The ANNOTICO Report
Thanks to H-ITAM, Dominic Candeloro, Editor

"The Four Days of Naples" will be shown on TCM , Sunday, February, 27 ,
2005 at  5:00 AM  ET!!!
2:00 AM Pacific Time. Check your TV Listings.( Check also TNT or TBS)
As Part of  "31 Days of OSCARS".

I was unsuccessful in "googling", or searching in Amazon, or Barnes and
Noble for VHS or DVD copies.

To have such a Heroic Episode of the "People's Resistance" in Italy be so
UNavailable is SAD.

That which Denigrates Italy or Italian Americans is Widely Distributed.
That which Reflects Positively is difficult to find or view!!!!!

"The Four Days of Naples" was released in the U.S. in March 1963 and was
well received.
 "Le Quattro Giornate di Napoli" is the original Title in Italian.

Bosley Crowther of  The NEW YORK TIMES wrote: "Almost every shot in every
sequence is packed
with eloquence and meaning. Dozens of them lacerate in the senses and
remain etched in memory [...]"

VARIETY described it as "one of the major Italian achievements of the year.
Pic is one of [the] most moving, rousing epics of resistance against Nazism
seen in a long time."

TIME called it "the best battle movie made in Italy since Open City [1945]
and Paisan [1946]."

VIEW THE 2 MINUTE TRAILER AT:
<< http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/
Multimedia/Popup/0,,9857,00.html >>
On Real Player, or Windows Media

Turner Classics
Sunday, February, 27 , 2005 at 5:00 AM !!!

Synopsis: When General Badoglio of the Italian Army signs an armistice with
the Allies on September 8, 1943, the German Wehrmacht rejects the truce and
occupies the city of Naples. In retribution, the Germans publicly execute
an innocent sailor and round up the male inhabitants of the city for
deportation to German labor camps. However, starting on September 28 the
people of Naples organize a four-day rebellion against the Germans in an
attempt to drive them out of the city. Ordinary people from all walks of
life become heroes in the Resistance.

The Four Days of Naples (1962), based on historical events, is unusual as
an example of a film in which the protagonist could be said to be the
masses, not unlike Soviet films such as Sergei Eisenstein's "The Battleship
Potemkin" (1925); the original Italian credits even omit the usual cast
listing. While the film does follow the individual stories of several
characters over the course of the film, we do not know in the beginning
which of them will live or die, nor what their ultimate significance will
be in the events to come.

However, the film does in fact include quite a few notable Italian actors,
including: Lea Massari, best known for L'Avventura (1960) and Murmur of the
Heart (1971); Gian Maria Volonte, who later appeared in A Fistful of
Dollars (1964) and Christ Stopped at Eboli (1979); Aldo Giuffre, best known
stateside for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966); and the American-born
Frank Wolff, who appeared in Salvatore Giuliano (1962) and Once Upon a Time
in the West (1968).

The real star of the film, however, is its direction and its striking
black-and-white cinematography. While some sources describe the film as
having a "newsreel" style, in fact the direction is very polished, with
dynamic and carefully designed compositions and camera movements
throughout. One particularly effective technique is its use of the
telephoto lens to pick out the faces of nameless individuals in crowds. The
expressive faces at times recall Eisenstein's use of non-professional
actors in Potemkin, though of course it is also one of the defining
features of Italian cinema as a whole.

 The director, Nanni (Giovanni) Loy (1925-1995), is probably best known for
"Where's Picone?" (1984), a black comedy on organized crime in Naples
starring Giancarlo Giannini. Born in Sardinia, he earned a law degree
before studying film at the Centro Sperimantale di Cinematografia in Rome.
After" The Four Days of Naples" Loy worked for a few years in television,
directing a Candid Camera-type show. He later directed vehicles for the
popular Italian actor Nino Manfredi, among them "The Head of the Family"
(1969), "Operation Snafu" (1970) and "Cafe Express" (1980). He also taught
directing at the Centro Sperimentale. The gifted cinematographer Marcello
Gatti (b. 1924) has collaborated with Roman Polanski in "What?" (1972) and
with Gillo Pontecorvo in "Burn!" (1969), Operation Ogre (1980) and above
all, "The Battle of Algiers" (1965).

"The Four Days of Naples" was released in the U.S. in March 1963 and was
well received on the whole. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote:
"Almost every shot in every sequence is packed with eloquence and meaning.
Dozens of them lacerate in the senses and remain etched in memory [...]"
Variety described it as "one of the major Italian achievements of the year.
Pic is one of [the] most moving, rousing epics of resistance against Nazism
seen in a long time." Time called it "the best battle movie made in Italy
since Open City [1945] and Paisan [1946]." However, Stanley Kaufman of The
New Republic was less convinced: "The film conforms so closely to Loy's
idea of audience expectations that we sit back and watch it trying to tug
heartstrings." The Four Days of Naples was nominated for Best Foreign
Language Film (1962) and Best Original Screenplay (1963).

Producer: Goffredo Lombardo
Director: Nanni Loy
Screenplay: Carlo Bernari, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa and
Nanni Loy
Photography: Marcello Gatti
Editor: Ruggero Mastroianni
Set Decorations: Gianni Polidori
Music: Carlo Rustichelli
Cast: Regina Bianchi (Concetta Capuozzo); Aldo Giuffre (Pitrella); Lea
Massari (Maria); Jean Sorel (Livornese); Franco Sportelli (Professor
Rosati); Charles Belmont (Sailor); Gian Maria Volonte (Stimolo); Frank
Wolff (Salvatore); Luigi De Filippo (Cicillo); Pupella Maggio (Mother of
Arturo); Georges Wilson (Reformatory director); Raffaele Barbato (Ajello);
Dominico Formato (Gennaro Capuozzo); Curt Lowens (Sakau); Enzo Turco
(Valente).
BW-121m. Letterboxed.

by James Steffen

http://www.turnerclassicmovies.com/
ThisMonth/Article/
0,,87944%7C87945%7C87948,00.html

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