Monica Vitti: Difference between revisions

| birth_place = [[Rome]], [[Kingdom of Italy]]

| death_place = Rome, [[Italy]]

'''Monica Vitti''' (born '''Maria Luisa Ceciarelli'''; (3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022), known professionally as '''Monica Vitti''', was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by [[Michelangelo Antonioni]] during the 1960s. She appeared with [[Marcello Mastroianni]], [[Alain Delon]], [[Richard Harris]], [[Terence Stamp]], and [[Dirk Bogarde]]. On her death, Italian culture minister [[Dario Franceschini]] called her "the Queen of Italian cinema".<ref name=nytobit>{{cite news |last=Lyman |first=Rick |title=Monica Vitti, ‘Queen'Queen of Italian Cinema,’' Dies at 90 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/02/movies/monica-vitti-dead.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 February 2022 |access-date=7 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Monica Vitti: 'Queen of Italian cinema' dies at 90 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-60227956 |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=2 February 2022 |access-date=3 February 2022 |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[File:Ifigenia in Aulide - 1953 - regia Accursio di Leo.jpg|thumb|Vitti as Marisa CeciarelliCecciarelli early in her career (1953)]]

Vitti's first widely noted performance was at 26, in [[Mario Amendola]]'s ''[[:it:Le dritte|Le dritte]]'' (1958) with [[Franco Fabrizi]].<ref>{{cite web | access-date = 7 December 2022 | url = http://www.archiviodelcinemaitaliano.it/index.php/scheda.html?codice=AG%20245&jjj=1670362629170 | language = it | title = Le dritte (1958) | website = Archivo del Cinema Italiano }}</ref> She was in the TV movie ''[[Il borghese gentiluomo]]'' (1959).<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 7 December 2022 | newspaper = Daily Express | date = 2 February 2022 | url = https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/1559732/Monica-Vitti-dead-Italian-actress-1960s-movies-dies-age-90-cause-latest-update/amp | title = Monica Vitti dead: Legendary Italian actress dies aged 90 battle with Alzheimer's | first = Melanie | last = Kaidan}}</ref><ref>Features/Articles/People: Monica Vitti. Walter, Eugene. ''Vogue''; New York Vol. 147, Iss. 4, (15 February 1966): 122, 123, 124, 125, 155.</ref>

In 1957 she joined [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s ''[[Teatro Nuovo (Milan)|Teatro Nuovo di Milano]]'' and dubbed the voice of [[Dorian Gray (actress)|Dorian Gray]] in the director's ''[[Il Grido]]'' (''The Cry'', 1957). Over the next several years in several "intense portraits of alienation she became the perfect mouthpiece for Antonioni himself".<ref name=AtoZbio>{{cite book | access-date = 8 December 2022 | chapter-url =https://books.google.com/books?id=6_vG0ocP_7UC&pg=PA334 | pages=334-5334–5 | title =The A to Z of Italian Cinema | first = Gino | last =Moliterno | date = 2009 |chapter = Vitti, Monica (1932–) | publisher = Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-7059-8 }}</ref> She played a leading role in Antonioni's internationally praised film ''[[L'Avventura]]'' (1960) as a detached and cool protagonist drifting into a relationship with the lover of her missing girlfriend.<ref name=nytobit /><ref name=scotsman>{{cncite news |last=Pendreigh |first=Brian |title=Scotsman Obituaries: Monica Vitti, Italian screen queen |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scotsman-obituaries-monica-vitti-italian-screen-queen-3560868 |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |date=10 February 2022 |access-date=13 June 2024}}</ref> Giving a screen presence that has been described as "stunning", she is also credited with helping Antonioni raise money for the production and sticking with him through daunting location shooting.{{cn|date=May 2024}} ''L'Avventura'' made Vitti an international star.{{cn|date<ref name=Februaryguardianobit 2022}}/> Her image later appeared on an Italian postage stamp commemorating the film.<ref>{{cite web | access-date = 7 December 2022 | quote = a portrait of Monica Vitti with her handwritten signature on the left | url = https://news.italy24.press/trends/amp/220492 | date = 25 November 2022 | title = Bellaria: a stamp for Raffaella Carrà. From today the cancellation on the first day of issue | publisher = Italy 24 Press News }}</ref> According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', Vitti's "air of disenchantment perfectly conveys the unreal aura of her heroines."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/15/archives/most-controversial-director.html | title = Most Controversial Director | first = Melton S. | last = Davis | newspaper = The New York Times | date = 15 November 1964 | access-date = 7 December 2022}}</ref>

Vitti received critical praise for her starring roles in the Antonioni film ''[[La Notte]]'' (''Night'', 1961),{{cn|date=February 2022}} with [[Jeanne Moreau]] and [[Marcello Mastroianni]].<ref name=guardianobit /> Vitti starred in a TV movie ''Le notti bianche'' (1962),{{cn|date=February 2022}} then did a third with Antonioni, ''[[L'Eclisse]]'' (1962) with [[Alain Delon]].<ref>Houston, Penelope. "The Eclipse". ''Sight and Sound''; London Vol. 32, Iss. 2 (Spring 1963): 90.</ref>

Vitti was one of many stars in an anthology movie, ''[[Three Fables of Love]]'' (1962).{{cn|date=February 2022}} She had a cameo in ''[[Sweet and Sour (1963 film)|Sweet and Sour]]'' (1963) and played the lead in a comedy for [[Roger Vadim]], ''[[Nutty, Naughty Chateau]]'' (1963).{{cn|date=February 2022}} Vitti was then in another anthology film ''[[High Infidelity]]'' (1964){{cn|date=February 2022}} and made a fourth with Antonioni, ''[[Red Desert (film)|Il Deserto Rosso]]'' (''Red Desert'', 1964), with [[Richard Harris]].<ref name=nytobit /><ref>{{cncite news |last=Molli |first=Jeanne |title=Antonioni's Tinted 'Red Desert' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/03/29/archives/antonionis-tinted-red-desert.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=February29 March 1964 |access-date=13 June 20222024}}</ref> The director said Vitti "certainly inspires me, because I like to watch and direct her, but the parts I give her are a long way from her own character."<ref>In the Red Desert Manceaux, Michele. ''Sight and Sound''; London Vol. 33, Iss. 3, (Summer 1964): 118.</ref> After Vitti's relationship with Antonioni ended, the two did not work together again until ''[[Il mistero di Oberwald]]'' (1980).<ref name="guard" />

Vitti's first English-language film was ''[[Modesty Blaise (1966 film)|Modesty Blaise]]'' (1966), a [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] [[James Bond]] spy spoof that co-starred [[Terence Stamp]] and [[Dirk Bogarde]] and was directed by [[Joseph Losey]],: it had only mixed success and received harsh critical reviews.<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | access-date = 7 December 2022 | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/08/21/83540894.html | first = Bosley | last = Crowther | title = Immodesty and 'Modesty Blaise' | date = 21 August 1966 }}</ref>

Vitti appeared in ''[[On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who...]]'' (1967) with [[Tony Curtis]],{{cn|date<ref name=Februaryscotsman 2022}}/> ''[[The Girl with a Pistol]]'' (1968) with [[Stanley Baker]],<ref name=pistol/> ''[[The Bitch Wants Blood]]'' (1969) with [[Maurice Ronet]],{{cn|date=February 2022}} and ''[[Help Me, My Love]]'' (1969) with [[Alberto Sordi]].<ref>Movie Call Sheet: Columbia to Film 'Gorgeous'. Martin, Betty. ''Los Angeles Times'' 19 September 1966: C28.</ref>

Vitti starred with [[Marcello Mastroianni]] in [[Ettore Scola]]'s highly successful romantic comedy, ''Dramma della gelosia'' (''[[The Pizza Triangle]]'', 1970).{{cn|date<ref name=Februaryguardianobit 2022}}/> She followed it with ''[[Ninì Tirabusciò, la donna che inventò la mossa]]'' (1970),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[Le coppie]]'' (1970) with Sordi,{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[The Pacifist (film)|The Pacifist]]'' (1970),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[La supertestimone]]'' (1971),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[That's How We Women Are]]'' (1971),{{cn|date=February 2022}} and ''[[Gli ordini sono ordini|Orders Are Orders]]'' (1972).<ref>Beauty Bulletin: Monica Vitti: A Woman for All Seasons, ''Vogue''; New York Vol. 156, Iss. 9, (15 November 1970): 148, 149.</ref>

Vitti was in a version of ''[[La Tosca (1973 film)|La Tosca]]'' (1973)<ref name=treccani/> and in several comedies directed by [[Carlo Di Palma]], who was her partner for several years in the 1970s, beginning with ''[[Teresa the Thief]]'' (1973).<ref name=dipalma>{{cite book | access-date = 8 December 2022 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=6_vG0ocP_7UC&pg=PA115 | page =115 | title =The A to Z of Italian Cinema | first = Gino | last =Moliterno | date = 2009 | publisher = Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-7059-8 }}</ref> She made ''[[Polvere di stelle]]'' (1973), directed by [[Alberto Sordi]],<ref name=treccani/> for which she won the 1974 [[David di Donatello for Best Actress|David di Donatello award for Best Actress]].<ref>{{cncite news |last=Simpson |first=Victor L. |title='Queen of Italian cinema' Monica Vitti dies at age 90 |url=https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-movies-rome-michelangelo-antonioni-2de44337027e74034fabafc6193254b4 |newspaper=[[Associated Press]] |date=2 February 2022 |access-date=13 June 2024}}</ref>

Vitti played a key part in one of the vignettes in [[Luis Buñuel]]'s ''[[The Phantom of Liberty]]'' (1974).<ref>{{cite news | newspaper = The New York Times | first = Vincent | last = Canby | access-date = 7 December 2022 | date = 14 October 1974 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1974/10/14/archives/brilliantb-un-u-el-film-closes-12th-festivalthe-cast.html | title =Brilliant Bunuel Film Closes 12th Festival }}</ref> She did two films with [[Claudia Cardinale]], ''[[The Immortal Bachelor]]'' (1975)<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-immortal-bachelor-1980 | website = Roger Ebert |title =The Immortal Bachelor | date = 28 November 1980 | access-date = 7 December 2022}}</ref> and ''[[Blonde in Black Leather]]'' (1975).<ref name=dipalma/><ref>{{cite book | access-date = 7 December 2022 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=N-UGEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 | page = 170 | title = Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema| first =Gino | last =Moliterno |date= 2020 | publisher = Rowman and Littlefield | isbn=978-1-5381-1948-8 }}</ref>

She was in ''[[Duck in Orange Sauce]]'' (1975),<ref name=duck>{{cite book | access-date = 8 December 2022 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=6_vG0ocP_7UC&pg=PA389 | page =389 | title =The A to Z of Italian Cinema | first = Gino | last =Moliterno | date = 2009 | publisher = Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-7059-8 }}</ref> ''[[Mimì Bluette... fiore del mio giardino]]'' (1976),<ref name=dipalma/> ''[[Basta che non si sappia in giro!..]]'' (1977),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[L'altra metà del cielo]]'' (1977),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[State Reasons]]'' (1978),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[Il cilindro]]'' (1978, for television),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[Per vivere meglio, divertitevi con noi]]'' (1978),{{cn|date=February 2022}} ''[[Amori miei]]'' (1978),<ref name=amori>{{cite book | access-date = 8 December 2022 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=6_vG0ocP_7UC&pg=PA373 | page =373 | title =The A to Z of Italian Cinema | first = Gino | last =Moliterno | date = 2009 | publisher = Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-7059-8 }}</ref> and ''[[Tigers in Lipstick]]'' (1979) (with [[Ursula Andress]]).{{cn|date=February 2022}}

In 1989, Vitti tried writing and directing and created ''[[Scandalo Segreto]]'' (1990), in which she also starred alongside [[Elliott Gould]].<ref name="guard">Scandal, sex, lies and Vitti tapes: After a life in front of the camera, Monica Vitti has stepped behind it as director Vidal, John. ''The Guardian'' 11 May 1990: 36.</ref> The film was unsuccessful commercially and she then retired from cinema.{{cn|date<ref name=Februarynytobit 2022}}/> During the 1990s, she did television work, acting in the television miniseries ''[[:it:Ma tu mi vuoi bene?|Ma tu mi vuoi bene?]]'' (1992).<ref>{{cite web | website = British Film Institute | access-date = 7 December 2022 | url = https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7b61499a | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210419013737/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7b61499a | url-status = dead | archive-date = 19 April 2021 | title = MA TU MI VUOI BENE? (1992) }}</ref>

* [[David di Donatello for Best Actress]]: 1969 for ''The Girl with a Pistol'',<ref name=pistol>{{cite book | access-date = 8 December 2022 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=6_vG0ocP_7UC&pg=PA369 | page =369 | title =The A to Z of Italian Cinema | first = Gino | last =Moliterno | date = 2009 | publisher = Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-7059-8 }}</ref> 1971, 1974, 1976 for ''Duck in Orange Sauce'',<ref name=duck/> and 1979 for ''Amori miei''<ref name=amori/>

* Leone d'oro for Lifetime Achievement, 1995<ref>{{cite book | access-date = 8 December 2022 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=6_vG0ocP_7UC&pg=PA362 | page =362 | title =The A to Z of Italian Cinema | first = Gino | last =Moliterno | date = 2009 | publisher = Scarecrow Press | isbn=978-0-8108-7059-8 }}</ref>