“Vittorio De Sica. The paths of realism”, or the forgotten brilliance of a great name in cinema

Published on November 25, 2024 at 10:48. / Modified on November 25, 2024 at 10:51.

There is a Vittorio De Sica enigma. More prolific than Fellini, funnier than Antonioni, more eclectic than Visconti, this great man of Italian cinema nevertheless remains unknown to the general public. For the 50th anniversary of his death, a book – the first in French since 1966! – comes to repair this injustice. Who else than Jean A. Gili for this tour de force? Academic, critic, historian, the author is a cinema-loving spectator, preferably Italian, a storyteller who knows how to mix the intimate with erudition.

Like any good storyline, this book has a surprising ending. A figure in French politics who was not expected here signs the afterword. His presence is linked to the turpitudes of the filmmaker’s life. Vittorio De Sica, born in 1901, tried his hand at theater once he completed his accounting diploma. At the age of 26, he joined Giuditta Rissone’s troupe, whom he married ten years later before falling in love with another actress, the Spanish Maria Mercader, who came to film at Cinecittà in 1942. Fascist Italy then extended its hand to General Franco by putting his impeccable industrial tools to work for productions that employed Hispanic artists.

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