Mario Monicelli

Despite the fact that he visited only once, Mario Monicelli loved Argentina. In the centennial of his birth, Bafici pays tribute to this master of Italian cinema. He was an auteur in the most comprehensive sense of the word, as he wrote most of his films. He started his career in the Thirties directing student short films and working as an assistant director. In the Forties, he was already established as a prolific and creative scriptwriter when he jumped to filmmaking in a duo with the great comedian Steno. In the Fifties, he directed several successful films, including masterpieces like Big Deal on Madonna Street, and The Great War. From the Sixties on, he had the freedom to choose high social impact issues, which he presented in an accessible way for the general public. He never stopped “entertaining while educating”, which was actually making people laugh and cry by communicating his own view of the world. A view that was powerfully non-conformist, and absolutely opposed to the “inherited notions” about the First World War, machismo and feminism, labor and unemployment, industry and power, family, youth, intelligence, old age, and friendship. Thanks to his splendid, elegant, and refined films, Mario Monicelli has left an indelible mark. 

Films: Vida de perros Casanova ‘70 Un burgués pequeño, pequeño Monicelli, la versione di Mario Vicino al Colosseo… c’è Monti