 |
| Napoli milionaria. "Who enters will be shot". Totò. |
 |
| Napoli milionaria. Totò and Eduardo De Filippo. |
Director: Eduardo De Filippo. Year: 1950. Country: Italia. Sog.: dalla pièce omonima (1945) di Eduardo De Filippo. Scen.: Eduardo De Filippo, Piero Tellini, Arduino Majuri. F.: Aldo Tonti. M.: Douglas Robertson, Giuliana Attenni. Scgf.: Piero Filippone, Piero Gherardi, Achille Spezzaferri. Mus.: Nino Rota.
Int.: Eduardo De Filippo (Gennaro Jovine), Leda Gloria (Amalia), Delia Scala (Maria Rosaria), Gianni Musy Glori (Amedeo), Totò (Pasquale Miele), Carlo Ninchi (il brigadiere), Dante Maggio (il pizzaiolo), Titina De Filippo (donna Adelaide), Laura Gore (signora Spasiani), Mario Soldati (ragionier Spasiani).
Prod.: Eduardo De Filippo, Dino De Laurentiis per Teatri della Farnesina. 35 mm. D.: 102’. Bn.
Not released in Finland.
Copy from CSC Cineteca Nazionale.
By courtesy of Filmauro.
A Neapolitan at Cinecittà, Eduardo De Filippo the Filmmaker.
Viewed at Cinema Jolly, Bologna, Il Cinema Ritrovato, 23 June 2019.
Emiliano Morreale (Il Cinema Ritrovato): "Napoli milionaria is Eduardo’s magnificent, postwar return to the cinema, as actor, director and co-producer and with significant means placed at his disposal by Dino De Laurentiis. The source play dates from 1945 and is a foundational work of the neorealist era: during the very weeks that Eduardo was writing and staging the play, Rossellini was working on Rome Open City. Today, Eduardo’s text is essential for understanding the cinema of those years, and in particular the mixing of comedy and melodrama. Five years later, the film emerged at the height of the neorealist movement, alongside clear and prestigious models. This is immediately apparent from the classic neorealist voice-over, the real trademark of so much of the cinema of the period. But Napoli milionaria is perhaps the film in which Eduardo goes furthest towards a cinematic rewriting of one of his theatrical texts. Already the hybrid set, a theatrical backdrop recreated in the studio but populated by real inhabitants of Neapolitan ‘bassi’ (ground-floor apartments), is a kind of short circuit, accentuated by the almost virtuoso camera movements and long-takes. The result is more choral than the source text, more oriented towards the street than the interior of the apartment."
"A sense of hindsight is unavoidable in the film, particularly in the epilogue, with its cross-cutting between the postwar electoral campaigns. Totò (who ‘doubles’ De Filippo’s character and is the most powerful element in the film) is hired by the Christian Democrats to protect the party’s real candidate from the Communist demonstrations and he improvises a short monologue defining himself as a “horse for hire”. Caught between the Christian Democrats and the Communist Party, Eduardo remains anchored to an underlying democratic populism, which distances him from both Fascism and Achille Lauro, and open to the positive elements of the mass parties, but also wary of them." Emiliano Morreale
AA: Naples... Side Street Story 1940–1950.
Based on Eduardo De Filippo's popular play, the film covers a decade of Neapolitan life during and after WWII, from Fascism to Nazism and the liberation by the Allies. It is a multi-character study about street level inhabitants of a narrow street, centering on the Jovine family. Father Gennaro lands in a German prison camp while mother Amalia prospers in the black market. After the war nobody wants to hear Gennaro's war stories, the son Amedeo lands into prison for car theft, and the little daughter is about to die due to lack of penicillin.
A central character, written for the film only, is Pasquale Miele, interpreted by Totò. He is a professional scapegoat, able to pull off impossible feats like playing a dead man during an air raid, and performing as the double of a Christian Democrat candidate during a massive political rally. Totò was such an admirer of Eduardo De Filippo that he refused payment and considered his participation a special honour. Eduardo gave him a Bulgari necklace as a present.
This film was for me one of the most impressive during the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, and it gave me a lot to think about. Eduardo De Filippo was one of the most legendary talents of the Italian stage, comparable with Goldoni, Pirandello and Dario Fo. When Valentina Cortese died soon after the festival, I discovered an interesting comment by her most important director, Giorgio Strehler, that Italy can boast many wonderful actors but few great plays. (Italian operas are a case apart). To this select group of greats of the Italian playwrights Eduardo De Filippo belongs.
But in my country Eduardo De Filippo is known almost by reputation only. None of his plays have been staged, none of his books translated. I had never before seen a film directed by him, but I know his collaborations with his friend Vittorio De Sica (L'oro di Napoli; Ieri, oggi, domani; Matrimonio all'italiana) and others like Roberto Rossellini (La macchina ammazzacattivi) and Luigi Comencini (Tutti a casa).
Napoli milionaria is an exciting film considering the genesis of the extraordinary species of the commedia all'italiana which flourished from the 1950s till the 1970s. It has often been said that commedia all'italiana was preceded by the "pink neorealism" of films such as Pane, amore e fantasia (1954). But obviously the roots go deeper and and start earlier. Peter Bondanella has stated that Italian comedy can be more brutal than tragedy. He has also said that no nation has exposed its vices and weaknesses as openly and subjected them to such merciless laughter as the makers of commedia all'italiana. All this sounds like a definition of Eduardo De Filippo's approach in Napoli milionaria.
It starts and ends in epic mode, painting a vibrant picture of the city of Naples before focusing on a stretch of the narrow street where the main action takes place. This neorealistic film is rich in observations, covering incidents and customs that may now seem of ethnographic value, so totally has the world changed. Life takes place largely on the street, including home cooking. Fascist patrols are routinely shortchanged. The underworld has an intricate network thanks to the people's instinctive distrust in the authorities. Theft, smuggling, black market and prostitution are rampant.
The performances are convincing and full of life. Totò's character is crookedness incarnate.
The cinematographer is Aldo Tonti himself, he who shot the first neorealist film, Ossessione, as well as Luciano Serra pilota, Senza pietà, Il bandito, Europa '51 and Le notti di Cabiria, among others. Tonti's magnificent panoramic views are more than routine establishing shots; they make us feel that the episodes we see belong to a story about the entire society in a particularly turbulent period of history. True to neorealism, many scenes have documentary authenticity, including the massive rallies of Christian Democrats and Communists towards the end.
Nino Rota is the composer of the wonderful score, starting and ending with rousing symphonic tunes. This is also classical neorealism: we see unflinching views of poverty and crime, but the performances, the cinematography and the music reveal the irresistible life-force and passion for love and beauty in the hearts of the suffering people.
The heart of the film is an unforgettable canzone napoletana sequence. I could not find credit information for the song, so I believe that the composer is Nino Rota and the lyrics were written by Eduardo De Filippo. The song is heard during the turning-point of the story: the war has ended, and the family is on the point of disintegration. "It is time to move on", everybody keeps saying to the father who has returned. But "nothing is over" according to him. During the song De Filippo lets us observe the reactions of everybody in a vibrant series of close-ups.
An engrossing film, but the print viewed has been struck from battered sources, much duped, scratchy, at times in high contrast, at times in low contrast.
BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: DATA FROM WIKIPEDIA:
BEYOND THE JUMP BREAK: DATA FROM WIKIPEDIA:
WIKIPEDIA
La trama non è molto diversa da quella della commedia ma rispetto alla rappresentazione teatrale cambiano alcuni elementi del racconto:
Amedeo, il ladro di automobili, nella commedia si redime tornando onestamente al suo lavoro, ma nel film invece finisce in carcere, dal quale uscirà filocomunista, e Peppe o'cricco verrà ucciso per resistenza all'arresto;
per far terminare il film con la scarcerazione di Amedeo, la celebre frase Adda passà a'nuttata non è nell'ultima scena;
nella commedia Rituccia, la figlia minore di Gennaro e Amalia, pur avendo un ruolo chiave nella vicenda, viene solo nominata; nel film invece è presente e si vede in varie scene;
il personaggio di Totò, Pasquale Miele, non esisteva nella commedia ma fu creato apposta per il film. A lui fu affidata la scena del finto morto [2] che in teatro era interpretata da Gennaro;
alla fine della suddetta scena, nella commedia il brigadiere mantiene la parola e non arresta Gennaro; nel film invece, Gennaro viene ugualmente arrestato in sostituzione di Totò che ha recitato la parte al suo posto;
nel film, Eduardo crea molte scene e personaggi assenti nella commedia, e cita criticamente episodi di denuncia sociale tipici dell'epoca (il contrabbando, la prostituzione, i "figli della guerra", ecc.)
WIKIQUOTE
Frasi
Una città che tutti bene o male hanno visto ma che ben pochi conoscono! (Voce narrante)
È proibito dare consigli quando la gente non li chiede. (Gennaro Iovine)
La vita è bella perché è una lotta continua e discontinua. (Pasquale Miele)
Dobbiamo aspettare Ama', adda passa' a nuttata! (Gennaro Iovine)
Dialoghi
Gennaro Iovine: Scusate, è scoppiata la guerra?
Un passante: Sì!
Gennaro Iovine: Scusate, ma contro chi?
Ufficiale americano melomane: Io sognare rimanere Italia, io avere buona voce!
Pasquale Miele: Eh! Si vede!
No comments:
Post a Comment