Over four decades, Francesco Rosi (1922-2015) turned his acute and probing gaze on the dark side of Italian power – the corruption of
politics, the venality of leaders, the complexity of crimes and
outcomes. Combining this political vision with a powerful directorial
eye that grew out of both neorealist roots (Rosi worked with Visconti on
La Terra Trema [1948]) and the abstract critiques of Antonioni, Rosi
created his legacy through a series of powerful hybrid movies that
combined documentary, investigation and extraordinary acting to bring
true stories to the screen as questions, rather than simple answers. After
careers in literature and journalism, Rosi turned to film after World
War II, busting out of his apprenticeship in the 1950s with films like
La Sfida (1958) that took on the many roles of organized crime in and
through the Italian state. For years after his breakthrough masterpiece
Salvatore Giuliano, these true life stories provided the springboard for
thrilling examinations of the complex politics of state violence and
its criminal agents. As critic Peter Bradshaw wrote, “Rosi took a cold
look at the mobsters of postwar Italy – that apparently picturesque
place yearned for and mythologised by the likes of Vito Corleone and
Tony Soprano – and saw in them both symptom and cause of political
corruption. They were not glamorous. They were an enigma. They were an
integral part of violence – but which part?” Later in his
career, having won numerous accolades from film festivals in Berlin,
Venice, and Cannes, Rosi also ventured into literary adaptations,
including Carlo Levi’s Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979), Gabriel Garcia
Marquez’ Chronicle of a Death Foretold (1987) and Primo Levi’s The Truce
(1997). He continued to be recognized with lifetime achievement awards
in Berlin and Venice before his death in 2015 at age 92. His masterful
work continues to influence filmmakers in Europe (Roberto Saviano) and
the United States (Scorsese, Coppola) while still demanding action in
the turgid domains of Italian and global crime and politics.Salvatore Giuliano27/09/2015 (Sun) 14:30 02/10/2015 (Fri) 19:30Hands Over the City27/09/2015 (Sun) 18:00 03/10/2015 (Sat) 20:45The Mattei Affair01/10/2015 (Thu) 17:15 11/10/2015 (Sun) 14:30Lucky Luciano01/10/2015 (Thu) 19:45 11/10/2015 (Sun) 17:00BUY TICKETS