Behind every great Italian auteur stands a great Italian actor-or several. Where would Federico Fellini be without Marcello Mastroianni, or Mario Monicelli without Alberto Sordi or Totò? This series celebrates classic Italian cinema through its leading men, from national icons like Vittorio Gassman to the nonprofessionals who brought extraordinary vitality to works by Vittorio De Sica and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Five films starring Gassman, generously provided by Cinecittà, reveal the actor in his comic, mischievous, and melancholy modes. Gathered around Gassman are Sordi, the Roman Everyman who cut a darkly funny figure in commedia all'italiana; Totò, master of the comic gesture and “one of the most naturally funny individuals to ever mug before the movie camera” (J. Hoberman, Village Voice); Gian Maria Volontè, snakelike for Sergio Leone and brilliantly satiric for Elio Petri; and, of course, Mastroianni, whose irresistible suavity and actorly ease were coupled with a deep sensitivity. Spend a few summer hours with this cast of Latin lovers and losers, saints, sinners, and citizens, and revel in the faces and voices of Italian film.
