Monica Vitti

Maria Luisa Ceciarelli (3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022), known professionally as Monica Vitti, was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. She appeared with Marcello Mastroianni, Alain Delon, Richard Harris, Terence Stamp, and Dirk Bogarde. On her death, Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini called her "the Queen of Italian cinema".

Vitti won five David di Donatello Awards for Best Actress, seven Italian Golden Globes for Best Actress, the Career Golden Globe, and the Venice Film Festival Career Golden Lion Award.

Early life Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli in Rome on 3 November 1931 to Adele Vittiglia, from Bologna, and Angelo Ceciarelli. She took her stage name from her mother's maiden name. Vitti acted in amateur productions as a teenager, then trained as an actress at Rome's National Academy of Dramatic Arts (graduating in 1953) and at Pittman's College, where she played a teen in a charity performance of Dario Niccodemi's La nemica. She toured Germany with an Italian acting troupe, and her first stage appearance in Rome was for a production of Niccolò Machiavelli's La Mandragola.

Film career Early roles Vitti's first film role was an uncredited bit part in Edoardo Anton's Laugh! Laugh! Laugh! (1954). She was in Adriana Lecouvreur (1955), the TV series L'alfiere (1956) and the TV movies Questi ragazzi (1956) She did an episode of the television series Mont-Oriol (1958) and dubbed Rossana Rory's voice in Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958).

Vitti's first widely noted performance was at 26, in Mario Amendola's Le dritte (1958) with Franco Fabrizi. She was in the TV movie Il borghese gentiluomo (1959).

Antonioni In 1957 she joined Michelangelo Antonioni's Teatro Nuovo di Milano and dubbed the voice of Dorian Gray in the director's Il Grido (The Cry, 1957). Over the next several years in several "intense portraits of alienation she became the perfect mouthpiece for Antonioni himself". She played a leading role in Antonioni's internationally praised film L'Avventura (1960) as a detached and cool protagonist drifting into a relationship with the lover of her missing girlfriend. Giving a screen presence that has been described as "stunning", she is also credited with helping Antonioni raise money for the production and sticking with him through daunting location shooting. L'Avventura made Vitti an international star. According to The New York Times, Vitti's "air of disenchantment perfectly conveys the unreal aura of her heroines."

Vitti received critical praise for her starring roles in the Antonioni film La Notte (Night, 1961), with Jeanne Moreau and Marcello Mastroianni. then did a third with Antonioni, L'Eclisse (1962) with Alain Delon.

Vitti was one of many stars in an anthology movie, Three Fables of Love (1962). She had a cameo in Sweet and Sour (1963) and played the lead in a comedy for Roger Vadim, Nutty, Naughty Chateau (1963). Vitti was then in another anthology film High Infidelity (1964) and made a fourth with Antonioni, Il Deserto Rosso (Red Desert, 1964), with Richard Harris. The director said Vitti "certainly inspires me, because I like to watch and direct her, but the parts I give her are a long way from her own character." After Vitti's relationship with Antonioni ended, the two did not work together again until The Mystery of Oberwald (1980).

International films

Vitti's first English-language film was Modesty Blaise (1966), a mod James Bond spy spoof that co-starred Terence Stamp and Dirk Bogarde and was directed by Joseph Losey: it had only mixed success and received harsh critical reviews.

1970s

Vitti starred with Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's highly successful romantic comedy, Dramma della gelosia (The Pizza Triangle, 1970).

Vitti was in a version of La Tosca (1973) She made Polvere di stelle (1973), directed by Alberto Sordi,

Vitti played a key part in one of the vignettes in Luis Buñuel's The Phantom of Liberty (1974). She did two films with Claudia Cardinale, The Immortal Bachelor (1975) and Blonde in Black Leather (1975).

She was in Duck in Orange Sauce (1975), Mimì Bluette... fiore del mio giardino (1976), L'altra metà del cielo (1977), State Reasons (1978), Il cilindro (1978, for television), Per vivere meglio, divertitevi con noi (1978), Amori miei (1978), and Tigers in Lipstick (1979) (with Ursula Andress).

Vitti's second English-language film was An Almost Perfect Affair (1979), directed by Michael Ritchie and co-starring Keith Carradine, which was set during the Cannes Film Festival. A New York Times article from that period reported Vitti had resisted starring in American films as she did not like long travel, especially by air, and believed that her English was not of a high enough standard. Indeed, such was her aversion to travelling from Europe that Paramount Pictures was apparently forced to cancel the first leg of a publicity tour organised in the US to promote the release of An Almost Perfect Affair.

Later career

Vitti reunited with Antonioni in The Mystery of Oberwald (Il mistero di Oberwald, 1980). On 26 January 1995, she was raised to the rank of Commander of that Order. By 1986, Vitti had returned to the theatre as an actress and teacher.

In 1989, Vitti tried writing and directing and created Scandalo Segreto (1990), in which she also starred alongside Elliott Gould. The film was unsuccessful commercially and she then retired from cinema.

In 1993, Vitti was awarded the Festival Tribute at the Créteil International Women's Film Festival in France.

Personal life and death Antonioni and Vitti met in the late 1950s, and their relationship grew stronger after L'Avventura was made, because it had shaped both their careers. By the late 1960s, they ceased working on films, making the relationship strained until it officially ended. In a later interview, Vitti stated that Antonioni ended their relationship. For several years in the 1970s her partner was Carlo Di Palma, best known as a cinematographer though she starred in three films he directed. She made her last public appearance in 2002 when she attended the Paris premiere of the stage musical Notre-Dame de Paris. In 2011, it was disclosed that Alzheimer's disease had "removed her from the public gaze for the last 15 years". In 2018, her husband confirmed she was still living at home with him in Rome and that he looked after her with the assistance of a caregiver. Vitti died of complications from Dementia with Lewy bodies disease in Rome on 2 February 2022, at the age of 90.

Awards Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress, 1962 Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress, 1969 and 1976 David di Donatello for Best Actress: 1969 for The Girl with a Pistol, 1971, 1974, 1976 for Duck in Orange Sauce, Leone d'oro for Lifetime Achievement, 1995

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 1954 Laugh! Laugh! Laugh! Maria Teresa Uncredited 1955 Adriana Lecouvreur 1956 Una pelliccia di visone Luisa Panetti 1958 Le dritte Ofelia Granelli 1960 L'Avventura Claudia Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress RevelationGolden Grail for Best ActressNominated—BAFTA for Best Foreign ActressNominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1961 La Notte Valentina Gherardini Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress 1962 L'Eclisse Vittoria Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1962 Three Fables of Love Madeleine (segment "Le lièvre et le tortue")Golden Plate 1963 Sweet and Sour Elle 1963 Nutty, Naughty Chateau Eleanore Falsen 1963 Follie d'estate Maria Teresa (archive footage) 1964 High Infidelity Gloria (segment "La sospirosa")Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress 1964 Red Desert Giuliana Golden Grail for Best Actress 1964 Il disco volante Dolores 1965 Le bambole Giovanna (segment "La minestra") 1966 Modesty Blaise Modesty Blaise 1966 Sex Quartet Sabina (segment "Fata Sabina")Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Supporting Actress 1967 Kill Me Quick, I'm Cold Giovanna 1967 I Married You for Fun Giuliana Italian Golden Globe Award for Best ActressNominated—Golden Grail for Best ActressNominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1967 On My Way to the Crusades, I Met a Girl Who... Boccadoro 1968 The Girl with the Pistol Assunta Patanè David di Donatello for Best ActressNastro d'Argento for Best ActressItalian Golden Globe Award for Best ActressGolden Grail for Best Actress 1969 The Scarlet Lady Eva 1969 Help Me, My Love Raffaella Macchiavelli Golden Grail for Best Actress (also for The Pizza Triangle ) 1970 The Pizza Triangle Adelaide Ciafrocchi Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1970 Ninì Tirabusciò Maria Sarti / Ninì Tirabusciò David di Donatello for Best ActressNominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress (also for The Pizza Triangle ) 1970 Man and Wife AdeleGiulia (segment "Il frigorifero")(segment "Il leone") 1970 The Pacifist Barbara 1971 La Supertestimone Isolina Pantò Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1971 That's How We Women Are Orchestra MemberZoeAnnunziataTeresaAlbertaElianaKatherineErikaPalmiraAgataLauraFulvia (segment "Una giornata lavorativa")(segment "Romantica")(segment "Mamma")(segment "Schiava d'amore")(segment "Il mondo cammina")(segment "Vietnam")(segment "Et Dominus venit")(segment "La motocicletta")(segment "Cuore di padrone")(segment "L'angolo dei cieli")(segment "L'allumeuse")(segment "Chiamate Roma 21-21") 1972 Gli ordini sono ordini Giorgia 1973 La Tosca Floria Tosca Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1973 Teresa the Thief Teresa Numa Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1973 Polvere di stelle Dea Dani David di Donatello for Best Actress 1974 The Phantom of Liberty Mme Foucaud / Mrs. Foucauld 1975 The Immortal Bachelor Tina Candela 1975 Blonde in Black Leather Miele 1975 Duck in Orange Sauce Lisa Stefani David di Donatello for Best ActressNastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1976 Mimì Bluette... fiore del mio giardino Mimì Bluette 1976 Basta che non si sappia in giro ArmandaLia (segment "Macchina d'amore")(segment "L'equivoco") 1977 L'altra metà del cielo Susanna Maccaluso Nominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1978 State Reasons Angela Ravelli 1978 Amori miei Anna Lisa Bianchi David di Donatello for Best Actress 1978 Per vivere meglio, divertitevi con noi Valentina Contarini (segment "Un incontro molto ravvicinato") 1979 Tigers in Lipstick Maria / The Prostitute 1979 An Almost Perfect Affair Maria Barone 1980 The Mystery of Oberwald The Queen 1980 I Don't Understand You Anymore Luisa 1981 Camera d'albergo Flaminia Italian Golden Globe Award for Best Actress 1981 Il tango della gelosia Lucia 1982 I Know That You Know That I Know Livia Bonetti 1982 Scusa se è poco Renata Adorni / Grazia Siriani 1983 Flirt Laura Silver Bear for an outstanding single achievementItalian Golden Globe Award for Best ActressNominated—David di Donatello for Best ActressNominated—Nastro d'Argento for Best Actress 1986 Francesca è mia Francesca 1989 Secret Scandal Margherita / wife Italian Golden Globe for the Best First FeatureItalian Golden Globe Award for Best ActressNominated—David di Donatello for Best New Director

Television Ma tu mi vuoi bene? (1992 miniseries)