The Arts - Rome - page 708

Roman Directors
Leading the new wave of Roman film-makers is Matteo Garrone (b 1968), whose award-
winning Gomorra (Gomorrah; 2008) helped seal a reputation already on the up after his
2002 film L'Imbalsamatore (The Embalmer). In 2012, he won further honours, scooping
the Grand Prix at Cannes for his sharply observed satire on the power of reality TV , Real-
ity . The film, while a critical success, also made headlines for its casting - the lead actor
was a former mafia hitman serving a life sentence for murder.
Other directors to have enjoyed recent critical acclaim included Emanuele Crialese (b
1965) who won the Jury Prize at Venice for Terraferma , a thought-provoking study of the
effects of immigration on a small Sicilian island, and Saverio Costanzo (b 1975), who hit
the bullseye with his 2010 film adaptation of Paolo Giordano's bestselling book La
solitudine dei numeri primi (The Solitude of Prime Numbers). Gabriele Muccino (b
1967), director of the 2001 smash L'Ultimo Bacio (The Last Kiss) returned to his earlier
success in 2010 with Baciami ancora (Kiss Me Again) , a sequel to L'UIltimo Baccio .
Before Muccino, Rome was generally represented by Carlo Verdone (b 1950) and
Nanni Moretti (b 1953). A comedian in the Roman tradition, Verdone has made a name
for himself satirising his fellow citizens in a number of bittersweet comedies which, at
best, are very funny, but which can be repetitive and predictable. His 1995 film Viaggi di
Nozze (Honeymoons) is one of his best.
Moretti, on the other hand, falls into no mainstream tradition. A politically active
writer, actor and director, his films are often whimsical and self-indulgent. Arguably his
best work, Caro Diario (Dear Diary; 1994) earned him the best director prize at Cannes in
1994 - an award that he topped in 2001 when he won the Palme d'Or for La Stanza del
Figlio (The Son's Room).
Throughout the 1960s and '70s Italy was one of the world's most prolific producers of horror films.
Rome's master of terror was, and still is, Dario Argento (b 1940), director of the 1975 cult classic Profondo
Rosso (Deep Red) and more than 20 other movies.
The Golden Age
For the real golden age of Roman film-making you have to turn the clocks back to the
1940s, when Roberto Rossellini (1906−77) produced a trio of neo-realist masterpieces.
The first and most famous was Roma Città Aperta (Rome Open City; 1945), filmed with
brutal honesty in the Prenestina district east of the city centre. Vittorio de Sica (1901−74)