Cinema Italia

The Desert of the Tartars (Il deserto dei Tartari) is a 1976 Italian film by director Valerio Zurlini with an international cast including Jacques Perrin, Vittorio Gassman, Max von Sydow, Francisco Rabal, Philippe Noiret, Fernando Rey, and Jean-Louis Trintignant. The cast also included veteran Iranian film actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz.

Based on Dino Buzzati's novel The Tartar Steppe and set in about 1900, it tells the story of a young officer in an unnamed army who is sent to an ancient fortress that guards the desert frontier with the Tartars. Filmed in Arg-e Bam, Iran and released on 29 October 1976 in Italy, it was later shown as part of the Cannes Classics section of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.

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A Black Veil for Lisa (Italian: La morte non ha sesso, lit. 'Death has no gender') is a 1968 thriller film directed by Massimo Dallamano.

The film follows narcotics detective Franz Buloff (John Mills) as he investigates a drug ring and hires a hitman, Max Lindt, to kill his wife, Lisa (Giuliana Paluzzi), suspecting her involvement.

Connery A Novel by John Bleasdale is available here. 

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La Grande Bouffe (Italian: La grande abbuffata, English titles The Grand Bouffe and Blow-Out) is a 1973 French–Italian satirical film directed by Marco Ferreri. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Piccoli, Philippe Noiret and Andréa Ferréol. The film centres on a group of friends who plan to eat themselves to death. It satirises consumerism and the decadence of the bourgeoisie and was received controversially upon its release, but later gained a cult status.

John Bleasdale's novel Connery is available here.

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Duck, You Sucker! (Italian: Giù la testa, lit. "Duck Your Head", "Get Down"), also known as A Fistful of Dynamite and Once Upon a Time ... the Revolution, is a 1971 epic Zapata Western film directed and co-written by Sergio Leone and starring Rod Steiger, James Coburn, and Romolo Valli.

Buy John Bleasdale's Connery: a Novel here.

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The Seduction of Mimi (or as the Italian title has it: 'Mimi the Metalworker, Wounded in Honor') is a 1972 Italian comedy drama film written and directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Agostina Belli, Luigi Diberti, Elena Fiore, Tuccio Musumeci, Ignazio Pappalardo and Turi Ferro. It's a masterpiece and we talk about it.

Buy John Bleasdale's Connery: a Novel here.

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Big Deal on Madonna Street (I soliti ignoti) is a 1958 Italian comedy caper film directed by Mario Monicelli and one of the masterpieces of Italian cinema. Starring Totò, Claudia Cardinale, Vittorio Gassman, Renato Salvatori, Carlo Pisacane, Tiberio Murgia, and Marcello Mastroianni.

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The Working Class Goes to Heaven (Italian: La classe operaia va in paradiso), released in the US as Lulu the Tool, is a 1971 Italian satirical political drama film directed by Elio Petri. It depicts a factory worker's realisation of his own condition as a simple tool in the process of production. The film was awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film at the 25th Cannes Film Festival, sharing it with Francesco Rosi's The Mattei Affair.

You can buy John's novel Connery here.

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Salvatore Giuliano is a 1962 Italian drama film directed by Francesco Rosi. Using techniques of the documentary film, it recounts the criminal career of famous Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano between 1943 and 1950, his death. Nicholas Bell and John Bleasdale discuss the film.

Connery a novel is available here.

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Ermanno Olmi's Tree of Wooden Clogs won the Palme d'Or at Cannes on its release in 1978 and tells the tale of a year in the life of a small village of peasant at the turn of the century in Bergamo. We discuss the masterpiece and its influence on world cinema.

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The Skin (La pelle) is a 1981 Italian war film directed by Liliana Cavani and starring Marcello Mastroianni, Burt Lancaster, Ken Marshall, Carlo Giuffrè and Claudia Cardinale from Curzio Malaparte's 1949 novel The Skin. It was entered into the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. And it is nuts.

Get your copy of Connery: A Novel by John Bleasdale here.

Find Nicholas' review at Fish Jelly Films Here.

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