Renato Castellani

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Renato Castellani (born September 4, 1913 in Varigotti , Finale Ligure , † December 28, 1985 in Rome ) was an Italian film director and screenwriter and an important representative of Italian neorealism .

Life

Castellani spent his childhood in Argentina and returned to his native country in Milan in 1925 , where he graduated in architecture . He made his first experiences in the film industry with assignments for Cineguf in Lombardy and then moved to Rome to begin a career as a director.

The experience as a military advisor for location shooting in 1936 (for the film Il grande appello ) enabled him as the author of synopses to work and screenwriter. His first works, while numerous, are of little interest. In 1940, as an assistant director , he was able to get his first impressions of working as a director; the following year he made his debut with The Pistol Shot based on the story by Alexander Sergejewitsch Pushkin , in which he also took on a performing role. A distinct visual style was already evident in this debut.

The two films that followed anticipated elements of neorealism in form and content. The film Under the Sun of Rome , made in 1947, forms a trilogy dedicated to survivors of the Second World War , together with the two subsequent works, It's Spring and For Two Groschen Hope (winner of the Grand Pix of the Cannes Film Festival in 1952) .

With his other films, Castellani moved away from neorealism, although they still represent examples of successful pictorial narratives; his first color film Romeo and Juliet, with Susan Shentall and Laurence Harvey in the title roles, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1954 . A success that he was able to build on in 1961 when he won the FIPRESCI Prize for The Brigant . His final cinema work, Una breve stagione , marked the transition to his work for Italian television in 1969, for which he was responsible for three biographical films.

In 1982 Castellani was awarded an honorary David and an honorary award from the Venice Festival. In his career he also won the Nastro d'Argento three times .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1941: The pistol shot (Un colpo di pistola)
  • 1946: My son, the professor (Mio figlio professore)
  • 1948: Under the Sun of Rome (Sotto il sole di Roma)
  • 1949: It's spring (È primavera)
  • 1951: For two groschen of hope (Due soldi di speranza)
  • 1954: Romeo and Juliet (Giulietta e Romeo)
  • 1956: Dreams in the Drawer (I sogni nel cassetto)
  • 1958: Hell in the city (Nella città l'inferno)
  • 1958: resurrection
  • 1961: The Brigant (Il brigante)
  • 1963: Crazy Seafaring (Mare matto)
  • 1964: Three Nights of Love (Tre notti d'amore) (one episode)
  • 1964: Wedding in Italian ( Matrimonio all'italiana , only screenplay co-author)
  • 1967: The Super Sensual (Questi fantasmi)
  • 1971: Leonardo Da Vinci (La vita di Leonardo da Vinci) (TV miniseries)
  • 1982: Giuseppe Verdi - An Italian Legend (Verdi) (TV miniseries)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Roberto Poppi: Dizionario del cinema italiano, I registi, Gremese 2002, pp. 98/99
personal data
SURNAME Castellani, Renato
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian film director and screenwriter
DATE OF BIRTH September 4, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Varigotti
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 1985
Place of death Rome