A YEAR OF “LE ULTIME DALLO STIVALE”
N.13
March 25th, 2024 – Eleonora Corradi
Italian cinema at the Oscars: an epic story of triumphs and disappointments
Even if Italy returns home from the Oscars ceremony empty-handed in 2024, the relationship between our cinema and the industry’s most prestigious awards is a long journey marked by triumphs and disappointments, which deserves to be closely examined. Indeed, Italy holds the record of victories in the “Best Foreign Film” category, a testament to the Academy’s affection for our cinematic heritage that has, in some ways, inspired the creation of this very category. But to fully understand this story, it is necessary to take a dive into the past.
The “special” Oscars for Italian cinema.
In the first 20 editions of the Oscars, no non-US film managed to win an award. Everything changed in 1948, when Vittorio De Sica’s “Sciuscià“ burst into American cinemas, winning the hearts of Hollywood insiders. The film is so extraordinary that it is decided to establish a special Oscar to honor it. The same scenario is repeated two years later with another of De Sica’s masterpieces, “Bicycle Thieves“, which receives similar recognition.
These special awards give unprecedented visibility to Italian cinema at a time of great economic difficulty but fervent artistic inspiration: we are in fact in the period of Neorealism.
The new Oscar category and the victories of Italian cinema.
The “Best Foreign Film” category made its official debut in 1956, and Italy wasted no time in making its case, winning for two consecutive years, in 1957 and 1958, with Fellini’s masterpieces “La Strada“ and “Le notti di Cabiria“. Fellini soon became an Academy and Hollywood favorite, receiving as many as 12 nominations in different categories over the years and taking home two more statuettes for “8 ½“ in 1964 and for “Amarcord” 11 years later.
De Sica, on the other hand, also collects four Oscars in total over the course of his career, with films ranging from the neorealist masterpieces already mentioned to “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow“ (1963) and “The Garden of the Finzi Contini“ (1970). In addition, De Sica himself won an Oscar for best supporting actor in “Farewell to Arms”.
Italian cinema at the Oscars from the 1980s to the present.
Until 1980, Italian cinema enjoyed steady appreciation at the Oscars, with almost every year at least one Italian film among the nominees for “Best Foreign Film.” In 1988, however, there was an unprecedented event when Bernardo Bertolucci took home the Oscar for “Best Picture” with “The Last Emperor“, along with eight other awards, including “Best Director.” This victory remains the only one of its kind for an Italian director, and “The Last Emperor” ranks among the most awarded films in the history of the Academy Awards.
In the following years, titles such as Tornatore’s “Cinema paradiso“ (1990), Salvatores’ “Mediterraneo“ (1992) and Benigni’s “Life is beautiful“ (1999) continued to bring glory to Italian cinema, winning Oscars for “Best Foreign Film” and, in Benigni’s case, also for “Best Actor in a Leading Role.”
However, the 2000s marked a period of crisis for Italian cinema at the Oscars, with only one nomination and no wins.
Even in the following decade, successes are sporadic, with rare victories such as Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty“ in 2014 and a nomination in 2022 for “It was the Hand of God” by the same director, which, however, does not win any awards. In 2024, with Garrone’s “Io capitano” Italy receives its 30th nomination for “Best Foreign Film”, but unfortunately, it does not reach a win this time either.
The contributions of Italian actors, set designers, and musicians.
Despite numerous wins and nominations for Italian films, only three Italian actors have personally received an Oscar for their performance: Sofia Loren in 1960 as “Best Actress in a Leading Role” in “Two women“ by De Sica; the aforementioned Roberto Benigni; and finally Anna Magnani, for an English-language film, “The rose tattoo” in 1955.
Instead, Italy has won numerous Oscars for costumes, sets and soundtracks in international productions.
Among the most significant contributions are Giorgio Moroder’s three wins for the soundtrack to “Midnight express“and for the unforgettable “What a Feeling” and “Take My Breath Away”.
Other illustrious names include Milena Canonero, costume designer, winner of 4 Oscars; Vittorio Storaro, director of photography, winner of 3 awards; the couple Dante Ferretti and Federica Lo Schiavo, winner of 3 statuettes for “Best Set Design”; and finally, Carlo Rambaldi , who won for the memorable special effects of three great science fiction classics “King Kong” (1976), “Alien” (1979), and “E.T.” (1983).
All in all, although Italy seems not to be a red-carpet country, there are numerous Italian workers in the film world whose talents have made some of the greatest films in history unforgettable and whose contributions to the seventh art remain a source of great national pride.
DID YOU KNOW?
PAPARAZZO – this term originated in the film “La Dolce Vita” in which Paparazzo was the name of a relentless and opportunistic photographer, a representation of the media’s intrusion into the private lives of public figures.
DOLCEVITA (TURTLENECK) – this garment seems to take its name from “La Dolce Vita“ in which a character wears a turtleneck shirt in an iconic scene.
AMARCORD – this word means “nostalgic evocation of the past” and entered the Italian vocabulary after the release of the film of the same name in 1973: it brings together three words “A m’arcord” which means “I remember” in Romagnolo dialect.
E ORA TOCCA A VOI!
Scegliere la preposizione corretta fra quelle proposte in queste citazioni di grandi film italiani. Choose the correct preposition from those offered in these quotes from great Italian films.
– A/In/Per realtà, i romani mi sembrano insopportabili. I migliori abitanti a/da/di Roma sono i turisti. (“La grande bellezza”)
– A/Di/Per che cosa siamo famosi noi sull’/all’/nell’estero? Le pezze e le pizze, nient’altro. Siamo un paese con i/dei/di magliari e pizzicagnoli e sempre questo saremo. (“La grande bellezza”)
– La più consistente scoperta che ho fatto pochi giorni dopo aver compiuto sessantacinque anni è che non posso più perdere tempo a/da/su fare cose che non mi va a/di/per fare. (“La grande bellezza”)
– La vostra Italia è una terra su/di/per culti antichi, ricca di forze naturali e soprannaturali. Al/Del/Nel resto, chi cerca Dio lo trova dove vuole. (“La dolce vita”)
– Bisognerebbe vivere fuori delle/nelle/dalle passioni, nell’armonia che c’è sull’/dall’/nell’opera d’arte riuscita, a/su/in quell’ordine incantato. (“La dolce vita”)
– Per/A/Con tutto si rimedia, meno che nella/della/alla morte. (“Ladri di biciclette”)
– Avevamo tutti più o meno quell’età a/per/in cui non hai deciso se mettere su/di/a famiglia o perderti tra il/nel/per il mondo. (“Mediterraneo”)
– A/Su/In tempi come questi, la fuga è l’unico mezzo da/per/a mantenersi vivi e continuare di/a/per sognare. (“Mediterraneo”)
