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The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival (Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica di Venezia) got underway this week, unofficially signaling the end of summer and the first murmurings of il rientro. The festival kicked off with the premiere of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to director Tim Burton’s campy cult classic, bri...

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November 25th, 2020: the New York Times draws up a list of the greatest actors of the 21st century. The only Italian, ranking seventh, is Toni Servillo. According to their reasoning, the actor had been “the central avatar in Sorrentino’s excavation of the corruption and hypocrisy, but also of the improbable glory and absurd resilience of modern Ita...

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Named by Vogue Italy as the most versatile performer in the history of Italian cinema, Toni Servillo has earned a reputation as a masterful character actor with the ability to hauntingly transform himself into dark, troubled protagonists who seem indifferent to the dubious methods they employ to get what they want.  Born in 1958 in Afragola, a town...

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From December 9 to December 13. Locations: AERO THEATRE - 1328 Montana Ave Santa Monica, CA 90403; LOS FELIZ THEATRE - 1822 N Vermont Ave Los Angeles, CA 90027. Co-presented by Cinecittà. Few Italian filmmakers since Fellini have paired sumptuous visual style with piquant social commentary as effectively as Paolo Sorrentino, who also brings a barbe...

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No country in the world has birthed more winners of the best international feature Oscar — formerly the best foreign language film Oscar — than Italy, with 14. However, all but one of those wins happened many years ago. Indeed, in the 21st century, Italy’s only win in the category came eight years ago, with Paolo Sorrentino‘s The Great Beauty. In t...

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Film Movement has acquired U.S. rights to Italian director Mario Martone’s “The King of Laughter” (“Qui Rido Io”) ahead of its world premiere Tuesday in competition at the Venice Film Festival. The film, being sold internationally by Italy’s True Colours, toplines Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) as popular and prolific early 20th century Neapoli...

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The Gene Siskel Film Center will present the the 22nd Annual Chicago European Union Film Festival through April 4. The following Italian films will be screened at the festival. (Descriptions were provided by the Gene Siskel Film Center.) LORO: 2018, Paolo Sorrentino, Italy/France, 150 min. With Toni Servillo, Elena Sofia Ricci. Wednesday, March 13,...

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As the envelope was opened at the 86th Academy Awards on March 2nd, announcing the winner of the Best Foreign Language Film – "The Great Beauty" – it was Toni Servillo who was the lead actor in the movie.   His long career as a an actor and director has culminated with this honor, to go along being named Best Actor at the 26th European Film...

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Chicago Shakespeare joins the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago to commemorate the Year of Italian Culture in America. First written and performed in Milano in 1948, Inner Voices tells the story of a man who dreams the murder of a friend so vividly that he believes the crime has actually been committed b...

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by Michael Phillips   When the Italians say "cinema," it sounds better than when the Americans say it. CHEE-nay-ma. Doesn't that sound better?   Born in 1959 and widely considered to be his nation's greatest stage and screen actor, Toni Servillo is seven hours ahead of us in Chicago, Skyping from his kitchen at home in Caserta, in the...

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