Year: 2024

Pages: 191

Publisher: Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia; Sabinae

ISBN: 9791280023834

Description

This issue of Bianco e Nero concludes a journey that began over a year ago, dedicated to two actresses and two actors: Anna Magnani, Sophia Loren, Carmelo Bene, and Gian Maria Volonté. A quartet tied together by a common thread: these are artists who are much more than just actors and actresses. We have celebrated and interpreted them as such.

In Anna Magnani, we recognized a pivotal figure in the emancipation of Italian women, marking their transition—in the immediate postwar period—from fascism and patriarchy to modernity and self-determination. Sophia Loren’s filmography allowed us to analyze a star phenomenon without equal in the history of world cinema. Carmelo Bene is a total artist, and his popularity in the age of the internet and social media attests to his enduring relevance. Gian Maria Volonté, through his artistic and political choices, became the author of himself and his own filmography: his films narrate the history of Italy.

Volonté passed away thirty years ago, on December 6, 1994. The idea for this issue was developed in parallel with the documentary Volonté – The Man of a Thousand Faces, directed by Francesco Zippel and presented at the Venice Film Festival in 2024. Together with Zippel, who was working on Volonté in preparation for the anniversary, we shared some of the interviews featured in this volume. Additional interviews were conducted specifically for this issue, alongside essays that analyze the actor’s entire career and two touching tributes, blending critique with personal reflection, by Felice Laudadio and Fabio Ferzetti.