Bellissima (film)

Bellissima
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Luchino Visconti
Written by	Cesare Zavattini Suso Cecchi d'Amico Francesco Rosi Luchino Visconti
Produced by	Salvo D'Angelo
Starring	Anna Magnani Walter Chiari Tina Apicella Gastone Renzelli Tecla Scarano Arturo Bragaglia Alessandro Blasetti
Cinematography	Piero Portalupi
Edited by	Mario Serandrei
Music by	Franco Mannino, inspired by Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore
Production company	Film Bellissima
Distributed by	CEI Incom
Release date	27 December 1951
Running time	115 minutes {release version}
Country	Italy
Language	Italian

Bellissima is a 1951 Italian neorealist drama film directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Anna Magnani, Walter Chiari and Tecla Scarano. The film is a satire of the postwar Italian film industry, and particularly the dreams of stardom encouraged by the neorealist movement which plucked out ordinary members of the public to appear in productions. Bellissima is the only feature film in Visconti's oeuvre with a predominantly comic tone. It was not a box office success.

Production

Alessandro Blasetti, a contemporary film director, appears as himself. Keeping in with the tradition of neorealism a number of roles went to members of the public. Magnani played a part in their selection, approving of Gastone Renzelli a butcher who was cast as her husband.

The film's sets were designed by the art director Gianni Polidori. It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios, which appear prominently in the film.

Plot

Bellissima centers on a working-class mother in Rome, Maddalena (Anna Magnani), who drags her young daughter (Tina Apicella) to Cinecittà to attend an audition for a new film by Alessandro Blasetti. Maddalena is a stage mother who loves movies and whose efforts to promote her daughter grow increasingly frenzied.

Cast

• Anna Magnani as Maddalena Cecconi
• Walter Chiari as Alberto Annovazzi
• Tina Apicella as Maria Cecconi
• Gastone Renzelli as Spartaco Cecconi
• Tecla Scarano as Tilde Spernanzoni
• Lola Braccini as the photographer's wife
• Arturo Bragaglia as the photographer
• Nora Ricci as the laundry girl
• Vittorina Benvenuti
• Linda Sini as Mimmetta
• Teresa Battaggi as a mother
• Gisella Monaldi as a concierge
• Amalia Pellegrini
• Corrado Mantoni as radio announcer

Awards

• Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists Nastro d'Argento
  • Winner: Best Actress (Migliore Attrice)- Anna Magnani

Bibliography

• Gundle, Stephen. Fame Amid the Ruins: Italian Film Stardom in the Age of Neorealism. Berghahn Books, 2019.

External links

• Bellissima at IMDb
• Pauline Kael's review
• DVDbeaver review