The passion of Anna Magnani

An intimate portrait of the great Italian actress, a neorealism's emblem and a cinema icon: Anna's race in Rome open city, interrupted by the Nazis' gunfire, brings the lacerations of war to the attention of the whole world and becomes the symbol of a new idea of cinema that wants to express and represent what is real. Anna is unique and revolutionizes the representation of women in cinema, embodying a female model that is different from all the divas who have preceded her and from those who will come after. She is both an Italian icon and that of the real woman, in opposition to the fake one modeled on male desire. Thanks to her immense ability as an actor, Anna Magnani gives body to the realism of passions and feelings, inspiring great European and American cinema's directors: Roberto Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Jean Renoir, Sidney Lumet, Daniel Mann, George Cukor, Stanley Kramer. Hollywood, that awarded her the Oscar in 1956 (she is so far the only Italian actress to have won it with a film in the English language), will try to close her again in a stereotype that does not suit her exuberant and volcanic personality. A free woman, a single mother, Anna is deeply connected to Rome and to the "roman style" and lives friendships, love stories and passions with dangerous and vital intensity, bringing them into her art and embodying a unique style that is a mixture of originality and extraordinary modernity. In the film the author dialogues with the actress in an imaginary conversation that guides us through her cinematographic interpretations, her interviews, the proofs of the great characters who crossed her career and her son Luca's memories. Based on the creative use of archive material (including some from the family archive), the film contains an unreleased audio interview made to the actress by the writer and journalist Oriana Fallaci.

A production of: Les Films du Poisson, Zenit Arti Audiovisive and Arte France

In association with: Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
Written and directed by: Enrico Cerasuolo
Production year: 2019

Produced by: Massimo Arvat e Estelle Fialon
Edited by: Marco Duretti
Original Music: Cristiano Lo Mele
Photography: Marco Pasquini
Sound engineer: Angelo Marotta
Sound design: Adrien Françoise
Color correction: Eric Salleron
Archives producer: Ilaria Sbarigia
Production director: Aurélia Couturier
Production consultant: Francesca Portalupi
Text adaptation: Laurent Roth
Historical consultant: Matilde Hochkofler
Graphics: Carlo Zummo - VAN design studio
Legal consultant: Avv. Elisa Vittone - VPM Legal - Avvocati Associati Mouthuy Avocats

With: Luca Magnani