***********************************************
Connoisseurs of European classics will have an opportunity next month to see the many titles of Italian film master, Francesco Rosi, who is best known for the social and political films made in a realistic style and highly acclaimed by numerous films festivals across Europe.
With films on controversial themes like corruption, assassination and the Mafia, Rosi, is one of the foremost figures of the cinematic art, who ignites the screen with the sober-minded execution and brilliant, fascinating drama. A retrospective on eight of his classics filmed from 1959 to 1989 will be screened in the "Francesco Rosi - The Power of Truth" at the Hong Kong Science Museum Lecture Hall from July 5 to 7 and the Hong Kong Film Archive Cinema from July 12 to 14.
From July to December, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will present a series of six retrospective film programmes under the title "Repertory Cinema - A Spectrum of Film Classics and Masters" to introduce some of the world's film classics to the local audience. Curated by Mr Law Wai-ming, classic films of a European film director will be featured each month. The masters featured are not only internationally recognized for their first-class artistic achievements but also have profound impacts on the development of film history.
Supported by the Consulate General of Italy, Rosi is the first director in focus. The programme is perhaps the most complete and largest in scale of Rosi's retrospective in Hong Kong. Other directors who will be featured in the Repertory Cinema include Jean Renoir, Ingmar Berman, Werner Herzog, Robert Bresson and Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Being a follower of the neo-realist aesthetic, Rosi has been hailed as the virtue of the Italian cinema in the post-war era. He is a true scrutinizer delving into important events, reconsidering the occurrences and characters that make the narrative texture.
The opening film "The Mattei Affair" won the Grand Prix International at Cannes Film Festival in 1972. Petroleum giant Mattei who blended well with national and international corporations ended his glorious life in a plane crash - an accident brimmed with suspicions. Rosi elevates corruption and assassination to an international level and targets straight at the very evil of capitalism.
"Salvatore Giuliano" is a daring movie which uncovers the rise and fall of the famous Sicilian bandit, Rosi plays an obscure role of being emotional yet objective throughout, adding considerable thrill to the Giuilano myth. The film prompted the Italian government's full-scale investigation into the Mafia and also won the Best Director award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1962.
With breathtaking Italian scenery, "Illustrious Corpses" marks the turning point of Rosi's interest in adaptation of literature. The mysterious story is taken from a popular thriller "The Context" empowered by the director's unique detective charisma. Audience may associate the film with Hollywood's phenomenal "Seven" and will be surprised by a sudden turn as the investigation completes. It won the Best Film and Best Director, David di Donatello Awards in 1976.
Not to be missed are the "Swindlers" and the "Hands Over the City". "The Swindlers" is another feature by Rosi on the working class following the success of his first feature "The Challenge". Together with the two films, "Hands Over the City" completes the "Trilogy of Naples" by Rosi. The film is a powerful exposure of corruption between the real-estate developers and the local government officials, the most controversial issue in Italy. It won the Golden Lion Award at Venice Film Festival in 1963.
Filmed in Yugoslavia, the magnificent "Many Wars Ago" is the first blockbuster in colour about World War I. It has been considered as having equal significance as Stanley Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" in 1957.
Being chosen as the Best Foreign Language Film at BAFTA in 1979, "Christ Stopped at Eboli" is a lyrical account of Carlo Levi, the prominent anti-fascist author and artist in exile to Eboli during Mussolini's regime. As compared to Rosi's previous works, the film is mellower in tone and more leisurely paced. Rosi returns to political drama in "The Palermo Connection" which chronicles the corruption of a mayoral candidate for New York City.
All films at the "Francesco Rosi: The Power of Truth" are provided with English subtitles except "The Palermo Connection" which is in English only. The opening film "The Mattei Affair", "Salvatore Guiliano" and "Many Wars Ago" will have Chinese subtitles.
Tickets for the Repertory Cinema screenings are priced at $50 each and are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-priced concessionary tickets are available for senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients. A 10% discount will be offered for each purchase of at least three screenings or five tickets in the same classic series and 20% discount for at least five screenings or eight tickets and Manhattan id card members.
Enquiries can be made at 2734 2891 or browsing the website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp. Reservations can be made at 2734 9009 and internet booking at www.urbtix.gov.hk.
End/Thursday, June 20, 2002
NNNN
