To mark its 74th birthday, one of the world’s most famous film studios
is currently holding an exhibition, entitled Cinecittà si mostra,
which will, for the first time, open to the public the studio sets
where a roster of cinema masterworks were made, such as Federico
Fellini’s La
Dolce Vita (1959) and Luchino Visconti’s Death
in Venice (1971), in addition to international blockbusters like William
Wyler’s Ben
Hur (1959), Martin Scorsese’s Gangs
of New York (2002) and Francis Ford Coppola’s The
Godfather Part III (1989). During the studio’s history, more than 3,000 movies have
been made at Rome’s Cinecittà, 48 of which received an Oscar award
and 83 an Oscar nomination.
The
exhibit begins at the famed entrance in via Tuscolana and proceeds
through two of the studio’s historic buildings. The exhibit’s
first two rooms focus on costumes, models and sketches used in some
of the most famous movies filmed there, followed by a video
documentary on the post-production process and film editing. And
another film shows final clips from some of Cinecittà’s most
acclaimed motion products.
Other
areas of the exhibition cover the studio’s history, the work of
Federico Fellini and others who helped make Italian cinema history,
including the screen tests of a host of silver-screen stars. The
exhibit ends with an outdoor tour of some of Cinecittà’s most
famous movie sets.
The
Cinecittà studios were built during the Fascist era and opened by
Benito Mussolini in a 1937 ribbon-cutting celebration; he wanted to
revive Italian cinema, considering it ‘the strongest weapon of the
state.’
In
its early years, the Rome studios produced historical dramas and
propaganda films. It then became famous around the world during the
golden age of Italian cinema in the 1950s and 60s.
‘We
decided to develop the … exhibit to allow visitors to get to know
Cinecittà in person and to [create] a pilot project for a future
Museum of Cinema,’ said Cinecittà president Luigi Abete.
Cinecittà
si mostra
Cinecittà
studios
via
Tuscolana, Rome
Until
November 30, 2011
