Massimo Troisi: a meteor in Italian cinema. In the vein of the so-called "new comedians" of the early 80s (together with Carlo Verdone) he enters an avalanche with the first highly successful title: I start again from three. In her first film she summarizes all the vast Neapolitan theatrical experience carried out with the La Smorfia group. Other successes will follow: Sorry I'm late 82, We just have to cry 84 to his climax as an actor in the The postman 1994 (directed jointly with Michael Radford)
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani they have a place of honor in the history of Italian cinema. They made their debut in 69 with Under the sign of the scorpion, with Gian Maria Volontè and immediately after, in 72, they reached the general public with San Michele had a rooster followed by Allosanfan. Always committed to and attentive to social and political issues, other great successes follow, culminating with the recent Cesare must die, shot entirely in the Roman prison of Rebibbia with non-professional inmate actors. At the last Venice Film Festival it was awarded as best restored film The night of San Lorenzo, in homage to the death of Vittorio, which occurred recently.
There are few times when a film title associates with a genre: it is the case of Pulp Fiction from 1994, one of the American director's masterpieces Quentin Tarantino. The genre is inspired by "pulp" literature (derived from the type of very rough and cheap paper used to print popular stories in the United States around the 40s) where various components were mixed: from crime fiction to science fiction, from horror to of the West. Tarantino debuts with a title that later became a pillar of cinema: Reservoir Dogs, of 1992. Subsequently he collaborated on various screenplays, including Born Assassins by Oliver Stone of '94. After a stylistic parenthesis, however impeccable, with Jackie Brown of '97 he returns to the great numbers of the international scene with the two volumes of Kill Bill in 2003 and 2004. Among the latest works to remember: Inglourious Basterds of 2009, Django Unchained of 2012 and The Hateful Eight of 2015.
Speaking of film genres, the thriller (from the verb trill, to shiver) is one of the most relevant and most successful. The fundamental ingredients are those of horror, fear, the unknown, often associated with a mystery, with an obscure character who becomes the perpetrator of a crime or the protagonist of an event, even paranormal. Alfred Hitchcock, Brian De Palma and Stanley Kubrick are among the most accredited signatures in this genre: for the first Psycho from '60, the second with Carrie, the gaze of Satan from '86 and the third with Shining of 1980.
In the history of Italian cinema Toto deserves a separate chapter. It was born and established itself in the vaudeville theater in the wake of popular comedy, Neapolitan in particular. He arrives at the cinema around the 40s and establishes himself on the big screen with the well-known successes of the happy years of Italian comedy: from Fifa and the arena to Totò sceicco, a Neapolitan Turk and Siamo men o corporali?. In between there are masterpieces such as Edoardo De Filippo's Naples Millionaire, Vittorio de Sica's Gold of Naples from 54, Mario Monicelli's I soliti ignoti from 58, to get to Pier Paolo Pasolini's Uccellacci and birds from 66.
Among the Italian actors, it is necessary to remember then Hugh Tognazzi. He made his debut on television around the 50s with Raimondo Vianello and then arrived on the big screen as director of The Maintained (1961). These are the golden years of the "Italian-style" comedy where the characters of post-war Italy are outlined (I mostri of 1963 directed by Dino Risi). With various leading or supporting roles, he is always a point of reference among the great actors of our country. We recall two of the many successful titles: Marco Ferreri's The Great Abbuffata of '73, the successful series of Amici Mine by Mario Monicelli of '75 and Ettore Scola's Terrace of '80.
Finally, one of Charlie Chaplin's masterpieces deserves a mention: Modern times from 1936. It is the most successful film that marks the end of silent cinema. The inspiration comes to him when he senses the serious economic crisis in Europe (where Nazism and fascism are also rampant) while the great depression is in full swing in the United States.
