Bellissima | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Luchino Visconti |
Written by |
Cesare Zavattini Suso Cecchi d'Amico Francesco Rosi Luchino Visconti |
Starring |
Anna Magnani Walter Chiari Tina Apicella Gastone Renzelli Tecla Scarano Arturo Bragaglia Alessandro Blasetti |
Music by | Franco Mannino, inspired by Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore |
Cinematography | Piero Portalupi |
Edited by | Mario Serandrei |
Release date
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27 December 1951 |
Running time
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115 minutes {release version} |
Country | Italy |
Language | Italian |
Bellissima (1951) is an Italian neorealism film by Italian director Luchino Visconti. The film, which is a satire of the film industry, was shot at the Cinecittà studios. Alessandro Blasetti, a contemporary film director, appears as himself. Bellissima is the only feature film in Visconti's oeuvre with a predominantly comic tone.
Bellissima centers on a working-class mother in Rome, Maddalena (Anna Magnani), who drags her young daughter (Tina Apicella) to Cinecittà to attend an audition for a new film by Alessandro Blasetti. Maddalena is a stage mother who loves movies and whose efforts to promote her daughter grow increasingly frenzied.