La Dolce Vita: Criterion Collection
November 24, 2014
At the time of its release, Federico Fellini’s La dolce vita (1960) was considered a prescient masterpiece that anticipated our celebrity-obsessed tabloid culture. Looking back now, its subject matter seems rather tame, but after the likes of O.J. Simpson,...
La notte: Criterion Collection
November 4, 2013
Michelangelo Antonioni’s La notte (1961) examines the turbulent marriage between a writer and his wife over the span of just under a day. The film begins with Giovanni (Mastroianni) and Lidia (Moreau) visiting a friend sick with cancer in the hospital....
The Organizer: Criterion Collection
May 3, 2012
Director Mario Monicelli made some of his best films during what many consider to be the golden age of Italian cinema when that country’s output was among the greatest in popular cinema. He was known for making socially conscious films that mixed comedy...
Le notti bianche
January 30, 2006
When Fyodor Dostoyevsky was 27 years old, he wrote a series of columns for the Saint Petersburg Gazette. They were short pieces about his observations on city life and were eventually published as the Petersburg Chronicle. Luchino Visconti’s Le notti...
Divorce Italian Style
October 5, 2005
Divorce Italian Style (1962) was originally intended to be a drama but the final result is a biting satire of Sicilian machismo. Baron Ferdinando “Fefe” Cefalu (Mastroianni) and his wife, Rosalia (Rocca), have been married for 12 years. She adores...
