Cinema Italia

Nicholas Bell and John Bleasdale talk about Valerio Zurlini's The Desert of the Tartars.

John Bleasdale and Nicholas Bell explore the wonders of Italian cinema. This week A Black Veil for Lisa.

Nick and John talk about Marco Ferreri's The Big Feast.

Nick and John discuss Sergio Leone's 1971 Zapata Western Fistful of Dynamite

Nicholas Bell and John Bleasdale discuss Lina Wertmuller's The Seduction of Mimi (1972)

Nicholas Bell and John Bleasdale discuss Mario Monicelli's Big Deal on Madonna Street or I Soliti Ignoti (1958).

John and Nicholas talk about Elio Petri's social satire The Working Class Goes to Heaven

Nicolas Bell and John Bleasdale discuss Salvatore Giuliano (1962), directed Francesco Rosi

Nicolas Bell and John Bleasdale discuss Ermanno Olmi's Tree of Wooden Clogs

The Skin (1981) directed by Liliana Cavani is the subject of the discussion. With John Bleasdale and Nicholas Bell.

Shawn Levy and John Bleasdale on Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza)

Spasmo is a 1974 Italian giallo film directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring Robert Hoffmann and Suzy Kendall. John Bleasdale and Nicholas Bell delve into its deeper mysteries and discover madness. Music by Two Minute Noodles. Find Nicholas Bell and Joseph's Fish Jelly film review channel here. Connery: a Novel by John Bleasdale is available here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

John and Nicholas discuss Sergio Martino's classic satanic Giallo, All the Colors of the Dark (1972)

Another chance to hear one of the most popular episodes of Cinema Italia, recorded in 2023. Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom was released in 1975 and became an instant milestone in the cinema of transgression. A political fable, it tells the story of four men who in the waning days of Fascist Italy retire to a villa to enjoy their perversions and sadism at the expense of the young people they have captured. Torture, rape, murder and degradation are explicitly depicted in a way that remains shocking to this day. I talk with Jason Wood, author and film programmer for the BFI, about this electrifying, challenging film. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Barry Forshaw is the author of the Guide to Italian Cinema: Arthouse to Exploitation. Available here. Italian cinema is one of the most glorious and energetic celebrations of the medium that any nation has ever offered. For many years, this astonishing legacy was largely unseen, but the DVD revolution is making virtually everything available, from Steve Reeves' muscle epics to long-unseen Italian art house movies. The one characteristic that most of the great (and not so great) Italian movies have in common is the sheer individualism of the directors. This applies to populist moviemakers and the giants of serious cinema. While Fellini, Visconti and Antonioni have rightly assumed their places in the pantheon, so have such talented popular auteurs as Sergio Leone, who was doing something with the Western that no American director would dare do. All the glory of Italian cinema is celebrated here in comprehensive essays, along with every key film in an easy-to-use reference format.

My report from the Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna

Gillo Pontecorvo's film was one of the first movies to deal with the concentration camps. It starred Susan Strasberg and was inspired by the books of Primo Levi.

We look at Federico Fellini's masterpiece 8 1/2, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale. Matthew Asprey Gear is a writer and lecturer. His online courses are available here: www.matthewaspreygear.com

The masterpiece by the Taviani brothers is a wartime tale of a village in Tuscany on the eve of allied victory, as fascists and Germans take their terrible revenge. All is seen through the eyes of a young girl and the horror is fringed with comedy and wonder. I talk to Michael Brook about the film.

We All Loved Each Other So Much, from 1974, was directed by Ettore Scola and starred Vittorio Gassman, Nino Manfredi, Stefania Sandrelli, Stefano Satta Flores, Giovanna Ralli and Aldo Fabrizi. Dedicated to Vittorio De Sica, who died shortly before the film was released, the film is a portrait of post-war Italy, through the eyes of three ex-partisan friends who all fall in love with the same woman.

Writer and critic Neil Young talks Carlo Lizzani's 1968 poliziottesco Banditi a Milano, (or Bandits in Milan or The Violent Four), starring Gian Maria Volonté, Tomas Milian, Don Backy and Ray Lovelock. Based on a real bank robbery, the film is credited with launching a popular Italian genre. Check out Neil's work here.

Maathew Page joins John Bleasdale to discuss the career of Alice Rohrwacher and specifically her debut film from 2011, Heavenly Body, (Corpo Celeste). 13 year old Marta is preparing for her confirmation at the local Catholic church but soon finds that her own faith doesn't help her to fit in with the new home she has recently moved to. Alice Rohrwacher's new film La Chimera is released this month in the UK. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Get NordVPN 2Y plan + 4 months extra here ➼ https://nordvpn.com/fspn It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! -

In the rubble of a Rome which still smelled of gunpowder, Roberto Rossellini filmed Roma Città Aperta (Rome Open City), a film that stands as an inaugural moment in Italian Neorealism and as a hugely influential masterpiece in world cinema. Giulia Saccogna is the programmer of a new season of films at the BFI - Chasing the Real: Italian Neorealism - which will include a 4K restoration of Rome Open City. Tickets are available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 1979 Italian nunsploitation horror film, Killer Nun was directed by Giulio Berruti and starred Anita Ekberg, Joe Dallesandro, Lou Castel, and Alida Valli. Its plot follows a nun who, after recovering from brain surgery, grows increasingly paranoid that her health is again declining; she begins indulging in opioids from the hospital in which she works, and spirals into addiction and madness with violent consequences. Nicholas Bell is a film critic who writes for EyeOnCinema and on his YouTube channel Fish Jelly Film Reviews. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lillian Crawford talks about Luchino Visconti's 1977 adaptation of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice. Lillian is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Little White Lies, Sight and Sound and the Times Literary Supplement as well as many other places. Her personal website can be visited here. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Birds, the Bees and the Italians (Italian: Signore & Signori, literally "Ladies and Gentlemen") is a 1966 italian film directed by Pietro Germi. It won the Grand Prix with A Man and a Woman at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival and was later selected for screening as part of the Cannes Classics section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Jo-Ann Titmarsh is a film critic and travel writer whose work has appeared in The Evening Standard, HeyUGuys and Lonely Planet. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For a Few Dollars More confirmed the arrival of the Spaghetti Western as a new genre. Further enshrining Clint Eastwood's Man with no Name, it added also Lee Van Cleef to the mix. There is a real maturation of how Ennio Morricone's music is used and an increased confidence in the filmmaking of Leone. Alasdair Satchel is a theatre and filmmaker based on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. He is the host of the podcast What We do in the Winter, available here. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ettore Scola's 1976 comedy is an exercise is grotesque humour about a family living in a Roman slum within sight of the Vatican. Trailer here. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Massimo Benvegnù is an artistic director at the Biografilm Festival in Bologna as well as working as a film critic, programmer and teacher. He has written on Peter Weir and Peter Bogdonavich as well as many others. We talk aboutn La Moglie del Prete (The Priest's Wife), Dino Risi's 1970 satire starring Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paolo & Vittorio Taviani are arguably the geniuses of Italian Cinema you've never heard of. Night of the Falling Stars and Caesar Must Die are only two works of imaginative and groundbreaking work. Adrian Wootton (OBE) is the Chief Executive of Film London and the British FIlm Commission and is the curator of the largest retrospective of the Taviani Brothers in the English speaking world. It's currently taking place at the BFI and you can check it out at this link. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bernardo Bertolucci's adaptation of Alberto Moravia's novel The Conformist is a visual feast while at the same time an intricate portrait of the soulessness of fascism. Neil Fox is an academic and broadcaster. Catch the Cinematologists podcast here. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 masterpiece The Battle of Algiers is the subject of this episode. With its cinema verité style and emotional impact, it is as relevant today as it was on its release. A stirring examination of resistance, oppression and the price that the innocent often pay. Add to this a stand out score by - who else? - Ennio Morricone. Lee Freeman is a film academic and teacher. Music courtesy of Two Minute Noodles. Hear more here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Film critic and paparazzo Kaleem Aftab joins John Bleasdale to talk about Federico Fellini's 1960 classic La Dolce Vita, starring Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chief film critic of The Hollywood Reporter David Rooney joins John Bleasdale to talk about Federico Fellini's 1957 masterpiece Le Notti di Cabiria, Nights of Cabiria, starring Giulietta Masina as a sex worker in a Rome on the edge of La Dolce Vita. Massina won Best Actress at Cannes and the film was the second Oscar in a row for Fellini. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1964 film The Gospel According to St. Matthew was a surprise when it came out. How had this Marxist, atheist, homosexual made a film which many found devout? Matthew Page - the author of 100 Bible Films - talks to John Bleasdale about one of Pasolini's most surprising films and certainly his most accessible. Music courtesy of Two Minute Noodles, hear more here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Bleasdale talks to the director, Abel Ferrara, on Italian cinema, his collaboration with Willem Dafoe and the influence of Pasolini. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Bleasdale talks briefly to John Landis about his favorite Italian comedy: Mario Monicelli's Big Deal on Madonna Street (Italian: I soliti ignoti; released in the UK as Persons Unknown) from 1958. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Crime novelist Philip Gwynne Jones joins John Bleasdale to talk about Dario Argento's 1975 masterpiece Profondo Rosso or Deep Red. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John Bleasdale and Matthew Asprey Gear talk Vittorio De Sica's Umberto D. A 1952 Italian neorealist classic starring Carlo Battisti in the role of Umberto Domenico Ferrari, a poor elderly man in Rome who is desperately trying to keep his rented room. His landlady (Lina Gennari) is evicting him and his only true friends, the housemaid (Maria-Pia Casilio) and his dog Flike are of no help. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pier Paolo Pasolini's Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom was released in 1975 and became an instant milestone in the cinema of transgression. A political fable, it tells the story of four men who in the waning days of Fascist Italy retire to a villa to enjoy their perversions and sadism at the expense of the young people they have captured. Torture, rape, murder and degradation are explicitly depicted in a way that remains shocking to this day. I talk with Jason Wood, author and film programmer for the BFI, about this electrifying, challenging film. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Peter Birro is one of Scandinavia’s most admired and prolific screenwriters. The three-time Prix Italia-winner’s groundbreaking TV-series Hammarkullen, Det nya landet, and How Soon Is Now?! are sweeping visions of Swedish society, marginalized people, political dramas and deeply human, emotional stories. For cinema Birro has written the hugely successful biopic Monica Z about the internationally acclaimed jazz singer Monica Zetterlund, one of Sweden’s most talented and tragic artists. Monica Z became the biggest commercial success of 2013 in Swedish theaters and went on to be nominated for several awards, including a ‘Grand Prix des Amériques’ at the Montréal World Film Festival and no less than 11 Guldbagge Awards, of which it won four. Birro’s most recent feature title is an adaptation of the nonfiction title 438 Days. The dramatic story of the kidnapping of two Swedish journalists in 2011 in Ethiopia premiered in 2019 and was promptly nominated for six Guldbagge Awards. The Music for the podcast is…

John Bleasdale talks to film maker and writer James Peaty about Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Elio Petri's 1970 film, starring Gian Maria Volonté and Florinda Bolkan. A psychological, black-humored satire on corruption in high office, it tells the story of a top police officer who kills his mistress, and then tests whether the police would charge him for this crime. The film was released in Italy by Euro International Pictures on 9 February 1970, to widespread acclaim from critics. It won the Jury Prize at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, and the David di Donatello Awards for Best Film for Best Actor (Gian Maria Volonté). In the United States, it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Petri and his co-writer Ugo Pirro were nominated for Best Original Screenplay. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Assunta Spina starring Francesca Bertini is a classic Diva silent from 1915. (View it here). Writer and critic and expert in silent cinema Pamela Hutchinson gives her insight into where to start with Italian silent cinema. Here is a link to her blog. Music is by Two Minute Noodles, available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Film director Laura Samani talks to John Bleasdale about Claudio Caligari's 2017 film Don't Be Bad (Non Essere Cattivo). Music is by Two Minute Noodles, available here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I talk to Felix Van Groeningen about his new film The Eight Mountains, which he, along with his partner Charlotte Vandermeersch, wrote and directed from Paolo Cognetti's novel, as well as Italian cinema generally. Felix is also the director of The Misfortunates (2009), The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012) and Belgica (2016). He made his English-language debut with the biographical drama Beautiful Boy (2018). My review of The Eight Mountains for Sight and Sound can be read here. The Music for the podcast is provided by Two Minute Noodles and more can be found here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cinema Italia is a new podcast dedicated to exploring the glories of Italian film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.