Berlinguer, I Love You

Last updated

Berlinguer, I Love You
Berlinguer, I Love You.jpg
Directed by Giuseppe Bertolucci
Written by Giuseppe Bertolucci
Roberto Benigni
Produced byGianni Minervini
Antonio Avati
Starring Roberto Benigni
Alida Valli
Carlo Monni
Cinematography Renato Tafuri
Edited by Gabriella Cristiani
Music byPier Luigi Farri
Distributed byEuro International Film
Release date
  • 6 October 1977 (1977-10-06)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryItaly
LanguageItalian

Berlinguer ti voglio bene (internationally released as Berlinguer, I Love You) is a 1977 Italian comedy film written and directed by Giuseppe Bertolucci. It is the debut film for both Bertolucci and Roberto Benigni.

Contents

It is based on the stage play Cioni Mario di Gaspare fu Giulia, which Bertolucci wrote and directed in 1975 and in which Benigni played the character of Mario Cioni, a character he later resumed in the television mini-series Onda libera. [1] [2] The title quotes Cioni's declaration of love for Enrico Berlinguer, then leader of the Italian Communist Party.

Plot

Mario is a man of the underclass of Tuscany, who works as a construction worker. His friends make jokes of him, but Mario is indifferent, living in the myth of Enrico Berlinguer. Mario has an Oedipus complex and is very attached to his mother. When he loses a game of poker with a friend, he tells Mario that the penalty is that he must have sex with his own mother. Mario is disgusted, but gradually he falls in love with his mother. However, she rejects him and prefers to go to bed with the friend who made the cruel bet with Mario. Mario finds his friend is now his stepfather.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roberto Benigni</span> Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director

Roberto Remigio Benigni is an Italian actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. He gained international recognition for writing, directing and starring in the Holocaust comedy-drama film Life Is Beautiful (1997), for which he received the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best International Feature Film. Benigni was the first actor to win the Best Actor Academy Award for a non–English language performance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enrico Berlinguer</span> Italian politician (1922–1984)

Enrico Berlinguer was an Italian politician. Considered the most popular leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), he led the PCI as the national secretary from 1972 until his death during a tense period in Italy's history, which was marked by the Years of Lead and social conflicts, such as the Hot Autumn of 1969–1970. Berlinguer was born into a middle-class family; his father was a socialist who became a deputy and later senator. After leading the party's youth wing in his hometown, he led the PCI's youth wing, the Italian Communist Youth Federation (FGCI), at the national level from 1949 to 1956. In 1968, he was elected to the country's Chamber of Deputies, and he became the leader of the PCI in 1972; he remained a deputy until his death in 1984. Under his leadership, the number of votes for the PCI peaked. The PCI's results in 1976 remain the highest for any Italian left-wing or centre-left party both in terms of votes and vote share, and the party's results in 1984, just after his death, remain the best result for an Italian left-wing party in European elections, and were toppled, in terms of vote share in a lower-turnout election, in the 2014 European Parliament election in Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massimo Troisi</span> Italian actor, film director, and poet (1953–1994)

Massimo Troisi was an Italian actor, cabaret performer, screenwriter, and film director. He is best known for his works in the films I'm Starting from Three (1981) and Il Postino: The Postman (1994), for which he was posthumously nominated for two Oscars. Nicknamed "the comedian of feelings", he is considered one of the most important actors of Italian theater and cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laura Betti</span> Italian actress

Laura Betti was an Italian actress known particularly for her work with directors Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Bernardo Bertolucci. She had a long friendship with Pasolini and made a documentary about him in 2001.

"Caruso" is a song written by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla in 1986. It is dedicated to Enrico Caruso, an Italian tenor. Following Lucio Dalla's death, the song entered the Italian Singles Chart, peaking at number two for two consecutive weeks. The single was also certified platinum by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massimo Ranieri</span> Musical artist

Massimo Ranieri is an Italian singer, actor, television presenter and theatre director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefania Sandrelli</span> Italian actress

Stefania Sandrelli is an Italian actress, famous for her many roles in the commedia all'Italiana, starting from the 1960s. She was 14 years old when she starred in Divorce Italian Style as Angela, the cousin and love interest of Ferdinando, played by Marcello Mastroianni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Massimo Girotti</span> Italian actor

Massimo Girotti was an Italian film actor whose career spanned seven decades.

The Nastro d'Argento for Best Director is a film award bestowed annually as part of the Nastro d'Argento awards since 1946, organized by the Italian National Association of Film Journalists, the national association of Italian film critics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enrico Maria Salerno</span> Italian actor (1926–1994)

Enrico Maria Salerno was an Italian actor, voice actor and film director. He was also the voice of Clint Eastwood in the Italian version of Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy films, and the voice of Christ in The Gospel According to St. Matthew directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franco Fabrizi</span> Italian actor

Franco Fabrizi was an Italian actor.

<i>Nothing Left to Do But Cry</i> 1984 Italian film

Non ci resta che piangere is a 1984 Italian fantasy comedy film written, directed and starring Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi.

Gabriella Cristiani is an Italian film editor with about twenty feature film credits. She has had a notable collaboration with director Bernardo Bertolucci. Early in her career she assisted editor Franco Arcalli on two of Bertolucci's films, Last Tango in Paris (1972) and 1900 (1976). Arcalli was the "supervising editor" on a 1977 film, Berlinguer, I Love You, that was one of Cristiani's first feature editing credits; the film was directed by Giuseppe Bertolucci - Bernardo's brother. Arcalli was to have edited Bernardo Bertolucci's next film, La Luna (1979), but he died during production; Cristiani, who was assisting, then took over as editor.

Giuseppe Bertolucci was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He directed 26 films between 1972 and 2012. He was the younger brother of Bernardo Bertolucci.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Monni</span> Italian film, television, and stage actor

Carlo Monni was an Italian film, television and stage actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Il cielo in una stanza (song)</span> 1960 single by Mina

"Il cielo in una stanza" is a song written by Gino Paoli and originally recorded by Italian singer Mina for the album of the same name. The song was released as a single in June 1960 by Italdisc. It became a commercial success in Italy, topping the charts for eleven consecutive weeks and later returning to number one for three additional weeks. It is also Mina's best-selling single in Italy, with estimated sales of 400.000 copies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enzo Robutti</span> Italian actor and voice actor (1933–2022)

Enzo Robutti was an Italian actor, voice actor, comedian, playwright, and writer.

<i>I Always Loved You</i> 1953 film by Mario Costa

I Always Loved You is a 1953 Italian melodrama film directed by Mario Costa. It is based on a stage play by Enrico Ragusa.

Giuseppe Fatigati was an Italian film editor, producer and director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chiara Moretti</span> Italian actress (1955–2023)

Chiara Moretti was an Italian actress.

References

  1. Eva Marinai; Sara Poeta; Igor Vazzaz. Comicità negli anni Settanta. ETS, 2005.
  2. Franco Montini. Una Generazione in cinema: esordi ed esordienti italiani, 1975–1988. Marsilio, 1988.