Événement

NOIR CITY 15: FOUR WAYS OUT / BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET

Saturday, January 21, evening

The price of admission gets you into the double bill.

7:15
FOUR WAYS OUT (La citta si difende)
(Italy, 1951. Societa Italiana Cines (Cinecitta). 74 min.)

Screenplay by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, Giuseppe Mangione, and Pietro Germi
Story by Federico Fellini, Tullio Pinelli, and Luigi Comencini
Produced by Carlo Civallero. Directed by Pietro Germi

The heist drama, Federico Fellini-style. The Maestro has story and screenplay credit on this nearly forgotten film about a quartet of amateur thieves who successfully execute a daring mid-match robbery at a soccer stadium. They must separate to evade the police, but escaping their personal demons proves far more difficult. A humanist crime thriller that's equal parts film noir and neo-realism, featuring a young Gina Lollobrigida. Germi's dynamic direction earned La citta si difendi the Best Italian Film award at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. Presented in 35mm

9:00
BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (I soliti ignoti)
(Italy, 1958. Cinecitta. 106 min.)

Screenplay by Agenore Incrocci, Furio Scarpelli, Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Mario Monicelli
Story by Agenore Incrocci and Furio Scarpelli, from a short story by Italo Calvino
Produced by Franco Cristaldi. Directed by Mario Monicelli

A comedy classic that sends up both caper films and neo-realist cinema while being a joy on its own terms. Small-time crooks in Rome join forces to rob a government-run pawn shop, but multiple mishaps and their own boisterous lives may prevent them from carrying out their half-baked scheme. With turns from some of the great names of Italian cinema -- Marcello Mastroianni, Vittorio Gassman, Claudia Cardinale, Renato Salvatori -- forget the remakes and feast on the original! Presented digitally