Alberto Lattuada

Director

November 13, 1914 (90 years)

† July 3, 2005

Milan, Italy

Biography

Alberto Lattuada (13 November 1914 – 3 July 2005) was an Italian film director. Lattuada was born in Milan, the son of composer Felice Lattuada. He was initially interested in literature, becoming, while still a student, a member of the editorial staff of the antifascist fortnightly "Camminare..." (1932) and part of the artists' group Corrente di Vita (1938). In 1940 he started his cinema career as a screenwriter and assistant director on Mario Soldati's Piccolo mondo antico ("Old-Fashioned Wo…

Filmography

6.2

Christopher Columbus

After his proposal to sail west to the East Indies is rejected by Portugal, Columbus overcomes court intrigue in Spain to gain support for his expedition.

5.7

Stay as You Are

A married Roman landscape architect starts an affair with a young woman who might be a shadow from his past.

5.0

Bambina

In order to convince Raimonda, a wealthy noble woman, to finance his project for a holiday resort, Saverio gets engaged to Clotilde, her mentally-disturbed and sex-obsessed adolescent daughter. He plans to have her kidnapped and raped by an accomplice so she won't be a virgin anymore and he'll have an excuse to get out of the impending marriage. But what he doesn't plan is to fall in love with the girl...

6.2

The Boarder

A prostitute goes on vacation to a beach resort with her young daughter (who's being schooled by nuns). Everything is cheerful and pleasant at the seashore; the customers at the hotel think she's a poor widow - she always wears black - and treat her like a lady. But when one of her former clients arrives, her carefree days on the beach are numbered.

7.3

Flesh Will Surrender

Giovanni used to be a humble, mild-mannered government clerk whose life was turned upside down when he met Giulio, a notorious forger who at once set about manipulating the over-confident man. Giovanni did what he should never have done: he associated himself with the crook. Giulio soon laid hands on Giovanni's money, ruined his career and manhandled him into marrying his own mistress, the beautiful Ginevra. It was of course an unhappy marriage but Giovanni found a little solace when his son Ciro was born. Seven years later though, Wanzer resurfaced...

5.1

The Cricket

An impressionable young woman's relationship with an aging prostitute leads to a job as a maid at a brothel.

6.2

The Steppe

Based on a Anton Chekhov short story, this slight tale has some good moments as the drama of a young boy's journey unfolds. The lad comes from peasant stock, and one day his family decides it would be best for him to go live with his uncle in the city. The only problem is that the city is all the way across the Russian steppes, and at this time in history, that arduous journey could only be undertaken by horse and carriage. Reminiscent of the American pioneer wagon trains heading West, the tale lacks any attacks from hostile forces but is filled with charming vignettes. In one part of the journey, the boy comes across some fishermen along a river, harpooning their catch for the day. In another segment, he is entertained when some folk dancers do a lively show. But in general, it is too long and unmomentous a journey to hold attention well for nearly two hours.

6.3

Come Have Coffee with Us

At age 50, tax inspector Emerenziano decides to settle down and aims to the three Tettamanzi sisters, who, though not young or pretty by any means, have recently inherited a large amount of money.

6.9

Variety Lights

In Italy, Checco Dal Monte manages a troupe of traveling performers with plenty of heart but minimal talent. At a small town engagement, he encounters the starry-eyed, gorgeous Lily Antonelli, and hires her as a dancer on the show. Vivacious Lily quickly sells out crowds and earns the resentment of Checco's mistress, Melina Amour, but the fledgling performer has far bigger ambitions and soon sets her sights on a higher-profile role.

5.4

The Betrayal

A seductive and ruthless spy in the service of Germany steals state secrets- including the formula for poison gas-from England and France during World War I. British intelligence, in turn, tries to hunt her down.

7.5

Mafioso

When a good-natured factory supervisor living in Milan with his Northern wife returns to his native Sicily, a decades' old oath forces him to fulfill a nightmarish obligation.

5.3

Oh, Serafina!

Augusto Valle is a successful young industrialist who weds Palmira, the girl working in his factory, and the two have a child despite the infant's uncertain legitimacy. Scheming to control her husband's fortune, Palmira has affairs with both the mayor and the judge to have Augusto committed to a mental institution. While there, he falls in love with Serafina Vitali, a young woman who was also put away.

5.6

Portrait of a Nude Woman

Sandro is a Roman adrift in Venice during the Carnival. After sixteen years of marriage, Sandro can no longer reconcile his spontaneous and lively character with that of his wife Laura, a cultured and composed Venetian woman. Yet another argument prompts him to leave her and seek refuge at the home of a painter friend. Among his many paintings, he notices one depicting a naked woman who bears an incredible resemblance to his wife. Are they two women or one, and in the masquerade of the Carnival, what is real?

5.9

Heart of a Dog

Professor Preobrazhensky puts courageous experiences, trying to turn a dog in equal to in all of the person. As a result somebody turns out Doggies. Unfortunately, experience proves that it is better for dog to remain a dog.

6.6

Love in the City

Six vignettes explore love and desire in Rome, from prostitution and heartache to unwed motherhood and the male gaze.

6.5

Guendalina

Wealthy teenager Guendalina is a child of divorce. Oberdan, likewise a teenager, is a boy from a blue-collar family. Escaping from the tribulations of her home life, Guendalina creates a dream world of her own, casting Oberdan as her personal Prince Charming. Despite parental objections, girl and boy fall in love. Interestingly enough, the relationship between Guendalina and Oberdan remains pure and chaste throughout their film, which is more than can be said for their parents. their respective parents behave with marked laciviousness.

6.4

The Bandit

Among others, Ernesto returns to Turin after the war from a German POW camp; his household destroyed and family deceased, he tries making an honest living.

6.5

Tempest

A young officer in the army of Empress Catherine of Russia is on his way to his new duty station at a remote outpost. During a blinding snowstorm he comes upon a stranger who was caught in the storm and is near death from freezing. He rescues the man and eventually brings him back to health. When the man is well enough to travel, the two part company and the man vows to repay the officer for saving his life. Soon after he arrives at his new post, a revolt by the local Cossacks breaks out and the fort is besieged by the rebels. The young officer is astonished to find out that the leader of the rebellious Cossacks is none other than the stranger whose life he had saved during the storm.

9.5

Unexpected

An English teacher seduces a young student in the company of his wife to help him in an ambitious plan with the kidnapping of a newborn baby of a wealthy businessman.

5.2

Don Juan in Sicily

Giovanni Percolla lives in Catania surrounded by the attentive cares of his three sisters. He permanently acts like a Don Giovanni to hide his real poor "knowledge" of women. With his friend he moves also to Rome but women still continues to remain part of his fantasies. But Giovanni succeeded to build anyway a fame of "tombeur de femmes". One day he meets the real love of Maria Antonietta and decides to marry. Will things change?