What's in a Title? Italian Cinema Volume IV Quiz

Answer: The Iron Crown

The title refers to a crown which is passing through the kingdom on its way to Rome. Legend has it that the iron crown, which was made with a nail from the true cross, spreads goodness wherever it goes. This tale is revealed to the warmongering king by a soothsayer.

King Sedemondo actually commits both regicide and fratricide in order to gain power, and then banishes his dead brother's son. The true heir had been switched at birth with Sedemondo's daughter by his wife and sister-in-law. When he realizes what the two women have done, he sends his nephew to the Valley of the Lions where he is raised by the lions rather than eaten by them. The plot doesn't get any simpler either.

"The Iron Crown" is an interesting film for many reasons. The plot is anything but a simple fantasy adventure and remains unpredictable through most of the film. Furthermore, the sets, photography and direction are fabulous, particularly when you consider it was made during war time. It's surprising that such a thinly-veiled condemnation of tyranny was allowed under fascism, but it actually won the Coppa Mussolini at the Venice Film Festival. Apparently, Goebbels said the director would have been shot had he been German.

One of the red herrings, "The Jester's Supper", was also directed by Blasetti. It is said to be the first Italian film to show bare breasts, Clara Calamai's to be precise.

Answer: Germany, Year Zero

The title "Germany, Year Zero/Germania, Anno Zero" was borrowed from French sociologist Edgar Morin's 1946 book "L'An Zéro de l'Allemagne". Rossellini never fully explained his choice, but film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum has put forward the following clue: "The very title of the film offers not so much a documentary fact as a subjective reading of a documentary fact: not just a city and a population reduced to chaos but a terrain leveled spiritually and morally (which implies a place to build, but not necessarily or specifically what is to be built there)."

The film was partly shot in the rubble of Berlin, and partly in Roman studios, and mostly acted by non-professional German actors. The major flaw of the film is the Italian dubbing of German speakers. The Italian penchant for post-synching dialogue is the bane of Italian cinema, and causes distraction, but if the fiction is taking place in Italy, it can be forgiven. On the other hand, the realism of "Germany, Year Zero/Germania, Anno Zero" is criminally compromised by the dubbing into Italian.

Answer: Lust of the Vampire

The murder victims are being drained of their blood for the elderly Duchess Margherita du Grand. The lust of the title must refer to the infatuation the young Giselle du Grand has for the journalist.

"Lust of the Vampire/I Vampiri" is often cited simply because it was the first sound-era Italian horror film, and probably the first Italian Gothic horror film, but actually it deserves more attention than that implies. It has its flaws, such as contrived dialogue, just to fill us in on details that have been left out, but it also boasts some fascinating themes, such as the decaying nobility (the old vampires) struggling to cope with modernity (the young victims). There are also some remarkable special effects, and the set is fabulous. I love the fact that a classic gothic horror story (castle and all) takes place bang in the middle of Paris in the 1950s.

Apparently Freda was less enthusiastic than I am and left the set without finishing the film. Luckily, Freda's cinematographer was none other than Mario Bava (who went on to become a master of Italian horror), so Bava finished it off.

Answer: Il Grido

"Il Grido" (literally "the cry") is a pivotal film in the history of Italian film since it ostensibly moves away from Neorealism, but is still deeply entrenched within it. Furthermore, it's miles away from Antonioni's later films in technical standard, but is clearly linked to them in atmosphere and underlying sense of anguish. Thankfully, the humanism which is revealed through the depiction of abject poverty never becomes trite or mawkish. This trait is something Antonioni shares with many of his compatriot contemporaries, as is the ambiguity of the final scene.

"Il Grido" starred American actor Steve Cochran ("Copacabana", "The Damned Don't Cry!", "White Heat") alongside the prolific Italian actress Alida Valli ("The Paradine Case", "The Third Man","Suspiria") and Dorian Gray (née Maria Luisa Mangini).

"Il Grido" is on the list of "100 Film Italiani da Salvare/100 Italian Films to Save".

Answer: Marriage Italian Style

"Marriage Italian Style/Matrimonio all'Italiana" begins with a moribund Filomena (the mistress, played by Loren) being carried into Domenico's (the businessman, played by Mastroianni) house amid much crying, praying and general mayhem. Fearing the worst, Domenico then reflects on how they first met (during an air raid in World War II), and from then on the film goes into flashbacks and flashforwards.

Although "Marriage Italian Style" is a comedy, it's quite dark, cynical and Machiavellian. Mastroianni's brilliance (under the direction of Vittorio De Sica) is making such a selfish philanderer as Domenico likeable to the viewer.

Sophia Loren was already a huge international star when she made the award-laden "Two Women/ La Ciociara" with De Sica in 1960, for which she won the award for Best Actress at both Cannes and the Academy Awards. Loren was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for "Marriage Italian Style", but she lost out to Julie Andrews for "Mary Poppins". "Marriage Italian Style" was also nominated for an Academy Award (Best Foreign Language Film), but it lost out to the Czech film "The Shop on Main Street".

Answer: Death on the Run

"Death on the Run"/Bersaglio Mobile" stars Ty Hardin as Jason, the American master criminal. He is the "bersaglio mobile" (moving target) of the original Italian title. "Death on the Run" refers to Jason's incredible ability to literally run away from a certain death.

Right from the start when Jason escapes the police as he's being escorted from a plane at Athens airport, you know you are in for a fun, if at times unbelievable, roller-coaster spy thriller. It just about makes sense when things become clear towards the end, but that's not what the films about. It's littered with clichés and stereotypes, which are often underlined by giving characters names such as the thug "the Albanian" (played by American actor/bodybuilder Gordon Mitchell), or "Pizza" (the Italian strip-club owner).

The "James Bond" film "A View to a Kill" was called "007- Bersaglio Mobile" in Italy.

Answer: The Conformist

"The Conformist/Il Conformista" was based on a novel of the same name written by Alberto Moravia and published in 1951. The conformity of the title is Marcello's expressed desire to be more like everybody else, which is partly why he gets married. His friend, Italo, mocks him for this wish and points out that everybody else is at pains to make themselves stand out from the crowd by being different.

"The Conformist/Il Conformista" works so well thanks to being many films at the same time: it can be enjoyed as a political thriller, an aesthetic statement, a political statement, existential pondering, or simply a well-made film with fabulous set designs and some fine performances. I am particularly fond of Jean-Louis Trintignant's portrayal of Marcello, whom he manages to give a kind of deranged pathos tempered by circumstances. The film is not lacking in humour either, albeit it being a very dark and somewhat absurd humour.

"The Conformist/Il Conformista" is on the list of "100 Film Italiani da Salvare/100 Italian Films to Save".

Answer: Torso

"Torso" is everything you could possibly want from a 1970's European horror thriller: attractive liberated women, snazzy style, groovy music, and a sociopathic sexual deviant who wreaks havoc. What's more, despite our suspicions, the culprit isn't revealed until right at the end. Adverts for "Torso" included several tag lines, one of which was: "Enter, if you dare, the bizarre world of the psychosexual mind". Another was: "He'll love you to pieces", a reference we won't go into here.

The film starred British actress Suzy Kendall, known for her roles in "To Sir, With Love" and "Up The Junction" as well as Italian giallos. Sergio Martino directed a plethora of genre films, ranging from exploitation, sci-fi, westerns (one of which was the red herring "A Man Called Blade"), poliziotteschi, and macaroni combat.

Answer: Fantozzi

"Fantozzi", which is the surname of the lead character, was translated as "White Collar Blues" in the English speaking world. Indeed, Fantozzi became a byword for the plight of the common man in a world where all the odds are stacked against him. Some scenes might seem outdated to an audience unused to politically incorrect gags, but at the end of the day the existential anguish of a nobody is much closer to the tradition of Italian cinema than it might at first appear.

The Fantozzi series became tedious since it ended up a parody of itself, but the first two films at least summed up a pitifulness that still rings true today. The character Fantozzi was created by Paolo Villaggio, who played Ugo Fantozzi, and the character appeared in book form before the success on the silver screen.

"Fantozzi" is on the list of "100 Film Italiani da Salvare/100 Italian Films to Save".

Answer: Il Divo

The film "Il Divo" has a subtitle: "The Spectacular Life of Giulio Andreotti/La Spettacolare Vita di Giulio Andreotti". When asked why Andreotti's life might be described as spectacular, Sorrentino explained that although Andreotti's immediate world was the drabness of bureaucracy, during the years when he was in power dramatic events were taking place in Italy. Sorrentino goes on to list them as: "the carnage of terrorism, the rise of the Mafia, the revelation of the P2 Lodge, the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro. In all of this Andreotti was a protagonist".

Andreotti was given the nickname Divo Giulio. The word "divo" means godlike, or divine. The red herrings are all nicknames used by Andreotti's close associates and used in the film. Lo Squalo is Vittorio Sbardella, Limone is Franco Evangelisti, and Sua Sanità is Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini.

It's a really weird film that somehow blends hints of the spaghetti western, Tarantino's gangster films, a cynical comedy, a rock video, and a powerful biographical drama. Andreotti is played marvelously by Toni Servillo who manages to get Andreotti's peculiar gait, hunched posture, and distinctive speech without descending into ridicule.