Le Bal

A master of comedy, sentimental drama and political cinema, Ettore Scola has explored the relationship between politics and humanity more than any other filmmaker through his oeuvre. Having directed over forty films since the early 1960s, he is one of the most highly regarded figures in Italian cinema. Scola was born in 1931 in Trevico, province of Avellino (Campania). After studying law in Rome and working as a journalist, he began his film career during the early 50s as a screenwriter, contributing material to Steno’s An American in Rome (1954), Antonio Pietrangeli’s The Bachelor (1955) and Dino Rosi’s The Easy Life (1962), among others. In 1964, he directed his first movie, the anthology comedy film Let’s Talk about Women. Scola’s early directorial career consisted of comedies, namely La Congiuntura (1964) and The Devil in Love (1966). The director came to international prominence with his 1974 film We All Loved Each Other So Much (30th Mostra). Unraveling a historical panorama that demonstrated how cruel the passage of time can be, the film followed the lives of three friends after the end of World War II, from the resistance fighters to the political commitment of the 1960s. The film not only paralleled the characters’ trajectories with political history, but with the history of Italian post-war cinema as well. In 1976, he won the best director prize at Cannes for Down and Dirty (30th Mostra), a satirical film that explored the dark side of human nature through four generations of a family living in the outskirts of Rome. His 1977 political allegory Special Day (30th Mostra), reunited Sofia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni to play an unusual screen couple: an unhappy housewife and a persecuted homosexual journalist who formed a friendship on the day Mussolini was visited by Adolf Hitler. The film received two Oscar nominations. The 1980s saw Scola venture into more unusual, ambitious projects. That Night in Varennes (1982) explored the French revolution through a fictional meeting between Casanova and other members of the aristocracy. French history was also the focus of his 1983 film Le Bal (8th and 30th Mostra). Winner of the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival, the film covered fifty years of French history inside a single ballroom. Devoid of any dialogue and with a strong emphasis on music, it followed the interaction of human beings with reality as Scola once again explored how individuals can be affected by the passage of time. His career progressed through decades, with films including Splendor (1988), What Time is It? (1989), Captain Fracassa`s Journey (1990), Story of a Poor Young Man (1995), Unfair Competition (2001) and the documentary Another World is Possible (2001, 26th Mostra). In 2006, the 30th Mostra organized a retrospective on Italian political cinema of the 60s and 70s, showcasing five of Scola’s films, including Trevico Torino: Viaggio nel Fiat Nam (1973). The Dinner (1998), featuring one of the Vittorio Gassman’s last performances, was a commercial success during its theatrical release. The 37th Mostra has the pleasure and the honor of hosting the Brazilian premiere of his latest film, How Strange to be Named Frederico: Scola Narrates Fellini (2013). This delicate film depicts his friendship with renowned filmmaker Federico Fellini, as well as their parallel journeys through the history of postwar Italian cinema. The film memoir, which will be the 37th Mostra’s closing film, continues with the themes Scola has explored throughout his career. For his immense contribution to cinema, Mostra will grant him the Leon Cakoff Prize.

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA

43ª MOSTRA INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA