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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".
Vitti won five David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress, seven Italian Golden Globes for Best Actress, the Career Golden Globe, and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award.
Vitti's first widely noted performance was at 26, in Mario Amendola's Le dritte (1958) with Franco Fabrizi. She was in the TV movie Il borghese gentiluomo (1959).Features/Articles/People: Monica Vitti. Walter, Eugene. Vogue; New York Vol. 147, Iss. 4, (15 February 1966): 122, 123, 124, 125, 155.
Vitti received critical praise for her starring roles in the Antonioni film La Notte ( Night, 1961), with Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni. Vitti starred in a TV movie Le notti bianche (1962), then did a third with Antonioni, L'Eclisse (1962) with Alain Delon.Houston, Penelope. "The Eclipse". Sight and Sound; London Vol. 32, Iss. 2 (Spring 1963): 90.
Vitti was one of many stars in an anthology movie, Three Fables of Love (1962). She had a cameo in Sweet and Sour (1963) and played the lead in a comedy for Roger Vadim, Nutty, Naughty Chateau (1963). Vitti was then in another anthology film High Infidelity (1964) and made a fourth with Antonioni, Il Deserto Rosso ( Red Desert, 1964), with Richard Harris. 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."In the Red Desert Manceaux, Michele. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 33, Iss. 3, (Summer 1964): 118. After Vitti's relationship with Antonioni ended, the two did not work together again until The Mystery of Oberwald (1980).
Vitti starred in a comedy for Tinto Brass, The Flying Saucer (1964), and appeared in the anthology, Le bambole (1964).
She performed in the anthology movie The Queens (1966), a television series Les fables de La Fontaine (1966), Kill Me Quick, I'm Cold (1967) with Jean Sorel, and I Married You for Fun (1967).
Vitti appeared in On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... (1967) with Tony Curtis, The Girl with a Pistol (1968) with Stanley Baker, The Bitch Wants Blood (1969) with Maurice Ronet, and Help Me, My Love (1969) with Alberto Sordi.Movie Call Sheet: Columbia to Film 'Gorgeous'. Martin, Betty. Los Angeles Times 19 September 1966: C28.
Vitti was in a version of La Tosca (1973) 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). She made Polvere di stelle (1973), directed by Alberto Sordi, for which she won the 1974 David di Donatello award for Best Actress.
Vitti played a key part in one of the vignettes in Luis Buñuel's The Phantom of Liberty (1974). She did two films with Claudia Cardinale, The Immortal Bachelor (1975) and Blonde in Black Leather (1975).
She was in Duck in Orange Sauce (1975), Mimì Bluette... fiore del mio giardino (1976), Basta che non si sappia in giro!.. (1977), L'altra metà del cielo (1977), State Reasons (1978), Il cilindro (1978, for television), Per vivere meglio, divertitevi con noi (1978), Amori miei (1978), and Tigers in Lipstick (1979) (with Ursula Andress).
Vitti's second English-language film was An Almost Perfect Affair (1979), directed by Michael Ritchie and co-starring Keith Carradine, which was set during the Cannes Film Festival.OF PIRATES AND PERRIER. Rosenfield, Paul. Los Angeles Times 26 August 1979: m1. A New York Times article from that period reported Vitti had resisted starring in American films as she did not like long travel, especially by air, and believed that her English was not of a high enough standard.At the Movies: Monica Vitti working again on a project with Antonioni. Buckley, Tom. The New York Times, 11 May 1979: C6. Indeed, such was her aversion to travelling from Europe that Paramount Pictures was apparently forced to cancel the first leg of a publicity tour organised in the US to promote the release of An Almost Perfect Affair.If Vanessa talks Trotsky, Timothy trots. Adams Sloan, Robin. Detroit Free Press 16 April 1979: 11B.
In 1989, Vitti tried writing and directing and created Scandalo Segreto (1990), in which she also starred alongside Elliott Gould.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. The film was unsuccessful commercially and she then retired from cinema. During the 1990s, she did television work, acting in the television miniseries Ma tu mi vuoi bene? (1992).
In 1993, Vitti was awarded the Festival Tribute at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival in France.
1970s
Vitti starred with Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's highly successful romantic comedy, Dramma della gelosia ( The Pizza Triangle, 1970). She followed it with Ninì Tirabusciò, la donna che inventò la mossa (1970), Man and Wife (1970) with Sordi, The Pacifist (1970), La supertestimone (1971), That's How We Women Are (1971), and Orders Are Orders (1972).Beauty Bulletin: Monica Vitti: A Woman for All Seasons, Vogue; New York Vol. 156, Iss. 9, (15 November 1970): 148, 149.
Later career
Vitti reunited with Antonioni in The Mystery of Oberwald ( Il mistero di Oberwald, 1980). She followed it with I Don't Understand You Anymore (1980), Camera d'albergo (1981), Tango of Jealousy (1981), I Know That You Know That I Know (1982) with Sordi, Scusa se è poco (1982), Flirt (1983), and Francesca è mia (1986). She also co-wrote the last two films. In 1984, France awarded her the Order of Arts and Letters. French Culture Minister Jack Lang praised her for helping spur a renewal of Italian films: "We need Italian cinema to find its health again so that French cinema will not remain an island in the middle of other European countries," Lang said. On 26 January 1995, she was raised to the rank of Commander of that Order. By 1986, Vitti had returned to the theatre as an actress and teacher.
Personal life and death
Antonioni and Vitti met in the late 1950s, and their relationship grew stronger after L'Avventura was made, because it had shaped both their careers. By the late 1960s, they ceased working on films, making the relationship strained until it officially ended. In a later interview, Vitti stated that Antonioni ended their relationship. For several years in the 1970s her partner was Carlo Di Palma, best known as a cinematographer though she starred in three films he directed. In 2000, Vitti married Roberto Russo, with whom she had been in a relationship since 1973. She made her last public appearance in 2002 when she attended the Paris premiere of the stage musical Notre-Dame de Paris. In 2011, it was disclosed that Alzheimer's disease had "removed her from the public gaze for the last 15 years". In 2018, her husband confirmed she was still living at home with him in Rome and that he looked after her with the assistance of a caregiver. Vitti died of complications from Dementia with Lewy bodies disease in Rome on 2 February 2022, at the age of 90.
Awards
Filmography
1954 Laugh! Laugh! Laugh! Maria Teresa Uncredited 1955 Adriana Lecouvreur 1956 Una pelliccia di visone Luisa Panetti 1958 Le dritte Ofelia Granelli 1960 L'Avventura Claudia Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Revelation
Golden Grail for Best Actress
Nominated—BAFTA for Best Foreign Actress
Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress1961 La Notte Valentina Gherardini Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress 1962 L'Eclisse Vittoria Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1962 Three Fables of Love Madeleine (segment "Le lièvre et le tortue")
Golden Plate1963 Sweet and Sour Elle 1963 Nutty, Naughty Chateau Eleanore Falsen 1963 Follie d'estate Maria Teresa (archive footage) 1964 High Infidelity Gloria (segment "La sospirosa")
Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress1964 Red Desert Giuliana Golden Grail for Best Actress 1964 Il disco volante Dolores 1965 Le bambole Giovanna (segment "La minestra") 1966 Modesty Blaise Modesty Blaise 1966 Sex Quartet Sabina (segment "Fata Sabina")
Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress1967 Kill Me Quick, I'm Cold Giovanna 1967 I Married You for Fun Giuliana Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Golden Grail for Best Actress
Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress1967 On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... Boccadoro 1968 The Girl with the Pistol Assunta Patanè David di Donatello for Best Actress
Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress
Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
Golden Grail for Best Actress1969 The Scarlet Lady Eva 1969 Help Me, My Love Raffaella Macchiavelli Golden Grail for Best Actress (also for The Pizza Triangle ) 1970 The Pizza Triangle Adelaide Ciafrocchi Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1970 Maria Sarti / Ninì Tirabusciò David di Donatello for Best Actress
Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress (also for The Pizza Triangle )1970 Man and Wife Adele
Giulia(segment "Il frigorifero")
(segment "Il leone")1970 The Pacifist Barbara 1971 La Supertestimone Isolina Pantò Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1971 That's How We Women Are Orchestra Member
Zoe
Annunziata
Teresa
Alberta
Eliana
Katherine
Erika
Palmira
Agata
Laura
Fulvia(segment "Una giornata lavorativa")
(segment "Romantica")
(segment "Mamma")
(segment "Schiava d'amore")
(segment "Il mondo cammina")
(segment "Vietnam")
(segment "Et Dominus venit")
(segment "La motocicletta")
(segment "Cuore di padrone")
(segment "L'angolo dei cieli")
(segment "L'allumeuse")
(segment "Chiamate Roma 21-21")1972 Gli ordini sono ordini Giorgia 1973 La Tosca Floria Tosca Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1973 Teresa the Thief Teresa Numa Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1973 Polvere di stelle Dea Dani David di Donatello for Best Actress 1974 The Phantom of Liberty Mme Foucaud / Mrs. Foucauld 1975 The Immortal Bachelor Tina Candela 1975 Blonde in Black Leather Miele 1975 Duck in Orange Sauce Lisa Stefani David di Donatello for Best Actress
Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress1976 Mimì Bluette... fiore del mio giardino Mimì Bluette 1976 Basta che non si sappia in giro Armanda
Lia(segment "Macchina d'amore")
(segment "L'equivoco")1977 L'altra metà del cielo Susanna Maccaluso Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1978 State Reasons Angela Ravelli 1978 Amori miei Anna Lisa Bianchi David di Donatello for Best Actress 1978 Per vivere meglio, divertitevi con noi Valentina Contarini (segment "Un incontro molto ravvicinato") 1979 Tigers in Lipstick Maria / The Prostitute 1979 An Almost Perfect Affair Maria Barone 1980 The Mystery of Oberwald The Queen 1980 I Don't Understand You Anymore Luisa 1981 Camera d'albergo Flaminia Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1981 Il tango della gelosia Lucia 1982 I Know That You Know That I Know Livia Bonetti 1982 Scusa se è poco Renata Adorni / Grazia Siriani 1983 Flirt Laura Silver Bear
Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
Nominated—David di Donatello for Best Actress
Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress1986 Francesca è mia Francesca 1989 Secret Scandal Margherita / wife Italian Golden Globe for the Best First Feature
Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress
Nominated—David di Donatello for Best New Director
Television
Further reading
External links
Categories: 1931 Births, 2022 Deaths, 20th-century Italian Actresses, Italian Film Actresses, Italian Stage Actresses, Italian Television Actresses, Actresses From Rome, Accademia Nazionale Di Arte Drammatica Silvio D'amico Alumni, Commandeurs Of The Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres, David Di Donatello Winners, Nastro D'argento Winners, Ciak D'oro Winners, Deaths From Dementia In Italy, Deaths From Alzheimer's Disease, People Of Emilian Descent, Golden Lion For Lifetime Achievement Recipients
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