MAURO BOLOGNINI – Movie director

(Pistoia, 1922 – Rome, 2001)

Mauro Bolognini was born in Pistoia on June 28, 1922. He debuted as a director in 1955 with some comedy movies that still reflected the influence of Realism. His first significant work was the film La notte brava (Bad Girls Don’t Cry) of 1959 on a subject and script by Pier Paolo Pasolini, in which he faced the theme of the crisis of social values and of the younger generations.
Once more the collaboration with Pasolini, in addition to a collaboration with Alberto Moravia for Una giornata balorda (From a Roman Balcony) of 1960, steered the interest of Bolognini towards narrative, from which he found inspiration for the subjects of the most part of his following works, in which he pinpointed the special ability to construct movies and a precise sense of entertainment. From this came a progression of movies such as Il bell’Antonio (literally “handsome Anthony”) from a work of Brancati (1960), La viaccia (The Love Makers) from Pratesi (1961), Senilità (Careless) from Svevo (1962), Agostino (1962) and La corruzione (The Corruption) (1963) by Moravia, Metello by Pratolini (1970), Per le antiche scale (literally “by the ancient stairs”) from Tobino (1975), L’eredità Ferramonti (The Inheritance) from a novel by G. Chelli (1976). The reason he was selected as a director for the Barilla advertising spots on Carosello in 1972 was his brilliant direction of the movie Metello in which he directed Massimo Ranieri in the role of the protagonist. These were shot in the shades of a filming studio with photography by Ennio Guarnieri and in them Bolognini attempted to recreate the atmosphere of the songs by Ranieri filled with romantic and melancholic themes and supported by a profound knowledge of film as an expressive means. Bolognini died in Rome on May 14, 2001.

Giancarlo Gonizzi