News
Taviani Brothers Retrospective. Press Conference with Paolo Taviani
Media:
Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, born on 8 November 1931 and 20 September 1929, respectively, are noted Italian film directors and screenwriters. They are brothers who always work together, each directing alternate scenes.
At the Cannes Film Festival the Taviani brothers won the Palme d'Or and the FIPRESCI prize for Padre padrone in 1977 and Grand Prix du Jury for La notte di San Lorenzo (The Night of the Shooting Stars, 1982). In 2012 they reached again the top prize in a major festival, winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival with Caesar Must Die.
Both born in San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy, the Taviani brothers began their careers as journalists. In 1960 they came to the world of cinema, directing with Joris Ivens the documentary L'Italia non è un paese povero (Italy is not a poor country). They went on to direct two films with Valentino Orsini Un uomo da bruciare (1962) and I fuorilegge del matrimonio (1963).
Their first autonomous film was I sovversivi (The Subversives, 1967), with which they anticipated the events of 1968. They gained attention with Sotto il segno dello scorpione (Under the Sign of Scorpio, (1969) where one can see the echoes of Brecht, Pasolini and Godard.
The revolutionary theme is present both in San Michele aveva un gallo (1971), an adaptation of Tolstoy's novel The Divine and the Human, a film greatly appreciated by critics, and in the film Allonsanfan (1974).
Their next film Padre padrone (1977) (Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival) speaks of the struggle of a Sardinian shepherd against the cruel rules of his patriarchal society. In Il prato (1979) there are nonrealistic echoes, while La notte di San Lorenzo (Saint Lorenzo's night) (1982) narrates, in a fairy-tale tone, a marginal event in the days before the end of World War II, in Tuscany, as seen through the eyes of some village people. The film was awarded the Special Jury Award in Cannes.
Kaos (1984)-another literary adaptation-is a poignantly beautiful and poetical film in episodes, taken from Luigi Pirandello's Short Stories for a year. In Il sole anche di notte (1990) the Taviani brothers transposed in 18th century Naples the story from Tolstoy's "Father Sergius".
In the 2000s, the brothers turned successfully to directing television films and miniseries such as Leo Tolstoy's Resurrection (2001) and Alexandre Dumas' Luisa Sanfelice (2004), as well as La masseria delle allodole (2007), presented at the Berlin Film Festival in the section 'Berlinale Special'.
Texts: https://en.wikipedia.org
Núria Farré. facebook@cinemaperaestudiants.cat
If you want to contribute with your opinion, you can do it through our Facebook link (at the top of the page)
