Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini[1][2] (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977)
was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Rossellini was one of
the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the
movement films such as the 1945 Roma città aperta (Rome, Open City).
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Death
4 Legacy
5 Filmography
6 Television credits
7 Notes
8 External links
Early life[edit]
Rossellini was born in Rome. His mother, Elettra (née Bellan), was a
housewife born in Rovigo, Veneto, and his father, Angiolo Giuseppe
"Beppino" Rossellini, who owned a construction firm,[3] was born in
Rome
Rome from a family originally from Pisa, Tuscany. His mother was of
part French descent, from immigrants who had arrived in
Italy
Italy during
the Napoleonic Wars.[4] He lived on the Via Ludovisi, where Benito
Mussolini had his first Roman hotel in 1922 when
Fascism
Fascism obtained
power in Italy.[5]
Rossellini's father built the first cinema in Rome, the "Barberini", a
theater where movies could be projected, granting his son an unlimited
free pass; the young Rossellini started frequenting the cinema at an
early age. When his father died, he worked as a soundmaker for films
and for a certain time he experienced all the ancillary jobs related
to the creation of a film, gaining competence in each field.
Rossellini had a brother, Renzo, who later scored many of his films.
On 26 September 1936, he married Marcella De Marchis (17 January 1916,
Rome
Rome – 25 February 2009, Sarteano), a costume designer with whom he
collaborated even after their marriage was over. This was after a
quick annulment from Assia Noris, a Russian actress who worked in
Italian films. De Marchis and Rossellini had two sons: Marco Romano
(born 3 July 1937 and died of appendicitis in 1946), and Renzo.
Rossellini and De Marchis separated in 1950 (and eventually divorced).
Although he wasn't personally religious,[6] he had a strong interest
in
Christian values in the contemporary world;[7] he loved the
Church's ethical teaching, and was enchanted by religious
sentiment—things which he saw as being neglected in the materialist
world.[7]
Career[edit]
In 1937, Rossellini made his first documentary, Prélude à
l'après-midi d'un faune. After this essay, he was called to assist
Goffredo Alessandrini
Goffredo Alessandrini in making Luciano Serra pilota, one of the most
successful Italian films of the first half of the 20th century. In
1940 he was called to assist
Francesco De Robertis on Uomini sul
Fondo.[citation needed] His close friendship with Vittorio Mussolini,
son of Il Duce, has been interpreted as a possible reason for having
been preferred to other apprentices.
Some authors describe the first part of his career as a sequence of
trilogies. His first feature film, The White Ship (1941) was sponsored
by the audiovisual propaganda centre of Navy Department and is the
first work in Rossellini's "Fascist Trilogy", together with A Pilot
Returns (1942) and
The Man with a Cross (1943). To this period belongs
his friendship and cooperation with
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini and Aldo Fabrizi.
The Fascist regime collapsed in 1943 and just two months after the
liberation of
Rome
Rome (4 June 1944), Rossellini was already preparing the
anti-fascist Roma città aperta (
Rome, Open City
Rome, Open City 1945). Fellini
assisted on the script and Fabrizi played the role of the priest,
while Rossellini self-produced. Most of the money came from credits
and loans, and film had to be found on the black market. This dramatic
film was an immediate success. Rossellini had started now his
so-called Neorealistic Trilogy, the second title of which was Paisà
(1946), produced with non-professional actors, and the third, Germany,
Year Zero (1948), sponsored by a French producer and filmed in
Berlin's French sector. In Berlin also, Rossellini preferred
non-actors, but he was unable to find a face he found "interesting";
he placed his camera in the center of a town square, as he did for
Paisà, but was surprised when nobody came to watch.
As he declared in an interview, "in order to really create the
character that one has in mind, it is necessary for the director to
engage in a battle with his actor which usually ends with submitting
to the actor's wish. Since I do not have the desire to waste my energy
in a battle like this, I only use professional actors occasionally".
One of the reasons for success is supposed to be Rossellini's
rewriting of the scripts according to the non-professional actors'
feelings and histories. Regional accent, dialect, and costumes were
shown in the film as they were in real life.
After his Neorealist Trilogy, Rossellini produced two films now
classified as the 'Transitional films': L'Amore (1948) (with Anna
Magnani) and La macchina ammazzacattivi (1952), on the capability of
cinema to portray reality and truth (with recalls of commedia
dell'arte). In 1948, Rossellini received a letter from a famous
foreign actress proposing a collaboration:
Dear Mr. Rossellini,
I saw your films Open City and Paisan, and enjoyed them very much. If
you need a Swedish actress who speaks English very well, who has not
forgotten her German, who is not very understandable in French, and
who in Italian knows only "ti amo," I am ready to come and make a film
with you.
Ingrid Bergman
With this letter began one of the best known love stories in film
history, with Bergman and Rossellini both at the peak of their
careers. Their first collaboration was
Stromboli
Stromboli terra di Dio (1950)
(in the island of Stromboli, whose volcano quite conveniently erupted
during filming). This affair caused a great scandal in some countries
(Bergman and Rossellini were both married to other people); the
scandal intensified when Bergman became pregnant with Roberto Ingmar
Rossellini. Rossellini and Bergman had two more children, Isabella
Rossellini (actress & model) and her twin, Ingrid Isotta. Europa
'51 (1952),
Siamo Donne
Siamo Donne (1953), Journey to
Italy
Italy (1954), La paura
(1954) and
Giovanna d'Arco al rogo (1954) were the other films on
which they worked together.
In 1957, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian Prime Minister at the time,
invited him to
India
India to make the documentary
India
India and put some life
into the floundering Indian Films Division. Though married to Bergman,
he had an affair with Sonali Das Gupta, a screenwriter, herself
married to local filmmaker Hari Sadhan Das Gupta, who was helping
develop vignettes for the film.[8] Given the climate of the 1950s,
this led to a huge scandal in
India
India as well as in Hollywood.[9] Nehru
had to ask Rossellini to leave.[citation needed] Soon after, Bergman
and Rossellini separated.
Rossellini eloped with married Sonali Das Gupta, when she was only 27
years old and later married her in 1957 and adopted her young son
Arjun, renamed Gil Rossellini (23 October 1956 – 3 October 2008).
Rossellini and Sonali had a daughter together, Raffaella Rossellini
(born 1958), who is also an actress and model.[9][10]
In 1973 Rossellini left Sonali for a young woman, Silvia D'Amico.
In 1971,
Rice University
Rice University in Houston, Texas, invited Rossellini to help
establish a Media Center, where in 1970 he had begun planning a film
on science with Rice Professor, Donald D. Clayton.[11] They worked
daily for two weeks in
Rome
Rome in summer 1970; but financing was
inadequate to begin filming. In 1973, he was invited to teach at Yale
University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he taught a one-semester
course entitled "The Essential Image."
Death[edit]
Rossellini died of a heart attack aged 71 in 1977.
Legacy[edit]
Rossellini's films after his early Neo-Realist films—particularly
his films with Ingrid Bergman—were commercially unsuccessful, though
Journey to
Italy
Italy is well regarded in some quarters. He was an
acknowledged master for the critics of
Cahiers du Cinema in general
and André Bazin, François Truffaut, and
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard in
particular. Truffaut noted in his 1963 essay, Roberto Rossellini
Prefers Real Life (available in The Films In My Life) that
Rossellini's influence in France particularly among the directors who
would become part of the nouvelle vague was so great that he was in
every sense, "the father of the French New Wave".
His posthumous ex-son-in-law
Martin Scorsese
.jpg/440px-Martin_Scorsese_Berlinale_2010_(cropped).jpg)
Martin Scorsese has also acknowledged
Rossellini's seminal influence in his documentary, My Voyage to Italy
(the title itself a take on Rossellini's Voyage to Italy). An
important point to note is that out of Scorsese's selection of Italian
films from a select group of directors (Federico Fellini, Luchino
Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni) Rossellini's films
form at least half of the films discussed and analyzed, highlighting
Rossellini's monumental role in Italian and world cinema. The films
covered include his Neo-Realist films to his films with Ingrid Bergman
as well as The Flowers of St. Francis, a film about St. Francis of
Assisi. Scorsese notes in his documentary that in contrast to
directors who often become more restrained and more conservative
stylistically as their careers advance, Rossellini became more and
more unconventional and was constantly experimenting with new styles
and technical challenges. Scorsese particularly highlights the series
of biographies Rossellini made in the 60s of historical figures and,
although he does not discuss it in detail, singles out La Prise de
pouvoir par Louis XIV for praise. Certain of Rossellini's film related
material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University
Cinema Archives to which scholars and media experts from around the
world may have full access.[12] Rossellini's son Renzo is producing
the Audiovisual Encyclopedia of History by Roberto Rossellini, a
multi-media support containing all of Rossellini's works, interviews,
and other material from the Rossellini archive. The Encyclopedia for
now exists in prototype form.[13]
Filmography[edit]
Dafne (1936)
Prélude à l'aprés-midi d'un faune
Prélude à l'aprés-midi d'un faune (1937)
La Fossa degli angeli
Luciano Serra, Pilot (1938)
La Vispa Teresa (1939)
Il Tacchino prepotente (1939)
Fantasia sottomarina (1940)
Il Ruscello di Ripasottile
The White Ship (1941)
A Pilot Returns (1942)
The Man with a Cross (1943)
Rome, Open City
Rome, Open City (1945)
Desiderio (1946)
Paisà
Paisà (1946)
L'Amore (segments: "Il Miracolo" and "Una voce umana") (1948)
Germany, Year Zero
Germany, Year Zero (1948)
L'Invasore (1949)
Stromboli
Stromboli terra di Dio (1950)
Francesco, giullare di Dio
Francesco, giullare di Dio (1950)
The Ways of Love (1950)
Les Sept péchés capitaux (segment: "Envie, L'Envy") (1952)
La macchina ammazzacattivi (1952)
Europa '51
Europa '51 (1952)
Siamo donne
Siamo donne (segment: "Ingrid Bergman") (1953)
Amori di mezzo secolo (segment: "Napoli 1943") (1954)
Dov'è la libertà ... ?
Dov'è la libertà ... ? (1954)
Viaggio in Italia
Viaggio in Italia (1954)
La Paura
La Paura (1954)
Giovanna d'Arco al rogo (1954)
India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
Il generale Della Rovere (1959)
Era Notte a Roma (1960)
Viva l'Italia!
Viva l'Italia! (1961)
Vanina Vanini (1961)
Uno sguardo dal ponte (1961)
Anima nera
Anima nera (1962)
Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini (1962)
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
Ro.Go.Pa.G. (segment: "Illibatezza") (1963)
Les Carabiniers (1963)
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1966)
Da Gerusalemme a Damasco (1970)
Rice University
Rice University (1971)
Intervista a Salvador Allende: La forza e la ragione (1971)
Agostino d'Ippona (1972)
Concerto per Michelangelo (1974)
The World Population (1974)
Anno uno
Anno uno (1974)
Il messia (1975)
Beaubourg, centre d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou (1977)
Television credits[edit]
L'
India
India vista da Rossellini (miniseries) (1959)
Torino nei cent'anni (1961)
L'Età del ferro (1964)
La Prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV (1966)
Idea di un'isola (1967)
Atti degli apostoli (miniseries) (1969)
La lotta dell'uomo per la sua sopravvivenza (series) (1970)
Socrates (1971)
Blaise Pascal (1972)
L'Età di Cosimo de' Medici (1973)
Cartesius (1974)
Concerto per Michelangelo (1977)
Notes[edit]
^ The adventures of
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini – Tag Gallagher – Google
Books. Books.google.ca. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
^ Roberto Rossellini's
Rome
Rome Open City – Google Books.
Books.google.ca. Retrieved 2012-08-13.
^ Rossellini, R.; Aprà, A. (1992). My method: writings and
interviews. Marsilio Publishers. ISBN 9780941419642. Retrieved
2014-12-07.
^ "The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini". nytimes.com. Retrieved
2014-12-07.
^ Serri, Mirella From the Odeon to the Odeon: The Experience of
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini from
Fascism
Fascism to Antifascism, Kenneth Lloyd-Jones
(translator) TELOS Vol. 139 (Summer 2007): pp. 70–78.
^ Article in Italian
^ a b Bondanella, Peter. The Films of Roberto Rossellini. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1991. 16–17. Print.
^ 1950s marital scandals
^ a b "The scandal that rocked Calcutta". The Telegraph. June 1, 2008.
Retrieved 2014-02-19.
^ Joeanna Rebello (May 25, 2008). "The Girl Who Turned Rossellini's
Head". The Times of India. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
^ "PHOTO ARCHIVE IN NUCLEAR ASTROPHYSICS". clemson.edu. Retrieved
2014-12-07.
^ "Cinema Archives – Wesleyan University". Wesleyan.edu. Retrieved
2012-08-13.
^ [1]
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roberto Rossellini.
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini on IMDb
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini at the TCM Movie Database
New York Times: The Elusive Realism of Rossellini
An
Interview
Interview with Roberto Rossellini
Rossellini's
India
India at Indian Auteur
Geographical coordinates and pictures of his grave
v
t
e
Films directed by Roberto Rossellini
La Vispa Teresa (1939)
The White Ship (1941)
A Pilot Returns (1942)
The Man with a Cross (1943)
Rome, Open City
Rome, Open City (1945)
Paisan
Paisan (1946)
L'Amore (segment: "Il Miracolo") (1948)
Germany, Year Zero
Germany, Year Zero (1948)
Stromboli
Stromboli (1950)
The Flowers of St. Francis
The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
The Seven Deadly Sins (segment: "Envie, L'Envy") (1952)
Machine to Kill Bad People (1952)
Europe '51
Europe '51 (1952)
We, the Women
We, the Women (segment: "Ingrid Bergman") (1953)
Where Is Freedom?
Where Is Freedom? (1954)
Journey to
Italy
Italy (1954)
Fear (1954)
Giovanna d'Arco al rogo (1954)
India: Matri Bhumi (1959)
General Della Rovere
General Della Rovere (1959)
Escape by Night (1960)
Garibaldi (1961)
Vanina Vanini (1961)
Anima nera
Anima nera (1962)
Ro.Go.Pa.G.
Ro.Go.Pa.G. (segment: "Illibatezza") (1963)
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1966)
Socrates (1971)
''L'età de Cosimo dei Medici (1973)
Anno uno
Anno uno (1974)
v
t
e
Nastro d'Argento Award for Best Director
Alessandro Blasetti /
Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica (1946)
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini (1947)
Alberto Lattuada
Alberto Lattuada /
Giuseppe De Santis (1948)
Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio De Sica (1949)
Augusto Genina
Augusto Genina (1950)
Alessandro Blasetti (1951)
Renato Castellani
Renato Castellani (1952)
Luigi Zampa
Luigi Zampa (1953)
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1954)
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1955)
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni (1956)
Pietro Germi (1957)
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1958)
Pietro Germi (1959)
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini (1960)
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti (1961)
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni (1962)
Nanni Loy
Nanni Loy /
Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi (1963)
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1964)
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1965)
Antonio Pietrangeli
Antonio Pietrangeli (1966)
Gillo Pontecorvo
Gillo Pontecorvo (1967)
Elio Petri (1968)
Franco Zeffirelli
.jpg/440px-Zeffirelli_(cropped).jpg)
Franco Zeffirelli (1969)
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti (1970)
Elio Petri (1971)
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti (1972)
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci (1973)
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1974)
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti (1975)
Michelangelo Antonioni
Michelangelo Antonioni (1976)
Valerio Zurlini (1977)
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (1978)
Ermanno Olmi
Ermanno Olmi (1979)
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1980)
Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi (1981)
Marco Ferreri
Marco Ferreri (1982)
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (1983)
Pupi Avati
Pupi Avati /
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini (1984)
Sergio Leone
Sergio Leone (1985)
Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli (1986)
Ettore Scola
Ettore Scola (1987)
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci (1988)
Ermanno Olmi
Ermanno Olmi (1989)
Pupi Avati
Pupi Avati (1990)
Gianni Amelio
Gianni Amelio (1991)
Gabriele Salvatores
Gabriele Salvatores (1992)
Gianni Amelio
Gianni Amelio (1993)
Nanni Moretti
Nanni Moretti (1994)
Gianni Amelio
Gianni Amelio (1995)
Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore (1996)
Maurizio Nichetti (1997)
Roberto Benigni
Roberto Benigni (1998)
Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore (1999)
Silvio Soldini (2000)
Nanni Moretti
Nanni Moretti (2001)
Marco Bellocchio
Marco Bellocchio (2002)
Gabriele Salvatores
Gabriele Salvatores (2003)
Marco Tullio Giordana (2004)
Gianni Amelio
Gianni Amelio (2005)
Michele Placido
Michele Placido (2006)
Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore (2007)
Paolo Virzì
.jpg/440px-The_Leisure_Seeker_02_(36402082983).jpg)
Paolo Virzì (2008)
Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino (2009)
Paolo Virzì
Paolo Virzì (2010)
Nanni Moretti
Nanni Moretti (2011)
Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino (2012)
Giuseppe Tornatore
Giuseppe Tornatore (2013)
Paolo Virzì
Paolo Virzì (2014)
Paolo Sorrentino
Paolo Sorrentino (2015)
Paolo Virzì
Paolo Virzì (2016)
v
t
e
Cannes Film Festival jury presidents
1946–1975
Georges Huisman (1946)
Georges Huisman (1947)
Georges Huisman (1949)
André Maurois
André Maurois (1951)
Maurice Genevoix
Maurice Genevoix (1952)
Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau (1953)
Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau (1954)
Marcel Pagnol
Marcel Pagnol (1955)
Maurice Lehmann
Maurice Lehmann (1956)
André Maurois
André Maurois (1957)
Marcel Achard (1958)
Marcel Achard (1959)
Georges Simenon
Georges Simenon (1960)
Jean Giono (1961)
Tetsurō Furukaki (1962)
Armand Salacrou (1963)
Fritz Lang
.jpg/440px-Bundesarchiv_Bild_102-08538,_Fritz_Lang_bei_Dreharbeiten_(cropped).jpg)
Fritz Lang (1964)
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland (1965)
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren (1966)
Alessandro Blasetti (1967)
André Chamson
André Chamson (1968)
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti (1969)
Miguel Ángel Asturias
Miguel Ángel Asturias (1970)
Michèle Morgan
Michèle Morgan (1971)
Joseph Losey
Joseph Losey (1972)
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1973)
René Clair
René Clair (1974)
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau (1975)
1975–2000
Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams (1976)
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini (1977)
Alan J. Pakula
Alan J. Pakula (1978)
Françoise Sagan
Françoise Sagan (1979)
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas (1980)
Jacques Deray (1981)
Giorgio Strehler (1982)
William Styron
William Styron (1983)
Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde (1984)
Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman (1985)
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Pollack (1986)
Yves Montand
Yves Montand (1987)
Ettore Scola
Ettore Scola (1988)
Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders (1989)
Bernardo Bertolucci
Bernardo Bertolucci (1990)
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski (1991)
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu (1992)
Louis Malle
Louis Malle (1993)
Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood (1994)
Jeanne Moreau
Jeanne Moreau (1995)
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (1996)
Isabelle Adjani
Isabelle Adjani (1997)
Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese (1998)
David Cronenberg
David Cronenberg (1999)
Luc Besson
Luc Besson (2000)
2001–present
Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann (2001)
David Lynch
David Lynch (2002)
Patrice Chéreau
.jpg/440px-Patrice_Chéreau_66ème_Festival_de_Venise_(Mostra).jpg)
Patrice Chéreau (2003)
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino (2004)
Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica (2005)
Wong Kar-wai
Wong Kar-wai (2006)
Stephen Frears
.jpg/440px-Stephen_Frears_OIFF_2014-07-12_113913_(cropped).jpg)
Stephen Frears (2007)
Sean Penn
.jpg)
Sean Penn (2008)
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert (2009)
Tim Burton
Tim Burton (2010)
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro (2011)
Nanni Moretti
Nanni Moretti (2012)
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg (2013)
Jane Campion
Jane Campion (2014)
Joel and Ethan Coen (2015)
George Miller (2016)
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar (2017)
Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett (2018)
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 76322280
LCCN: n80160075
ISNI: 0000 0001 0916 9433
GND: 118602934
SELIBR: 234355
SUDOC: 028044495
BNF: cb11922652n (data)
ULAN: 500261900
NDL: 00474065
ICCU: ITICCUCFIV70955
BNE: XX1098603
SN
