''Rossini! Rossini!'' is a 1991 Italian

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from Docudrama, docudrama films ...

written and directed by

Mario Monicelli Mario Alberto Ettore Monicelli (; 16 May 1915 – 29 November 2010) was an Italian film director and screenwriter, one of the masters of the ''commedia all'italiana'' ("Italian-style comedy"). He was nominated six times for an Academy Awards, Os ...

. It depicts real life events of composer

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote man ...

. Monicelli replaced

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

, who was experiencing differences with the producers. The film won the

David di Donatello The David di Donatello Awards, named after Donatello's ''David (Donatello, bronze), David'', a symbolic statue of the Italian Renaissance, are film awards given out each year by the ''Accademia del Cinema Italiano'' (the Academy of Italian Cin ...

for Best Costumes.

Plot

In 1816 the Italian composer

is already famous all over the country. However, his last opera ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

'' is not understood and even booed by the audience at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

for the indecency of the sets and love situations. Also disappointed by the replicas at the Teatro San Carlo in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, then Rossini decides to move to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he is hailed as a genius.

Cast

* Sergio Castellitto as Young Rossini *

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student a ...

as Old Rossini * Giorgio Gaber as Domenico Barbaja *

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in ''The Detective (1968 film), The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet ...

as Isabella Colbran * Assumpta Serna as Maria Marcolini * Sabine Azéma as Olympe Pélissier *

Galeazzo Benti Galeazzo Benti (6 August 1923 – 21 April 1993) was an Italian actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1942 and 1991. Life and career Born Galeazzo Bentivoglio in Florence, Italy, a descendant of the Bentivoglio family, which ru ...

as La Rochefoucauld * Feodor Chaliapin Jr. as Baron Rothschild * Claudio Gora as Dr. Bardos * Silvia Cohen as Marietta Alboni * Pia Velsi as Adina * Maurizio Mattioli as Mimì *

Vittorio Gassman Vittorio Gassman (; born Gassmann; 1 September 1922 – 29 June 2000), popularly known as , was an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the greatest Italian actors, whose career includes both important producti ...

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

( cameo)

References

External links

* 1991 films Films directed by Mario Monicelli Films about classical music and musicians Films about composers Films set in the 1810s Films set in 1868 Italian biographical films Gioachino Rossini Films with screenplays by Suso Cecchi d'Amico 1990s Italian-language films 1990s Italian films Cultural depictions of Italian people 1990s biographical films Films set in Paris {{bio-film-stub