Love in the City (1953 film)

1953 Italian film

Love in the City

Theatrical release poster

L'amore in città
Directed by|

* Carlo Lizzani
* Michelangelo Antonioni
* Dino Risi
* Federico Fellini
* Francesco Maselli
* Cesare Zavattini
* Alberto Lattuada

Written by|

* Michelangelo Antonioni
* Aldo Buzzi
* Luigi Chiarini
* Federico Fellini
* Marco Ferreri
* Alberto Lattuada
* Luigi Malerba
* Tullio Pinelli
* Dino Risi
* Luigi Vanzi
* Vittorio Veltroni
* Cesare Zavattini

Produced by|

* Marco Ferreri
* Riccardo Ghione
* Cesare Zavattini

Cinematography| Gianni Di Venanzo
Edited by| Eraldo Da Roma
Music by| Mario Nascimbene

Production
company

Faro Film

Distributed by| IFE Releasing Corporation

Release date

* 27 November 1953 (1953-11-27) (Italy)[1]

Running time

| 105 minutes
Country| Italy
Language| Italian

Love in the City (Italian: L'amore in città) is a 1953 Italian anthology film composed of six segments, each with its own director. The segments and filmmakers are: Paid Love (Carlo Lizzani), Attempted Suicide (Michelangelo Antonioni), Paradise for Three Hours (Dino Risi), Marriage Agency (Federico Fellini), Story of Caterina (Francesco Maselli and Cesare Zavattini), and Italians Stare (Alberto Lattuada).[2][3]

## Synopsis

[edit]

Paid Love

Filmed by Carlo Lizzani, seven Roman prostitutes of different age, some of them single mothers, tell their "stories of abandonment and deceit".

Attempted Suicide

Five young women, who have tried to commit suicide after being left by their partner, tell and re-enact their stories in front of Michelangelo Antonioni's camera.

Paradise for Three Hours

Dino Risi depicts the various encounters at a dance hall event which takes place every Sunday evening between 5 and 8.

Marriage Agency

Federico Fellini tells the story of a journalist doing research on marriage agencies, pretending to be looking for a wife for a rich friend who suffers from lycanthropy. To his surprise, he is presented with a prospect only a few days later.

Story of Caterina

Francesco Maselli and Cesare Zavattini follow Caterina, a young single mother ostracised by her parents, who is put on trial for abandoning her child which she can't feed.

Italians Stare

A sequence of men reacting to the passage of pretty women, filmed by Alberto Lattuada.

## Cast

[edit]

Attempted Suicide

* Rita Josa
* Rosanna Carta
* Enrico Pelliccia
* Donatella Marrosu
* Paolo Pacetti
* Nella Bertuccioni
* Lilia Nardi
* Lena Rossi
* Maria Nobili

Paradise for Three Hours

* Luisella Boni

Marriage Agency

* Antonio Cifariello
* Livia Venturini
* Maresa Gallo
* Angela Pierro
* Rita Andreana
* Lia Natali
* Ilario Malaschini
* Cristina Grado
* Sue Ellen Blake
* Silvio Lillo

Story of Caterina

* Caterina Rigoglioso

Italians Stare

* Marisa Valenti
* Marco Ferreri
* Mario Bonotti
* Mara Berni
* Valeria Moriconi
* Giovanna Ralli
* Patrizia Lari
* Ugo Tognazzi
* Raimondo Vianello
* Edda Evangelisti
* Liliana Poggiali
* Maria Pia Trepaoli

## Production and release

[edit]

Cesare Zavattini, Marco Ferreri and Riccardo Ghione intended Love in the City as the first issue in a series of a new journal published on celluloid, of which only this one was realised.[2][3] The project was a critical and commercial failure on its first release, with French critic André Bazin being one of the few commentators to write a favorable review, appreciating the concept and the interviewed nonactors.[2] Other critics questioned the film's authenticity, arguing that the people in front of the camera were obviously following directors' instructions, or attacked it for having the mother of the Story of Caterina segment re-enact the abandoning of her child.[2] Initial export copies were missing Carlo Lizzani's segment on prostitution due to censorship issues.[4][5]

Zavattini noted in retrospect that the film lacked a central idea and common perspective on the theme, partially owed to the fact that the filmmakers had only sporadic contact during production.[6] The result was a film partly made in a documentary style, partly as a replication of reality, and, in the case of Federico Fellini, staged with professional actors.[6] Michelangelo Antonioni, director of the second episode, later stated that he only participated in the film as a favour to one of its makers, and commented negatively on what he saw as insincerity on the side of his interviewees.[3]

In 2014, Love in the City was released on Blu-ray by Raro Video.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Chatman, Seymour (1985). Antonioni, Or, The Surface of the World. University of California Press. p. 266\. ISBN 9780520053410.
2. ^ a b c d e Hoberman, J. (7 August 2014). "Recording the Not-So-Dolce Vita". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
3. ^ a b c Jansen, Peter W.; Schütte, Wolfram, eds. (1984). Michaelangelo Antonioni. Munich and Vienna: Carl Hanser Verlag.
4. ^ Fellini, Federico (1976). Fellini on Fellini. Delacorte Press/S. Lawrence. p. 169\. ISBN 9780440025283.
5. ^ Bondanella, Peter; Pacchioni, Federico (2017). A History of Italian Cinema. Bloomsbury. p. 130\. ISBN 9781501307638.
6. ^ a b Kezich, Tullio (2006). Federico Fellini: His Life and Work. Faber & Faber. p. 140\. ISBN 9780571211685.

## External links

[edit]

* Love in the City at IMDb
* "Amore in città (1953)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 17 September 2017. Retrieved 19 January 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Federico Fellini

As director|

* Variety Lights (1950)
* The White Sheik (1952)
* I Vitelloni (1953)
* Love in the City (1953)
* La Strada (1954)
* Il bidone (1955)
* Nights of Cabiria (1957)
* La Dolce Vita (1960)
* Boccaccio '70 (1962)
* 8½ (1963)
* Juliet of the Spirits (1965)
* Spirits of the Dead (1968)
* Fellini: A Director's Notebook (1969)
* Fellini Satyricon (1969)
* The Clowns (1970)
* Roma (1972)
* Amarcord (1973)
* Casanova (1976)
* Orchestra Rehearsal (1979)
* City of Women (1980)
* And the Ship Sails On (1983)
* Ginger and Fred (1986)
* Intervista (1987)
* The Voice of the Moon (1990)

As writer only|

* The Last Wagon (1943)
* Rome, Open City (1945)
* Paisan (1946)
* Flesh Will Surrender (1947)
* Bullet for Stefano (1947)
* L'amore ("The Miracle" segment, 1948)
* Without Pity (1948)
* In the Name of the Law (1949)
* City of Pain (1949)
* The Mill on the Po (1949)
* The Flowers of St. Francis (1950)
* Path of Hope (1950)
* Four Ways Out (1951)
* Cameriera bella presenza offresi... (1951)
* The Bandit of Tacca Del Lupo (1952)
* Fortunella (1958)

Works about|

* E il Casanova di Fellini? (1975 documentary)
* Federico Fellini: His Life and Work (1987/2002 biography)
* Fellini: I'm a Born Liar (2002 documentary)
* I'm a Born Liar (2003 book)
* How Strange to Be Named Federico (2013 documentary)

Related|

* Giulietta Masina (wife)
* Fellini Museum
* Asa Nisi Masa
* Paparazzi

* v
* t
* e

Michelangelo Antonioni

Feature films|

* Story of a Love Affair (1950)
* I Vinti (1952)
* The Lady Without Camelias (1953)
* Le Amiche (1955)
* Il Grido (1957)
* L'Avventura (1960)
* La Notte (1961)
* L'Eclisse (1962)
* Red Desert (1964)
* Blowup (1966)
* Zabriskie Point (1970)
* Chung Kuo, Cina (1972)
* The Passenger (1975)
* The Mystery of Oberwald (1980)
* Identification of a Woman (1982)
* Beyond the Clouds (1995)

Short films|

* Gente del Po (1947)
* N.U. (1948)
* Lies of Love (1949)
* The Funicular of Mount Faloria (1950)
* "Attempted Suicide" in Love in the City (1953)
* "The Screen Test" in The Three Faces (1965)
* "The Dangerous Thread of Things" in Eros (2004)

Book|

* That Bowling Alley on the Tiber (1983)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Alberto Lattuada

* Giacomo the Idealist (1943)
* The Bandit (1946)
* Flesh Will Surrender (1947)
* Without Pity (1948)
* The Mill on the Po (1949)
* Anna (1951)
* Variety Lights (1951)
* The Overcoat (1952)
* Love in the City (1953)
* La lupa (1953)
* The Beach (1954)
* Guendalina (1957)
* Tempest (1958)
* Lettere di una novizia (1960)
* The Mishap (1960)
* Sweet Deceptions (1960)
* Mafioso (1962)
* The Steppe (1962)
* The Mandrake (1965)
* Matchless (1967)
* Don Juan in Sicily (1967)
* Fräulein Doktor (1969)
* L'amica (1969)
* Come Have Coffee with Us (1970)
* White Sister (1972)
* Sono stato io (1973)
* I'll Take Her Like a Father (1974)
* Dog's Heart (1976)
* Oh, Serafina! (1976)
* Stay as You Are (1978)
* The Cricket (1980)
* A Thorn in the Heart (1986)

* v
* t
* e

Carlo Lizzani

* Viaggio al sud (1949)
* Via Emilia Km 147 (1949)
* Nel Mezzogiorno qualcosa è cambiato (1950)
* Modena, città dell'Emilia Rossa (1950)
* Attention! Bandits! (1951)
* At the Edge of the City (1952)
* Love in the City (segment "L'amore che si paga", 1953)
* Chronicle of Poor Lovers (1953)
* Human Torpedoes (uncredited, 1954)
* Lo svitato (1955)
* La muraglia cinese (1958)
* Esterina (1959)
* The Hunchback of Rome (1960)
* Il carabiniere a cavallo (1961)
* Gold of Rome (1961)
* La vita agra (1963)
* The Verona Trial (1963)
* Amori pericolosi (1964)
* La Celestina P... R... (1964)
* The Dirty Game (1965)
* Thrilling (segment "L'autostrada del Sole" 1965)
* Wake Up and Die (1966)
* The Hills Run Red (1966)
* Requiescant (1967)
* The Bandit (1968)
* Bandits in Milan (1968)
* The Tough and the Mighty (1969)
* Love and Anger (1969)
* Roma Bene (1971)
* Black Turin (1972)
* Crazy Joe (1973)
* Last Days of Mussolini (1974)
* Storie di vita e di malavita (1975)
* San Babila-8 P.M. (1976)
* Kleinhoff Hotel (1977)
* Fontamara (1980)
* The House of the Yellow Carpet (1983)
* Mamma Ebe (1985)
* Un'isola (1986)
* Dear Gorbachev (1988)
* 12 registi per 12 città (1989)
* The Wicked (1991)
* Celluloide (1996)
* Luchino Visconti (1999)
* Cesare Zavattini (2002)
* Napoli Napoli Napoli (2006)
* Agusta-Westland, un primato italiano (2007)
* Hotel Meina (2007)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Dino Risi

* Vacation with a Gangster (1951)
* Il viale della speranza (1953)
* Love in the City (1953)
* The Sign of Venus (1955)
* Scandal in Sorrento (1955)
* Poor, But Handsome (1957)
* Pretty But Poor (1957)
* Oh! Sabella (1957)
* Venice, the Moon and You (1958)
* Poor Millionaires (1958)
* The Widower (1959)
* Love and Larceny (1960)
* Love in Rome (1960)
* A Difficult Life (1961)
* Behind Closed Doors (1961)
* Il Sorpasso (1962)
* March on Rome (1962)
* I mostri (1963)
* The Thursday (1964)
* The Dolls (1965)
* The Gaucho (1965)
* Complexes (1965)
* Weekend, Italian Style (1965)
* I nostri mariti (1966)
* Treasure of San Gennaro (1966)
* The Tiger and the Pussycat (1967)
* Mr. Kinky (1968)
* Torture Me But Kill Me with Kisses (1968)
* I See Naked (1969)
* Normal Young Man (1969)
* The Priest's Wife (1970)
* That's How We Women Are (1971)
* In the Name of the Italian People (1971)
* Dirty Weekend (1973)
* How Funny Can Sex Be? (1973)
* Scent of a Woman (1974)
* The Career of a Chambermaid (1976)
* The Forbidden Room (1977)
* The Bishop's Bedroom (1977)
* Viva Italia! (1977)
* First Love (1978)
* Dear Father (1979)
* I'm Photogenic (1980)
* Sunday Lovers (1980)
* Fantasma d'amore (1981)
* Sesso e volentieri (1982)
* Good King Dagobert (1984)
* Madman at War (1985)
* Il commissario Lo Gatto (1986)
* Teresa (1987)
* I'll Be Going Now (1990)
* Vita coi figli (1991)
* Poor But Beautiful (1996)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Francesco Maselli

* Zona pericolosa (1951)
* Sport minore (1951)
* "Storia di Caterina" in L'amore in città (1953)
* Abandoned (1955)
* The Doll That Took the Town (1956)
* Silver Spoon Set (1960)
* Time of Indifference (1964)
* Kill Me Quick, I'm Cold (1967)
* A Fine Pair (1968)
* Lettera aperta a un giornale della sera (1970)
* The Suspect (1975)
* A Tale of Love (1986)
* Private Access (1988)
* The Secret (1990)
* Civico zero (2007)
* The Red Shadows (2009)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template