Valeria Zurlini

A detailed Summary of Valeria Zurlini

BAM Cinematek recently chose to feature the films of Italian Director Valerio Zurlini. Zurlini isn't mentioned in many of the putative histories of Italian cinema, yet he is one of the most noteworthy Italian directors of all time. Zurlini's canon of films were most recently screened at The National Gallery of Art, in February of 2001, and have also been screened throughout Canada, and at The Pacific Cinematheque, Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, and Walter Reade Theater within the last two years.

Valerio Zurlini was born in Bologna in 1926 to an affluent family. Prior to directing films, Zurlini studied both law and art history. Zurlini said that studying art helped him to develop an intuitive approach to the composition of images, and that going to the movies on a regular basis instilled in him an understanding of cinematic rhythm, presumably reinforced and deepened by his long-standing collaboration with composer Mario Nascimbene (Moller). Zurlini believed that art alone could provide insight into human nature, inspiration, truth and the possibility of redemption, since art endures long after its creator is gone.

In relation to Italian film history, Zurlini's films fall in between Rossellini, de Sica, and Zavattini's Neorealism and

Zurlini's eight features were made between 1954 and 1976, while his shorts were all made in the 1950's. His first feature film was the comedy The Girls of San Frediano (Le ragazze di San Frediano) (1954), and was followed by seven more serious post WWII existentialist films. His second film, Violent Summer (Estate violenta) (1959) was a classic coming-of-age story and landmark anti-Fascist film. Next came The Girl with the Suitcase (La ragazze con la valiglia) (1960), an existentialist love story that won the National Selection for Italy at the 1961 Cannes film Festival. Zurlini's 1962 Family Diary (Cronaca familiare) is the second his film based on a novel by Vasco Pratolini. Diary based on the novel Two Brothers, is about a man grieving the death of his brother.

In 1965 Zurlini made the war film Le Soldatesse, about a soldier transporting a group of Greek women. The film Black Jesus (Seduto alla aua destra) (1968) was a fictional account of the Congo rebel leader Patrice Lumumba, and is one of Zurlini's most well known films, because it starred American actor Woody Strode. The 1972 film The Professor (La prima notte di quiete) is the most representative of Zurlini's style, because the film is "based on his own desire to return to the world of his childhood, the summers spent in Rimini, places lost in the midst of confusion, time, and memory," (Moller). Zurlini's final film was the 1976 war movie Desert of the Tartars (Il deserto dei tartani) based on the novel by Dino Buzzati.

Bob tells her sister that he is leaving with Bice in the morning, and that she is not to tell the rest of the family. The next morning as Bob is prepared to board the train with Bice, he is confronted by Silvana, and then his brother and sister. Bob's brother drags Bob off the train and kicks his but all the way back to San Frediano. In the end bob is left alone, and as the narrator of the film puts it, "a victim of his own attractiveness."

Bob then goes to see Bice, and they begin a love affair. Bice is a fashion designer, and she offers him an opportunity to come and work for her. Bob chooses instead to be with Mafalda, and asks her to marry him. Bob thinks he has all his ducks in a row, but is surprised when he comes home to find that Gina, the girl downstairs, has informed both families that they are engaged. The two families throw a festive engagement party, which is interrupted by Tosca and her father, who accuse Bob of taking Tosca's virtue. The engagement to Gina is called off, and Bob is relieved, because now he thinks he can still marry Mafalda. bob goes to Mafalda'a house and is stunned to learn t

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bob Silvana, San Frediano, Valerio Zurlini, Gianfranco Bob, Marcella Miriani, Tosca Bob, Desperate Bob, Corps Zurlini's, Moller Zurlini, Professor La, san frediano, girls san, bob goes, girls san frediano, valerio zurlini, film based, bob leaves, based novel, night bob, zurlini's films, italian liberation corps, moller zurlini, feature length films, national gallery art,

Approximate Word count = 1760
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People