Ermanno Olmi
The film is the personal story of a protagonist of our times and traces Carlo Martini's actions and thoughts, as he has remained faithful to its vocation and ideals. Through dramatic events (terrorism, Tangentopoli, labor crisis, conflict, loneliness) Carlo Martini interpreted losses and concerns of the people, who saw a free man and a non dogmatic prince of the Gospel Church. Thanks to the authenticity of his testimony he has been a reference point for believers and non-believers, a prophet of hope, a forerunner of Pope Francis.
World War I, Italian north-eastern front after the 1917 bloody battles on the Altipiano. A group of soldiers face the difficulty of war in a story that unfolds in the space of one night. Events follow one after the other without any kind of pattern: the peaceful mountains suddenly become a place where men die. But every story told in this film is a true story.
Made for the Venice Film Festival's 70th anniversary, seventy filmmakers made a short film between 60 and 90 seconds long on their interpretation of the future of cinema.
When a group of African immigrants builds a cardboard village between the pews of a church soon to be closed, an elderly priest must choose between his calling and his orders.
Vittorio stops to help Kate when her car breaks down on a mountain road. When they meet again, Vittorio discovers that Kate has rejoined a circus after a long time away. He begins to learn about the troupe's buried past and Kate's connection to it, while experiencing the magic of the circus.
Ermanno Olmi has returned to documentary filmmaking and makes a journey through valleys, living rocks and the culture of the Valtellina hillsides.
An Italian professor seeks refuge in the quiet, peaceful ruins of an old building.
A train travels across Italy toward Rome. On board is a professor who daydreams a conversation with a love that never was, a family of Albanian refugees who switch trains and steal a ticket, three brash Scottish soccer fans en route to a match, and a complaining widow traveling to a memorial service for her late husband who's accompanied by a community-service volunteer who's assisting her. Interactions among these Europeans turn on class and nationalism, courtesy and rudeness, and opportunities for kindness.
A young man enters a brothel and sees a staged narration of a Chinese folk tale concerning a female pirate.
In autumn of 1526, the Emperor, Charles V, sends his German landsknechts led by Georg von Frundsberg to march towards Rome. The inferior papal armies, commanded by Giovanni de'Medici, try to chase them in the midst of a harsh winter. Nevertheless, the Imperial armies manage to cross the rivers along their march and get cannons thanks to the maneuvers of its Lords. In a skirmish, Giovanni de'Medici is wounded in the leg by a falconet shot. The attempts to cure him fail and he dies. The Imperial armies assault Rome. The film is beautifully but unassumingly set, and shows the hard conditions in which war is waged and its lack of glory. It ends straightforwardly with the declaration made after the death of Giovanni de'Medici by the commanders of the armies in Europe of not using again fire weapons because of their cruelty.
An all-enveloping darkness. Suddenly, a child's voice, frightened, questioning, pierces the darkness... The first flickering rays of light begin to sculpt mysterious shapes out of the darkness ... Among them, a very old man. He reassures the child, exhorting him to see the wonders of the earth. And it is with this child's eyes that we will witness the creation of the world.
It tells the story of a general who is about to cut down an old forest for the sake of financial gain, but discovers that the forest is inhabited by invisible spirits
In the 18th Century, in Bohemia, a government surveyor meet a priest during a lunch and remained intrigued by him. Years later, in a stony valley, the two men meet again and form a deep friendship.
Promotional omnibus film, made for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, featuring portraits of 12 Italian cities.
Andreas Kartak, a homeless man living under the bridges of Paris is lent 200 francs by a stranger as long as he promises to repay it to a local church when he can afford to. Kartak is determined to pay back his debt but circumstances, and his alcoholism, forever intervene.
The Lady (or Signora) of the title is a mysterious matron who lives in a crumbling mansion. Six catering trainees are brought to the castle upon its conversion into a resort hotel. They are ordered to prepare a special meal for the old lady, whom none of them have ever seen for more than an instant. As the caterers grow in wisdom and sophistication, we learn that the lady may very well be an urbane ghost rather than a flesh-and-blood entity.
Italian maestro Ermanno Olmi tells the tale of the journey of the Magi in this lyrical odyssey. The film focuses on a wise man who interprets his sighting of a comet streaking through the sky as a spiritual message. Joined by two associates, soldiers, villagers and others, the Magi sets out on a journey that tests his beliefs and strength.
Documentary about Italian film director Ermanno Olmi, with emphasis on "The Tree of Wooden Clogs".
The life inside a farm in Italy at the beginning of the century. Many poor country families live there, and the owner pays them by their productivity. One of the families has a very clever child. They decide to send him to school instead of make him help them, although this represents a great sacrifice. The boy has to wake up very early and walk several miles to get to the school. One day the boy's shoes break when returning home, but they do not have money to buy other. What can they do?
Laura, a woman of a certain age with full grown children who, by all indications should be leading a great life, but actually, she appears to have none. She comes from a wealthy family. Laura has made herself a lawyer with a nice practice. Her placid existence comes to an abrupt stop when a young motorcyclist suffers an accident almost in front o her. Laura is made to take the youth to the hospital. The incident will change the way she looks at things. Laura becomes obsessed with the young man that was almost killed.
Via the Chicago Reader: "After World War II an Italian soldier returns to his hometown near the Alps and, unable to find a job, hooks up with a crotchety hermit who scavenges buried shells and bombs for scrap metal."
A self-assured, middle-aged advertising executive has his life upset by an unforeseen accident.
Broadcast on RAI television in 1967, this charming featurette about a teenage boy’s first crush on a girl reveals director Ermanno Olmi’s love and respect for the dilemmas of everyday people, along with an early example of the kind of stylistic and narrative experimentation seen in his later work.
Based on the diary Pope John XXIII kept between the ages of 14 and 18, his lifelong concern for tolerance, the underprivileged, and world peace is told. Rod Steiger, in the central role, acts as "intermediary" between the Pope and the audience, interpreting John's words, thoughts and actions. Steiger visits the actual places in which John lived, recreating the conditions, environment, and forces that affected his development. Through this unusual technique, we are brought close to an extraordinary man - one who's able to win the love of many people of all faiths.
A young man has a renewed interest in his girlfriend when he takes a job that separates the two.
Luchino Visconti's nephew's debut, also awarded at the Venice Film Festival. Detailing the title and translating: 'A (n upper middle-class love) story set in the italian town if Milan (at the beginning of the '60s)'
With his family mired in financial troubles, Domenico moves to Milan, Italy, from his small town to get a job in lieu of furthering his education. A lack of options forces him to take a position as a messenger at a big company, where he hopes to receive a promotion soon. There, Domenico meets Antonietta, a young woman in a similar situation as himself. The two form a tentative relationship, but the soulless nature of their jobs threatens to keep them apart.
Two middle-aged men work as caretakers on an isolated dam construction site high in the snow-capped Italian Alps. When one of them leaves for the valley to spend Christmas vacation with his family he is temporarily replaced with an adolescent boy. The other man is both annoyed and intrigued by the boy and his habits: he listens to loud music, sleeps too long in the mornings and doesn't drink any alcohol. They barely speak to one another in the first couple of days. But when an avalanche cuts their small hut from electricity they slowly start growing more fond of each other.
Next to the Venice of canals, palaces and squares, in Marghera there is a modern Venice made up of factories and industries.
"Documentary, showing workmen erecting one of the pylons and stringing up three cables which will eventually reach to Milan." - BFI
At the end of the war, he was hired by Edison and in 1951 he made a film on all the important hydroeletrical plants built in that period. In the following years, Olmi directed around 40 documentaries, including La diga del ghiacciaio, Pattuglia di Passo San Giacomo, Tre fili fino a Milano, Michelino 1aB (written by Goffredo Parise), Manon finestra 2 and Grigio (whose screenplay was written by Pier Paolo Pasolini).
This documentary shows the construction of a high-altitude dam by the Sabbioni Glacier, and the daily struggles of the workers, now anxious for the outbreak of a mine, now silent for the nostalgia of the distant family.
An accidental interruption of the S. Giacomo Electric Line requires the intervention of a team of specialized technicians. The short movie follows these men to the place of intervention, dwelling on the beautiful snow-capped landscapes and the local inhabitants engaged in their daily activities.
A conversation between a salesman of calendars and his costumer, who makes him several questions before considering buying one of his offers.
After a big flood some Calabrian children are sent to Milan.
