Cinema Italia: "Hände über der Stadt" ("Le mani sulla città")

Cinema Italia! - the film selection in this week of Italian film presents Italy's artistically committed, contemporary filmmaking - and this classic on the tenth anniversary of Francesco Rosi's death:

HANDS OVER THE CITY - LE MANI SULLA CITTÀ

ITA 1963. D: Francesco Rosi. D: Rod Steiger, Salvo Randone, Guido Alberti. 105 min. ItalOmdtU. FSK: FSK: 12

Naples 1963: In the years of post-war reconstruction, the city is a chessboard for the games of corrupt politics and various power interests. Building contractor Edoardo Nottola (very impressive: Rod Steiger) speculates on a project to expand the city. During his company's construction work, a residential building collapses in a poor district of Naples. Following protests from the opposition, a commission of inquiry is set up in the city council, but its work comes to nothing. Nottora knows how to create allies. He has the entire district evacuated due to its dilapidation and even wants to be elected as head of the building department.
Francesco Rosi's famous film takes an exciting look behind the scenes at the ominous intertwining of economic and political power in Italy in the 1960s. Parallels with today are obvious. LE MANI SULLA CITTÁ won the Golden Lion at the 1963 Venice Film Festival and is on the list of the "100 Film italiani da salvare".

Francesco Rosi (Naples 1922 - Rome 2015) worked as an assistant director in the 1950s, including for Luchino Visconti on LA TERRA TREMA ("The Earth Trembles", 1948), BELLISSIMA (1951) and SENSO ("Longing", 1954). He made his directorial debut in 1958 with LA SFIDA ("The Challenge"). With SALVATORE GIULIANO ("Who Shot Salvatore G.?", 1961) and LE MANI SULLA CITTÀ ("Hands Over the City", 1963), for which he won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, he established himself as one of the most important directors of the post-war period. Among his subsequent films, which confirmed his commitment to politically engaged cinema, UOMINI CONTRO ("Battalion of the Lost", 1970) stands out, with which he began a fruitful collaboration with Gian Maria Volontè, who also played the leading roles in IL CASO MATTEI ("The Mattei Case", 1971), LUCKY LUCIANO (1973), CRISTO SI È FERMATO AD EBOLI ("Christ Only Came to Eboli", 1978), based on the novel by Carlo Levi, and TRE FRATELLI ("Three Brothers", 1981). His most recent films include CRONACA DI UNA MORTE ANNUNCIATA ("Chronicle of a Death Foretold", 1987), based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, DIMENTICARE PALERMO ("Forgetting Palermo", 1990) and LA TREGUA ("Breathing Space", 1996), based on the novel by Primo Levi. In 2008, he was awarded the Golden Bear for his life's work in Berlin and the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2012. He died in Rome on January 10, 2015.