Fellini's film Nights of Cabiria
As well as movie work, towards the end of her career Masina worked successfully in radio, hosting Lettere aperte, a show in which she responded to listeners' correspondence, and acted in television dramas.

Her marriage to Fellini was not blessed with children. Her first pregnancy ended after she suffered a miscarriage following a fall on a flight of stairs. She became pregnant again but her son, Pierfederico, to whom she gave birth in March 1945, tragically died from encephalitis at a month old.

Despite her husband's frequent infidelities, most of which he confessed, Masina stuck by Fellini.  They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in October 1993, a day before he died.

Onlookers noted how frail she looked at his funeral and it was only five months later that she passed away herself at the age of 73, having been diagnosed with lung cancer.  She and her husband are buried together at Rimini cemetery in a tomb marked by a prow-shaped monument, the work of sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.


San Giorgio di Piano's parish church of San Giorgio Martire (St George the Martyr)
San Giorgio di Piano's parish church of
San Giorgio Martire (St George the Martyr)
Travel tip:


San Giorgio di Piano is a pleasant town within greater Bologna in an area with an economy based on the production of hemp and wheat.  It grew in the 14th century around a castle, the Castello di San Giorgio.  The Via della Libertà is an elegant porticoed street typical of the architecture in Bologna and Ferrara.  The parish church of St George the Martyr was renovated during the 19th century, as was the adjoining bell tower, which was added in the 18th century.  The church contains important paintings by Antonio Randa and Mario Roversi. In June each year, the town hosts a festival, the Corso dei Fiori, which is celebrated in the manner of a carnival with a parade of floats and a tradition of wearing decorative masks. 

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The Parioli district is notable for its tree-lined streets
The Parioli district of Rome, where Masina grew up,
is a well-to-do area notable for its tree-lined streets
Travel tip:

Parioli, where Masina grew up, is now one of Rome's wealthiest residential areas. Located between two of the city's largest parks - the gardens of the Villa Borghese and the Villa Ada - it is notable for tree-lined streets and elegant houses, and is also home to some of Rome's best restaurants, while its bars attract a sophisticated clientele. Many luxury apartments to rent make it popular with well-heeled visitors to the capital.



14 February 2017

Otto e mezzo - Fellini's masterpiece

Creative crisis spawned director's tour de force



The original publicity poster for the Fellini movie 8½
The original publicity poster for the
Fellini movie 8½
The film Otto e mezzo (8½), regarded by some critics as the director Federico Fellini's greatest work, was released in Italy on this day in 1963.

It was categorised as an avant-garde comedy drama but the description hardly does it justice given its extraordinary individuality, evolving from conception to completion as an interweaving of fantasy and reality in which life not so much imitates art as becomes one and the same thing.

By the early 60s, Fellini was already a three-times Oscar winner following the success of La strada, Nights of Cabiria and La dolce vita, the last-named having also won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

La dolce vita had signalled Fellini's move away from the neo-realism that characterised cinema in Italy in the immediate post-war years towards the surreal interpretations of life and human nature that became popular with later directors and came to define Fellini's art.

While that movie was generating millions of dollars at the box office and turning Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg into international stars, Fellini was under pressure from his producers to come up with a sequel.

Fellini was under pressure to deliver a sequel to La Dolce Vita
Fellini was under pressure to deliver
a sequel to La dolce vita
He had an idea but it was little more than a vague outline, a story about a man suffering from creative block.  He knew it would be about the internal conflicts thrown up by artistic and marital difficulties and the opportunity to reflect brought about by a period at a health spa recovering from what might today be interpreted as nervous exhaustion, but he had no clear vision of the script, could not decide the profession of his main character and did not even have a working title.

Pressed by the producers to sign off on a deal, it is said that he chose Otto e mezzo on the basis that he had directed six feature films, worked jointly on another and made two shorts, each of which he considered to be worth 'half a feature' and that therefore his latest would be film number eight and a half in his directing career.

He had still not developed a coherent idea when he was ordered to start production in the spring of 1962 yet the wheels were in motion.  Filming dates were agreed, sets were constructed and actors were hired, including Mastroianni for the male lead, yet other than coming up with a name, Guido Anselmi, for his main character, Fellini was scarcely closer to any clarity of thought.

Claudia Cardinale played lead character Guido Anselmi's  'Ideal Woman' in Fellini's Otto e mezzo
Claudia Cardinale played lead character Guido Anselmi's
 'Ideal Woman' in Fellini's Otto e mezzo
In fact, he would have told Angelo Rizzoli, his producer, that he was abandoning the project had he not been summoned to join the crew in celebrating its launch just as he was drafting a letter to that effect.

Fellini later admitted that as he raised his glass to toast the film he "felt overwhelmed by shame" but that the moment of despair then became one of inspiration.

"I was in a no-exit situation," he said. "I was a director who wanted to make a film he no longer remembers. And lo and behold, at that very moment everything fell into place.

"I got straight to the heart of the film. I would narrate everything that had been happening to me. I would make a film telling the story of a director who no longer knows what film he wanted to make".

The result was a film that blended the storyline such as it was with fantastic dream sequences as the characters moved between reality and Guido's imagination, Fellini so often indulging in impulsive improvisations that essentially he was making up the movie as he went along.  As was the way with Italian films at the time, the dialogue was overdubbed afterwards, which from the point of view of the actors trying to keep up was probably just as well.

Marcello Mastroianni and Anouk Aimée also starred in Fellini's La Dolce Vita
Marcello Mastroianni and Anouk Aimée
also starred in Fellini's La Dolce Vita
Yet the end result, starring Mastroianni as Guido, the French actress Anouk Aimée as his wife, and two Tunisian-Italians, Sandra Milo and Claudia Cardinale, respectively as his mistress and the Ideal Woman of his fantasies, was received with almost universal acclaim.

Critics conceded that audiences might find it challenging in its complexity but generally hailed it as a triumph.  One wrote that it had advanced avant-garde cinema "by 20 years in one fell swoop because it both integrates and surpasses all the discoveries of experimental cinema".

Another praised its "fantastic liberality, total absence of precaution and hypocrisy, absolute dispassionate sincerity, artistic and financial courage".

won two Academy Awards, for best foreign language film and best costume design (black-and-white) as well as nominations for best director, best original screenplay and best art direction (black-and-white).

The New York Film Critics Circle also named best foreign language film while the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists awarded the movie seven prizes for director, producer, original story, screenplay, music - by Nino Rota - cinematography (Gianni di Vananzo) and best supporting actress (Sandra Milo).

At the Saint Vincent Film Festival, it was awarded the Grand Prize over Luchino Visconti's Il gattopardo (The Leopard) but had to be passed over for an award after its screening at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival because it had been shown outside the competition.

It also won the Grand Prize at the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival.

Travel tip:

Fellini was born in 1920 in Rimini, on the Adriatic coast, which with 15km (nine miles) of sandy beaches is the largest resort in Italy and famous across Europe as a holiday destination.  It is said to have more than 1,000 hotels.  Away from the sea front there is an older part of the town with relics that reflect its Roman origins.  Rimini is proud of its heritage and a Federico Fellini Museum can be found in Via Clementini in the historic centre, covering everything related to his life and career.


A commemorative plaque celebrating Fellini's career can be found in the Via Veneto in Rome, backcloth to La Dolce Vita
A commemorative plaque celebrating Fellini's career can be
found in the Via Veneto in Rome, backcloth to La dolce vita
Travel tip:

Although Fellini's body was returned to Rimini after his death in Rome at the age of 73, and is buried near the main entrance to the Cemetery of Rimini in a tomb designed by Arnaldo Pomodoro, Fellini is also commemorated in Rome, including a plaque on the Via Veneto celebrating the street's central role in La dolce vita.


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(Picture credits: Fellini plaque by Peter Clarke via Wikmedia Commons)

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