Gli Indifferenti (Francesco Masseli, 1964)

[Dylan]

Another rare Italian film. This is a 1964 adaptation of Alberto Moravia's novel, starring Claudia Cardinale, Rod Steiger, and Shelly Winters, cinematography by Gianni Di Venanzo, edited by Ruggero Mastroianni, and music by Giovanni Fusco. That's quite a line-up there.

I haven't read the novel, but the summary follows:

A penniless countess falls in love with a cad, unaware that he is also involved on the side with her beautiful daughter.

This has been released on DVD by 20th Century Fox Italy, but with no subs:





Cardinale...

Has anybody seen it? How about Masseli's other films?

[jesus the mexican boi]

Hummunuh, hummunuh. Claudia Cardinale looks gorgeous in this. She is really kind of the unsung Italian cinema goddess, as far as I'm concerned. Certainly one of the great faces of the era.

[Dylan]

Absolutely! Great, beautiful actress. I'd venture to say that the picture I posted is the best she's ever looked, which is really saying something. A shame this, "Senilita," and "Sandra" (among countless others) aren't available...the latter two not even in Italy on any format. At least "Il Bell Antonio," which sounds like a lot of fun, was released on VHS here (though I've never seen it).

But back to "Indifferenti," all of Moravia's work seems to translate spectacularly well for film, so I'm very curious about this one.

[Dylan]

I know this is a long shot, but, as with my thread on Senilita, its been nearly two years.

Does anybody know of a release of Gli Indifferenti in any Region with English subtitles (or any other releases aside from the Italian R2)? Has anybody here ever seen it, or any of Masseli's films?

[rohmerin]

I own Gli sbandati, Maselli's 1955 film with Lucia Bosè but I've not seen it.

I've seen a couple of lost MORAVIA adaptations, La provinciale and La romana, both starred by Gina Lollobrigida, and I suppose this Indiferenti will be more on the same way. I like Moravia.

I have to download Gli indiferenti. No subtitles I need. 8-)

I bought in Rome the dvd of Amore in città, Maselli's work with Zavatini -titles Storia di Caterina- is the best episode of the film (a whole masterpiece for me). It'll be released on dvd in Uk this winter.

[Dylan]

Thanks for the reply!

I own Gli sbandati, Maselli's 1955 film with Lucia Bosè but I've not seen it.

Lucia Bosè's great. Be sure to post about this once you've seen it.

I've seen a couple of lost MORAVIA adaptations, La provinciale and La romana, both starred by Gina Lollobrigida, and I suppose this Indiferenti will be more on the same way.

Gina Lollobrigida. =P~ What did you think of those?

I like Moravia

Me too, I've read several of his novels now and they're all great. He's sort of a dense and deeply philosophical combination of Updike and Bertolucci, and his works have inspired me quite a lot. Indiferenti is no exception.

Meanwhile, a google image search revealed something - Gli Indifferenti did get a VHS release in America from (of all companies!) Goodtimes Home Video (the transfer is likely horrid and dubbed into English, but still, better than nothing). So...it's in the public domain?



I guess the R2 Fox release (not subtitled) is out of print, because Cristaldi released a new edition two months ago, but again with no English subtitles. Drat!

I have to download Gli indiferenti. No subtitles I need.

When you watch it definitely let us know what you think. Also, if you by any chance stumble across a version with English subtitles, PM me 8-)

I bought in Rome the dvd of Amore in città, Maselli's work with Zavatini -titles Storia di Caterina- is the best episode of the film (a whole masterpiece for me). It'll be released on dvd in Uk this winter.

The Italian release also has English subtitles (the extras are also subtitled, I believe). I'm definitely interested in this, too, and by the way the Fellini segment here is the only thing by him I haven't seen (aside from Voice of the Moon).

[rohmerin]

La romana was a very dissappointing adaptation. It wad directed by Luigi Zampa (i love his comedies) but this one, you know how drama is, is too short and I never felt the fascism where the 30's the action is set. Lollobrigida, Rome, the outfits, all were very 50's. Poor adaptation. 800 pages in less than 90 minutes. No way! And, it was a bad print, I mean, dowloaded. If you can understand Spanish, you're lucky, all, and I mean, ALL is avalaible you know where, in Spanish or Italian-languages.


La provinciale, is the opposite to La romana. Great melodrama, close to Madame Bovary. My boyfriend didn't love but I did and I enjoyed it. It's a Mario Soldati film, the only one I've seen untill now from this regista. I liked all: the plot, the acting, the flashbacks structures, i mean, all. Sadly, I saw it dubbed into Spanish. Fuck ! It was like a film noir with the past told by several carachters, but it's a 100% melodrama.

Both films were on DVD in Italy but I don't know if they have got subt. or not.

The Fellini episode i Amore in città is great too. But nothing can be compared to Maselli's and Zavatini`s. I mean, Caterina's story is like Bicicle Thieves. It's so human, so moving, so perct... that I was completely shocked.

I have to read Agostino. I own it..but...

Lucia Bosè lives here since 1955 s but she's more known as "celebrity" than as actress. If you can see the masterpiece she did (dubbed) in Spain, Muerte de un ciclista, do it, because it's a great film.

[Dylan]

If you can understand Spanish, you're lucky, all, and I mean, ALL is avalaible you know where, in Spanish or Italian-languages.

Someday (we're talking several years from now) I hope to be fluent in Italian since I wish to live in Italy by my late twenties or early thirties. Among a thousand other things, that will open up the floodgates for my ongoing exploration into Italian cinema, since there's no way every Italian masterpiece from the '50s and '60s (both known and unknown) will be available with English subtitles in my (or anybody's) lifetime.

If you come across Senilita by any chance on one of these sites you speak of (subtitled or not), let me know.

La provinciale, is the opposite to La romana. Great melodrama, close to Madame Bovary. My boyfriend didn't love but I did and I enjoyed it. It's a Mario Soldati film, the only one I've seen untill now from this regista. I liked all: the plot, the acting, the flashbacks structures, i mean, all. Sadly, I saw it dubbed into Spanish. Fuck ! It was like a film noir with the past told by several carachters, but it's a 100% melodrama.

Sounds awesome!

If you can see the masterpiece she did (dubbed) in Spain, Muerte de un ciclista, do it, because it's a great film.

I'll watch anything with her, but this in particular sounds very interesting. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

[Cold Bishop]

I'll watch anything with her, but this in particular sounds very interesting. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Owned by Janus and shown on TCM during their anniversary, I may add.

[rohmerin]

Happy new year!

For finishing 2007, I saw Gli sbandati, and it was a great goodbye because the film is excellent. A short (75 min) tale in WWII, the famous 1943 summer with the change of pro-Nazi to anti-Nazi side. A selfish Countess (Isa Miranda) and her soon, the count, host a family of refugees from Milano. Lovely Lucia Bosé, she's like an Audrey Hepburn poorly dressed. Beautiful cinematography. Plot close to Moravia and his psychological conflicts.

The Spanish subtitles were from Latin America, so, may be, there are in English too. I'm lucky because, you know, half Argentina is from Italy, their origins, I mean, and there's a good group of film-buff translators.
But the Italian they use in the movie is very easy and clear. I think you can understand the picture without big problems. I only had to read subt. a couple of times.

I expect today or tomorrow Indifferenti will end on its download.

Some stills from the divx.

Edit: I forgot to say that I now own La ragazza di Bube, a 1963 Luigi Comencini film with Cardinale and George Chakiris. The images in black and white are good, I mean, the downloaded print is excellent. No subtitles. When I can see it, I'll comment it.

Ciao.

[Awesome Welles]

I've been quite intrigued by Maselli, I have been wanting to see more Gian Maria Volonté films for a long time and Il Sospetto with a script by Maselli and Franco Solinas is enough to get me excited.

A quick search indicates there is very little from Maselli in Italy, though with Mafioso coming from Criterion and Rocco and His Brothers coming from MoC let's hope it's the year for the Italians! I did send Criterion an email request for a Volonté Eclipse box so let's hope something even close will arise soon enough.

[rohmerin]

Not seen yet, but today, I've watched a recent 2005 documentary about Cardinale's life and her career, made by RAI that it's includded in the new 2 discs Spanish Gattopardo edition that one friend bought to me.

Not very interesting except the archive Visconti's Gattopardo filming neewsreels... but there was two sequences from Gli indifferenti and La ragazza di Bube (film that waits to be watched for months in my house).

On the doc, we can see a film test with a 17 years old C.C in Cinecitta and her peculiar voice. A lot of arcjhive interviews, premieres, etc both in Europe or NY. Not a word about Leone ! And I don't like C.C self thoughts about her career and because she prefers the second part of her life to the 1st with Cristaldi and all, all those masterpieces she did. She left Cristaldi for a newcomer art house filmmaker. I've not seen any of her husband's films, but they don't look like clever. That was my impression-

The Cardinale dvd I did see and I did buy was "Il bell'Antonio" by Mauro Bolognini, and yes, yes, it's beautiful sad moral tale with a gorgeous dark contrast cinematograophy masterpiece with beautiful score, great, and I say great interpretations by all the cast and a good, excellent story. It's like Pietro Germi's Sicilia double hipocresy and moral, but no comedy. It's a drama, and what a drama ! Has anyone seen it ?

It's on a restored dvd here in Spain, but no English subtitles.

[ellipsis7]

Just to note Maselli's GLI INDIFFERENTI & I DELFINI are out in Italy from Cristaldi DVD with Italian subs since late 2007...

[rohmerin]

New Year (again, curious). I have just re-wateched Gli Sbandati DVD, with a 25 minutes interview to Masseli, where He talks about how Moravia was THE influence for him and all his young generation: teens with the late Fascism years, very young film makers in the mid 50's. He confess that first making Indifferenti, the male novel Moravia's protagonist was the inspiration for both main characters in Sbandati and I delfini: coward, spoilt, annoiato.

I watched I delfini for first time a couple of weeks ago and I think it's his masterpiece. Extraordinary radiography of life in a provincial small town. There's not the humor as in Germi's Signore e signori, here is full with cruelty. I read somewhere it was like La dolce vita in province. I disagree: it's the new Vitelloni but with money, decadence, cruelty and corruption. I am and I live in a small town and I love all this Italian provincial portraits.

[ellipsis7]

A great Maselli package is the OOP NoShame Open Letter to the Evening News (1970) which also includes the more recent Fragments of the 20th Century...