Carlo Lizzani

03.04.1922, Rome, Italy

 

Director
Lizzani is an Italian director and screenwriter. He began his career as a film critic and after WWII worked as a screenwriter and assistant director to Roberto Rossellini (Germania anno zero, 1948), Giuseppe De Santis (Caccia tragica, 1947; Riso amaro, 1949) and Alberto Lattuada. For a while, he made documentaries and made his feature film debut with the war drama Attention! Bandits! (Achtung! Banditi!, 1951). Afterwards he co-directed the crime drama Ai margini della metropoli (1952) and then Chronicle of Poor Lovers (Cronache di poveri amanti, 1954), his most acclaimed film, which won an international award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1954. Afterwards he made different genre films, such as comedies (the barely noticed Lo svitato, 1955; Il carabiniere a cavallo, 1961; La vita agra, 1964), western (Un fiume di dollari / The Hills Run Red, 1966; Requiescant, 1967), dramas and crime films (Banditi a Milano / Bandits in Milan, 1968 and Crazy Joe, 1974). During the 1980s he worked on TV series and films and his last works include documentaries about fellow directors Luchino Visconti (1999), Roberto Rossellini: Frammenti e battute (2000) and Giuseppe De Santis (2008).

Filmography


Related texts

Longevity of Italian Neorealism

Films by this director

Luchino Visconti

(1999)

Directed by: Carlo Lizzani
PHOTOGRAPHY: Bruno Di Virgilio
Synopsis:

This is a portrait of Luchino Visconti’s (1906 - 1976) creative life. We follow Visconti from his childhood days among the aristocrats, across first writings about film, work with Renoir, activities in theatre and on film, to his part in the film movement neorealism. The documentary consists of scenes from Visconti’s films, interviews with different actors and other collaborators as well as film critics.

b/w and color, 60 min

Chronicle of Poor Lovers

(Cronache di poveri amanti, 1954)

Directed by: Carlo Lizzani
PHOTOGRAPHY: Gianni Di Venanzo
Synopsis:

The story takes place in 1925 Florence. We follow the influence of the changing political climate on the lives of several people from the poor part of the city. Mario moves to the neighborhood in order to be closer to a girl, Berta, and soon meets Maciste and Ugo, two antifascists. He accidentally meets Milena, with whom he has an affair after the fascists beat her husband. Other characters include the cynical prostitute Elisa and the lonely Gesuina.

35mm, b/w, 115 min
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