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Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, 1970. Directed by Elio Petri. © 1970, 1996, 1998 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Courtesy of Sony Pictures Repertory

Italics Film Series

  • Tickets $8, MCA members $6

The Italics Film Series focuses on highly acclaimed films made from 1969–81, a period that marks the transition in Italian filmmaking from national to international coproduction. Programmed to resonate with the exhibition Italics, the series explores paths of revolution and tensions with tradition across various contexts. Beginning with the metamorphosis of the family and continuing through evolving sociopolitical tensions, the series finally erupts into themes of newfound identity, language, and perspectives on the past. Featuring rare 35 mm prints, all screenings take place in the MCA Theater.

Screenings

Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (La tragedia di un uomo ridicolo), 1981

The owner of a parmesan cheese factory faces bankruptcy when his son is kidnapped by terrorists demanding a ransom. But is the abduction a hoax to extort money for his son’s leftist friends? A tragicomedy based on a true event in Southern Italy, in which a father raised a ransom that he kept for himself.


Screening Dates
Thursday, January 7, at 6 pm
Saturday, January 9, at 3 pm
Sunday, January 10, at 3 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Cinematography by Carlo Di Palma
In Italian with English subtitles, 116 minutes

The Decameron (Il Decameron), 1971

Adapted from Boccaccio's classic novel, Pasolini satirizes church, state, and class structures with an eroticized vision of daily life in 14th-century Italy. Pasolini himself appears as a fresco painter and student of Giotto, wondering if perhaps "it's enough to dream a masterpiece rather than paint it."


Screening Dates
Saturday, January 9, at 1 pm
Sunday, January 10, at 1 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Cinematography by Tonino Delli Colli
In Italian with English subtitles, 107 minutes

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto), 1970

A fascist police inspector murders his mistress for the perverse pleasure of leading the crime’s investigation himself. A biting black satire and cinema politico classic. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1970.


Screening Dates
Thursday, January 14, at 6 pm
Saturday, January 16, 3 pm
Sunday, January 17, at 3 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Elio Petri
Cinematography by Luigi Kuveiller
In Italian with English subtitles, 112 minutes

Illustrious Corpses (Cadaveri Eccellenti), 1976

Cleverly named after the surrealist technique "exquisite corpse", this elegant, atmospheric mystery draws elements from Italian crime fiction and thriller genres (giallo andpoliziottesco). This film print is of lower quality, yet is being shown for its extreme rarity.


Screening Dates
Saturday, January 16, at 1 pm
Sunday, January 17, at 1 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Francesco Rosi
Cinematography by Pasqualino De Santis In
Italian with English subtitles, 127 minutes

The Passenger (Professione: reporter), 1975

Jack Nicholson stars as a television journalist covering guerrilla activity in the Sahara Desert. Disenchanted with his life, he steals the identity of an Englishman who dies in a neighboring hotel room. Ending with a famed seven-minute shot, The Passenger is a disquieting exploration of self and alienation. This is a restored, recently re-released film print that includes an additional 6.5 minutes of scenes previously cut from the US version.


Screening Dates
Thursday, January 21, at 6 pm
Saturday, January 23, at 3 pm
Sunday, January 24, at 3 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Cinematography by Luciano Tovoli
In English, 126 minutes

The Inglorious Bastards (Quel maledetto treno blindato), 1978

Set in WWII, a group of American soldiers escape en route to military prison. On the way to Switzerland, they unwittingly volunteer to steal a Nazi V-2 rocket gyroscope. An English language "macaroni combat" war film.


Screening Dates
Saturday, January 23, at 1 pm
Sunday, January 24, at 1 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Enzo G. Castellari
Cinematography by Giovanni Bergamini
In English, 99 minutes

Fellini’s Casanova (Il Casanova di Federico Fellini), 1976

Charged with heresy and possession of books on black magic, Giacomo Casanova escapes Venetian prison into exile. He wanders throughout Europe into a series of bizarre seductions. Fellini’s portrayal is haunting and solipsistic, with dazzling mise-en-scene.


Screening Dates
Thursday, January 28, at 6 pm
Saturday, January 30, at 3:30 pm
Sunday, January 31, at 3:30 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Federico Fellini
Cinematography by Giuseppe Rotunno
In English, 164 minutes

The Damned (La caduta degli Dei), 1969

During the rise of Nazism, a family co-opts fascist values to horrific ends in this allegory of human complicity with evil. Originally titled The Fall of the Gods, The Damned depicts the implosion of a country through the lens of a single family and is considered Visconti's most controversial film.


Screening Dates
Saturday, January 30, at 1 pm
Sunday, January 31, at 1 pm
Credits & Runtime
Directed by Luchino Visconti
In English, 150 minutes