Dino Risi, 1916 - 2008.

Italian film director Dino Risi, who chronicled the bittersweet and lighter side of Italy's post-war economic boom, died on Saturday....

Among his most famous films were Poveri ma Belli (Poor Girl, Pretty Girl) and Il Sorpasso (The Easy Life). His 1974 film Profumo di Donna (Scent of a Woman), won two Oscar nominations....

He was one of the directors who helped advance the careers of stars such as Sophia Loren and the late Vittorio Gassman.

Philip Pullella, Reuters.

See also: Wikipedia, in English and Italian, and YouTube.

Update, 6/9: Risi directed "some of the sharpest and most widely seen comedies of the postwar era," writes Dave Kehr in the New York Times. "In the early 1950s, Italian cinema was turning away from the politically charged movement known as neorealism, with its harsh, documentary-like depiction of daily life. Adding an element of sentimentality and comedy, Mr Risi joined a group of filmmakers who at first were condemned with the label 'rose-colored neorealism,' but quickly earned the affection of an Italian public eager to put war trauma in the past."

Posted by dwhudson at June 7, 2008 7:06 AM