The rugged Italian actor Gian Maria Volonté (BOTD, 1933-1994) was described by Francesco Rosi as having "stole[n] the soul of his characters." Famous for his roles in Spaghetti Westerns, he also starred in social dramas such as 'The Working Class Goes to Heaven'
Poster for a lecture at the University of Naples L'Orientale on 26 March 2026: "The Tragic Myth of Our Defeat: Tombolo and Occupied Italy," by Charles Leavitt.
I've arrived in windy and rainy Naples. It's almost lecture time.
A page from an illuminated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy showing a historiated initial 'L'(a gloria) of Christ in a chariot with Evangelist symbols, and Adam and Eve; (below) miniature of Dante and Apollo before Parnassus.
A page from an illuminated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy showing a historiated initial 'N'(el) of Dante and Virgil in a dark wood, with four half-length figures representing Justice, Power, Peace and Temperance; (below) arms of Alphonso V, king of Aragon, Naples, and Sicily.
A page from an illuminated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy showing a historiated initial 'P'(Per) of Dante setting sail for Purgatory.
The Yates Thompson Divine Comedy has been returned online. Commissioned by Alfonso V, King of Aragon, Naples and Sicily, this copy of Dante's work has illuminations on every single page (Yates Thompson MS 36)
Consult the whole manuscript online now:
searcharchives.bl.uk/catalog/040-...
Italy’s president to commemorate the 335 victims of the Fosse Ardeatine massacre on the 82nd anniversary of the atrocity.
Fosse Ardeatine, la cerimonia con il presidente Mattarella: diretta video
video.corriere.it/fosse-ardeatine-la-cerim...
NOW AVAILABLE: Elvira Notari – Pioneer of Italian Cinema (Blu-Ray All Region)
diabolikdvd.com/product/elvi...
#diabolikdvd #physicalmediaadvocates #elviranotari #italiancinema
Four pics of Scully from X-Files looking at a computer screen, wearing glasses, looking progressively stunned; the four corresponding titles on the right say "finding a horror film you haven't seen," "it's an Italian horror film," "it's directed by Dario Argento," "the soundtrack's by Goblin"
‘D’Alfonso’s son is left waiting for answers, as the number of surviving ex-Red Brigades members gets steadily lower and the years of lead still weigh heavily on Italy.’
John Foot (@footymac.bsky.social) on the trial of three former Red Brigades members.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ma...
BOTD: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Gianfranco Rosi's Pompei: Below the Clouds exudes a style that accentuates the rich gradients, textures, and legends of Naples’ near-mythical world.
Read our Critic's Pick review as the documentary opens in U.S. theaters: thefilmstage.com/nyff-review-...
If I were still a college teacher, I would do a film studies seminar called "Persistence of Neorealism," that would give a foundation in the Italian classics and then spread out to consider the dispersal and continuance of the aesthetic and themes in movies up to the presence
1/9. First time watch of the pulpy, noirish, neorealist Bitter Rice (Giuseppe De Santis, 1949). No idea why it’s taken me so long - probably the most enjoyable film I’ve watched this year. If you haven’t seen it, see 🧵 for a few reasons why you should.
New book by @selenadaly.bsky.social :
Emigrant Soldiers: Mobilising Italians Abroad in the First World War (Cambridge University Press, 2025)
www.cambridge.org/core/books/e...
To be cited in The #Guardian alongside the pantheon of “#Gramsci scholars.” Done.
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Giuseppe De Santis's 1949 classic “Bitter Rice” brought sex appeal and genre thrills to neorealism. Its new 4K restoration opens Friday at @filmforumnyc.bsky.social:
One of Italian cinema's fiercest voices, Elio Petri (BOTD, 1929-1982) fused political satire and genre filmmaking into something urgent and unsettling.
Our releases include THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN, A QUIET PLACE IN THE COUNTRY and WE STILL KILL THE OLD WAY.
“Without Pity” (1948) is the Italian stars Carla Del Poggio as a woman who witnesses the shooting of John Kitzmiller, a U.S. serviceman. Shady people surround them as they try to escape their desperate situations. Produced by Carlo Ponti for Lux Film. #FilmNoir #neorealism #italiannoir
“Archivio Grafica Italiana is the first online archive dedicated to the entire Italian graphic design heritage.” [kottke.org]
I'm now on Bluesky!
Filmmaker Federico Fellini, wearing a white hat, looking into a movie camera
#filmsky #moviesky #neorealism
“There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life.”
Filmmaker, Federico Fellini #BOTD
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once wrote that “only in Rome is it possible to understand Rome.”
Students in the Italian studies course The Literature of the Journey to Italy discovered that to be true.
Read about the class's fully-funded literary odyssey through Italy: https://bit.ly/4pPDysw
Have a look at the Introduction of my 'Encounters in Wartime Italy: A Social History of Invasion, Liberation, and Occupation' (OUP 2025)!! This is now available for free until 18 February 2026: academic.oup.com/book/61479/c...
And the book is still 30% off with code AUFLY30!!
Thank you, OUP!
A moving tribute to Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves from Jafar Panahi. “It was when I saw this film that I knew what I wanted to pursue, what type of films I was after. It opened my path to social cinema.”
“Miracle at St. Anna” (2008) good movie.
Or maybe you'd like the Silvana, a slingback shoe with a classic silhouette inspired by Silvana Mangano, an iconic Italian actress from the Golden Age of Italian neorealism in the post-war era.
aeranewyork.com/products/sil...
