Comedy with a Twist. The Museum screen 8 films by Italian director Dino Risi (1916-2008) Risi, who was able to maintain an active career into his 90s, attracted celebrated actors and collaborators to his very special brand of intelligent, sparkling humor. His films stand as a passionate testament to the enduring attraction that actors have to the true soul of comedy.
The Museum of Modern Art will screen eight films by Italian
director Dino Risi (1916–2008), from December 10 through 17, 2009 in the exhibition Dino Risi:
Comedy with a Twist. Among the acclaimed films presented here are Risi’s masterpiece Il
sorpasso (The Easy Life) (1962); Profumo di donna (Scent of a Woman) (1974), which was
remade as the 1992 English-language film starring Al Pacino; and the first screening outside Italy
of the documentary profile of Risi made for his 90th birthday, Una bella vacanza (A Beautiful
Vacation) (2006), directed by Fabrizio Corallo and Francesca Molteni, with segments from his most
famous films, and commentaries from such personalities as Monica Bellucci, Umberto Eco,
Giancarlo Giannini, Martin Scorsese, and Carlo Verdone. The retrospective is organized by Jytte
Jensen, Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art, Davide Azzolini, Director, 41 ̊
Parallelo; and Antonio Monda, Professor, New York University.
Risi, who was able to maintain an active career into his 90s, attracted celebrated actors
and collaborators to his very special brand of intelligent, sparkling humor. His films stand as a
passionate testament to the enduring attraction that actors have to the true soul of comedy as
Risi presented it. He possessed, beneath his apparently cynical and even cruel gaze, the traits of
a true humanist. Throughout his prolific career, he made films that exhibited a profound morality
while giving life to complex characters played by some of the most beloved and accomplished
Italian stars of the time.
Considered in its entirety, his work forms an impassioned human comedy, and carries a
melancholy mood that results from a deep empathy for his characters. His films frequently
produce laughter tinged with bitterness from audiences, and viewers often feel affection and
understanding for even the most controversial and questionable protagonists.
Films are screened Wednesday-Monday. For screening schedules, please visit http://www.moma.org.
RSVP to meg_blackburn@moma.org
The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY
Film Admission: $10 adults; $8 seniors, 65 years and over with I.D. $6 full-time students with
current I.D. (For admittance to film programs only.)
The price of a film ticket may
be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket when a film ticket stub is
presented at the Lobby Information Desk within 30 days of the date on the stub
(does not apply during Target Free Friday Nights, 4:00–8:00 p.m.).
Admission is
free for Museum members and for Museum ticketholders.
All films are directed by Dino Risi, from Italy, and in Italian with English subtitles