Cesare Zavattini facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cesare Zavattini
|
|
|---|---|
Cesare Zavattini (photo by Paolo Monti, 1975)
|
|
| Born | 20 September 1902 Luzzara, Italy
|
| Died | 13 October 1989 (aged 87) Rome, Italy
|
| Occupation | Screenwriter |
| Years active | 1936–1975 |
| Children | Arturo Zavattini |
Cesare Zavattini (born September 20, 1902 – died October 13, 1989) was a famous Italian screenwriter. He was one of the first people to talk about and support the Neorealist movement in Italian movies. Neorealism was a style of filmmaking that showed real life, often focusing on the struggles of ordinary people after World War II.
Contents
Who Was Cesare Zavattini?
Cesare Zavattini was born in Luzzara, a town near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, on September 20, 1902. He studied law at the University of Parma, but he really loved writing. He started his career working for a newspaper called Gazzetta di Parma.
Early Career and Moving to Milan
In 1930, Zavattini moved to Milan. There, he worked for a company that published books and magazines, run by Angelo Rizzoli. When Rizzoli started making movies in 1934, Zavattini began writing screenplays and stories for films. His first movie credits came in 1936. At the same time, he also wrote stories for comic strips, like Saturn against the Earth.
Working with Vittorio De Sica
A very important part of Zavattini's career began in 1935 when he met Vittorio De Sica. They became a fantastic team and worked together on about twenty films. Many of these movies are considered masterpieces of Italian neorealism.
Famous Neorealist Films
Some of their most famous films include:
- Sciuscià (1946)
- Ladri di biciclette (1948)
- Miracolo a Milano (1951)
- Umberto D. (1952)
These films showed the everyday lives and challenges of people in Italy after the war. They often used non-professional actors and filmed in real locations to make the stories feel very authentic.
Zavattini's Ideas on Cinema
In 1952, Zavattini shared his ideas about cinema in an interview. These ideas, often called his "manifesto" for Italian neorealism, explained his belief that movies should show reality as it is. He thought films should focus on small, everyday moments to reveal deeper truths about life.
Working in Hollywood and Awards
Zavattini also worked in Hollywood once. He wrote the screenplay for the movie The Children of Sanchez (1978). This film was based on a book about a Mexican family.
He received special recognition for his work in cinema. In 1979, he was given an Honorable Prize at the 11th Moscow International Film Festival. Later, in 1983, he was a judge at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival.
Cesare Zavattini passed away in Rome on October 13, 1989.
Directors Zavattini Worked With
Cesare Zavattini worked with many famous Italian and international film directors on more than 80 movies. This shows how important he was in the world of cinema. Some of these directors include:
- Vittorio de Sica (his most frequent collaborator)
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Federico Fellini
- Roberto Rossellini
- Luchino Visconti
- And many others like Hall Bartlett, Alessandro Blasetti, Mauro Bolognini, Mario Camerini, René Clément, Pietro Germi, Alberto Lattuada, Mario Monicelli, Elio Petri, Dino Risi, Mario Soldati, and Paolo and Vittorio Taviani.
Interestingly, a character in a short story called "La Santa" by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez is named after Zavattini. In the story, this character is a cinema teacher.
Selected Films Written by Zavattini
Here are some of the films Cesare Zavattini wrote:
- I'll Give a Million (1936)
- The Dance of Time (1936)
- Saint John, the Beheaded (1940)
- A Woman Has Fallen (1941)
- Don Cesare di Bazan (1942)
- Before the Postman (1942)
- Piruetas Juveniles / Romanzo a passo di danza (1943)
- The Gates of Heaven (1945)
- Un giorno nella vita (1946)
- The Testimony (1946)
- Sciuscià (1946)
- The Unknown Man of San Marino (1946)
- Crime News (1947)
- The Great Dawn (1947)
- Sperduti nel buio (1947)
- Ladri di biciclette (1948)
- Twenty Years (1949)
- Miracolo a Milano (1951)
- Mamma Mia, What an Impression! (1951)
- Umberto D. (1952)
- Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1954)
- L'oro di Napoli ("The Gold of Naples", 1954)
- La Ciociara ("Two Women", 1960)
- I sequestrati di Altona ("The Condemned of Altona", 1962)
- L'isola di Arturo ("Arturo's Island", 1962)
- Ieri, oggi e domani ("Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow", 1963)
- Un monde nouveau (1966)
- Caprice Italian Style (1968)
- I girasoli ("Sunflower", 1970)
- Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini ("The Garden of the Finzi-Continis", 1970)
- Una breve vacanza ("A Brief Vacation", 1973)
- Lo chiameremo Andrea (1975)
See also
In Spanish: Cesare Zavattini para niños
