Series Site
December 15, 2024–February 27, 2025
Marcello Mastroianni’s contribution to the history of cinema made an indelible mark. The actor is beloved by filmgoers for his on-screen charisma, charm, and elegance, and his centennial year is being marked by festivals and cinematheques around the world thanks to a programming initiative led by Cinecittà. By the time of his death in 1996, at age 72, Mastroianni had appeared in over 170 films and was praised for his versatility as an actor in roles ranging from comedies to dramas. The selection of films in this program includes early performances, from Luchino Visconti’s dreamlike romance White Nights to comedies such as Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style and Vittorio De Sica’s ironic Marriage Italian Style, with Mastroianni playing alongside his frequent costar Sophia Loren.
Mastroianni’s breakthrough came with the Modernist masterpieces of Federico Fellini, La dolce vita and 8 1/2, which launched the actor’s career into international stardom as he played protagonists who represented Fellini’s alter ego. Another exceptional performance is his role as novelist Giovanni Pontano in Michelangelo Antonioni’s sophisticated drama La notte, flanked by the brilliant costars Jeanne Moreau and Monica Vitti. Mastroianni also worked on occasion with international directors; his part in Nikita Mikhalkov’s Dark Eyes won Mastroianni the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.
We showcase several classics that receive rare theatrical screenings—Mauro Bolognini’s daring Il bell’Antonio, a film that had a decade-long battle with the censors; Marco Bellocchio’s Henry IV, adapted from the play by Luigi Pirandello; and Roberto Faenza’s highly regarded According to Pereira, one of Mastroianni’s late-period performances and best roles as a reclusive journalist living in 1938 Lisbon. Throughout his career, Mastroianni pushed himself beyond the image he held as a Latin lover and strove to take a broad range of screen roles. His achievements are exemplary of post–World War II art cinema and we take pleasure in sharing these classics of world cinema.
—Susan Oxtoby, Director of Film and Senior Film Curator