16 thoughts on “My Favorite Francesco Rosi Films”

1. I have only seen a couple of these, but he was indeed very talented.
   Best wishes, Pete.

2. I wish The Mattei Affair was available here in the United States because I read that cult filmmaker Alex Cox is a huge fan of the film. I am pretty sure you need no introduction to him 🙂 Anyway, thanks for dropping by 🙂

3. I watched Mattei Affair and I thought it was a great film.

   I watched other Francesco Rosi films too.I thought Many Wars Ago was very good and I thought Illustrious Corpses was very good too. I was more mixed on Lucky Luciano though. I thought the first half was excellent but the second half wasn’t as good and was a bit forgettable.

   The miniseries verson of Christ Stopped At Eboli is on ok.ru. I’ll watch that next.

4. I’ve watched Gian Maria Volonte films recently. I watched:

   We Still Kill The Old Way (1967) – Very good
   Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) – Very good
   Sacco and Vanzetti (1971) – Excellent
   The Working Class Go To Heaven (1971) – Good
   Slap the Monster On Page One (1972) – Very good
   Giordano Bruno (1973) – Good
   I Am Afraid / lo ho paura (1977) – Very good

   I didn’t like Todo Modo (1976). I thought that was bad and forgettable.

5. I am glad that you loved it Steve 🙂 I think I told you that it was one of director Alex Cox’s favorite films 🙂 One wonders If Oliver Stone has ever seen it? 🙂

   I love all of Francesco Rosi’s films from the 60’s to the very early 1980’s. I understand your points about Lucky Luciano though. In fact, I remember that (one of our favorites) Joe Dallesandro played him in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club. Check out Christ Stopped at Eboli whenever you get the chance 🙂

   BTW, though I have yet to compose a new list of my favorite Billy Wilder films, I want to state to you up front that Avanti! is my number one favorite of his 🙂 I know I spoiled it, but when I do compose that list in the future, pretend to be happily surprised. I say all of this because I just wanted to let you know that I share your love for Avanti!, which is a truly sexy comedy 🙂

6. Wow, that is awesome Steve 🙂 I am glad that you at least found some worthy gems within Gian Maria Volonte’s filmography 🙂 Speaking of which, I need to find time again to watch more of the Italian films you have recommended to me, compared to last year, I seem to be more with it this year, but their is still a treasure trove of gems waiting for me 🙂 Nevertheless, I am more than happy that you have introduced me to them 🙂 Robert Mitchum’s son was in a few (or at least a good number) of the polizioteschis that I have seen. That is no surprise of course considering that he was a part of that documentary on the genre that you highly recommended to me long ago and yes, it is a very insightful documentary indeed 🙂

7. I think Oliver Stone was definitely influenced by Rosi. His directing and film style are very similar to Rosi’s.

   Speaking of Avanti!. It’s director of photography Luigi Kuveiller was also director of photography on some of those Volonte films I mentioned. He photographed We Still Kill The Old Way and that film is shot very much like Avanti! was. That film was filmed in Sicily in a coastal town in the sunshine and it’s a visually gorgeous film and a lot of that is due to Kuveiller’s photography.

   It’s great that Billy Wilder used an Italian crew on Avanti! He could have easily used a crew from Hollywood but instead he got Luigi Kuveiller to photograph it, Fernando Scarfiotti (he later was the production designer on Scarface) to do the sets and Carlo Rustichelli to do the score. That really made Avanti! feel like an Italian film. Carlo Rustichelli’s score on Avanti! is so beautiful. It’s one of my favourite film scores. It shows too that there were other great Italian film composers besides Ennio Morricone. There was also Carlo Rustichelli and Nino Rota.

   Volonte also had a colloboration with director Elio Petri, like he did with Rosi. Petri directed We Still Kill The Old Way, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, The Working Class Goes To Heaven and Todo Modo. Luigi Kuveiller photographed all those films.

   Sacco and Vanzetti was based on a true story. There was also the dialogue in Avanti!:
   – Is this what you call Italian justice?
   – What about Sacco and Vanzetti?

   These Volonte films are on youtube and ok.ru.

8. I too thought that it was inspired for Billy Wilder to use an Italian crew on Avanti! Steve 🙂 It really made it special 🙂 All of those Italians you mention really went a long way to make sure that Avanti! would be visually gorgeous and they succeeded brilliantly 🙂 And yes, the score is just lovely 🙂 Former Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum is another huge fan of Avanti!, so it is great to see that it was not just us who saw it’s brilliance 🙂 Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills are fantastic together 🙂 I too remember that line in the film about Sacco and Vanzetti and I just laughed out loud after it was said 🙂 Like yourself, I too am aware of the true story on Sacco and Vanzetti.

9. I watched The Violent Four (1968) on youtube. It’s a crime film with Gian Maria Volonte and Tomas Milian. It’s directed by Carlo Lizzani (Requiescant). I thought it was a good film. It could be considered an early poliziotteschi.

   I also think it’s great you finished the miniseries version of Blood Ties and you loved that version of the film. I think the miniseries version is much more layered and even more complex than the shortened version. There were a lot more great scenes in the miniseries version, such as the scene in episode one where Brad Davis and the judge go on a boat trip when the judge escapes his seclusion for a bit. I would really like the miniseries version in English to get a DVD release.

10. The Violent Four is a great one Steve 🙂

    I hear ya about Blood Ties and what a coincidence, the sequence with Brad Davis and the judge on the boat is one one of my favorites too 🙂 I too would love to see it get a home video release format like Blu Ray/DVD 🙂

11. I watched the miniseries version of Christ Stopped At Eboli. I thought it was very good. Another great performance by Volonte and Rosi’s direction was great as always.

    I also watched Il Caso Moro (1986). It’s a retelling of the most infamous event of the Years of Lead. The kidnap and killing of the former Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the communist Brigate Rosse in 1978. I thought it was an excellent film. It’s very well written and well directed. I recommend the film. It’s on youtube in three parts with English subs.

12. Glad that you enjoyed it Steve 🙂 In fact, the longer version of the film is included on the Criterion edition. Is that where you watched it? 🙂

    I need to check out Caso Moro. Based on your view alone, it sounds like a fantastic film 🙂 I will check it out 🙂

13. You definitely should watch Il Caso Moro. It’s kind of like a Francesco Rosi film. Illustrious Corpses maybe. Another great performance by Volonte too. The kidnap and killing of Aldo Moro was talked about in the Eurocrime documentary.

    I watched the miniseries version of Christ Stopped At Eboli on ok.ru. It’s good that it has a Criterion release. There’s a shortened two and a half hour version of the film too.

14. I watched two more Gian Maria Volonte films:

    Actas de Marusia (1975) – Good
    Operacion Ogro (1979) Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo – Very good

    Both films are on ok.ru with English subs.

15. Glad to hear that you enjoyed them Steve 🙂

16. I watched more Gian Maria Volonte films.

    La mort de Mario Ricci. Directed by Claude Goretta – Very good
    L’opera al Nero. Directed by Andre Delvaux – Good
    Open Doors. Directed by Gianni Amelio – Very good

    Mario Ricci and Open Doors are on ok.ru with English subs. L’opera al Nero is on youtube with English auto translate.