Italia: Fire and Ashes

Mar 15, 2023

1h 35m

★ 5.5

Overview

The epic and poetic tale of the early years of Italian cinema, from 1896 to 1930: how peplum was born, how the first stars shone, how many daring filmmakers were able to create an original style amalgamating literature, theater, painting and opera; a tale of splendor and decadence.

Genres

Documentary

History

Production Companies

Articolture

Nocturnes Productions

Istituto Luce Cinecittà

Ciné+

Italia: Fire and Ashes Trailers

Cast

Self - Narrator (voice)

Isabella Rossellini

Palermo, Sicily, 1984. Examining magistrate Giovanni Falcone allies with Tomasso Buscetta, a former mobster, to defeat the clan of Corleone, the ruthless Mafia faction that rules Cosa Nostra with an iron hand, cruelly eliminating all those who dare to oppose its immense power: other criminals, policemen, judges, even innocent civilians. One of them wants revenge, the other wants justice. But only one can survive such an unequal fight.

6.5

Sunshine

Sep 13, 1999

The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century.

0.0

Imitation of Waves - Guy's Visions

Feb 21, 2025

Impressionism and expression of a view, Mavy uses fragments of the ocean landscapes of Alice Guy's studies through fluctuations of bright nuances and an imitation of these tormented waves in the eyes of a modern camera

6.5

Marisol: llámame Pepa

May 10, 2024

A portrait of the actress and singer Pepa Flores, an incarnation of the recent history of Spain, who, in just twenty-five years of intense career, went from being Marisol, child prodigy of the Franco dictatorship, to being one of the first communist militants, icon of the Transition; an idol of the masses who became a discreet person after having claimed her right to remain silent.

6.5

Edgar Morin, chronique d'un regard

May 29, 2015

No overview available.

4.5

100 Years of the UFA

Aug 28, 2017

The intricate history of UFA, a film production company founded in 1917 that has survived the Weimar Republic, the Nazi regime, the Adenauer era and the many and tumultuous events of contemporary Germany, and has always been the epicenter of the German film industry.

6.8

Against the Ice

Feb 10, 2022

In 1909, two explorers fight to survive after they're left behind while on a Danish expedition in ice-covered Greenland.

6.0

Satan's Blood: recuerdos de «Escalofrío»

Oct 15, 2016

The story of the shooting of Satan's Blood (Escalofrío), a film directed by Carlos Puerto in 1978.

6.9

Viva Zapata!

Feb 7, 1952

The story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of president Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.

0.0

Kuster Beaton

Jan 20, 2025

In 1970, Kuster Beaton, a former silent-film star, gives an interview looking back over his career. A journalist asks him about his legendary power : an alleged super-speed that enabled him to shoot his films without special effects.

0.0

Citizen B

Jan 17, 2025

Documentary on Ciby 2000, the French film production company founded by Francis Bouygues in 1990.

7.1

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat

Jun 30, 1896

A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

8.6

The Dawn of Kaiju Eiga

Apr 2, 2019

Japan, 1954. A legend emerges from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, devastated by atomic bombs in 1945. The creature's name is Godzilla. The film that tells its story is the first of kaiju eiga, the giant monster movies.

7.3

Cinecittà, de Mussolini à la Dolce Vita

May 16, 2021

Cinecitta is today known as the center of the Italian film industry. But there is a dark past. The film city was solemnly inaugurated in 1937 by Mussolini. Here, propaganda films would be produced to strengthen the dictator's position.

6.0

Caligula

Aug 14, 1979

After the death of the paranoid emperor Tiberius, Caligula, his heir, seizes power and plunges the empire into a bloody spiral of madness and depravity.

4.6

Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast

Feb 27, 2019

In the late 1990s, iconic photographer Bruce Weber barely managed to convince legendary actor Robert Mitchum (1917-97) to let himself be filmed simply hanging out with friends, telling anecdotes from his life and recording jazz standards.

0.0

Phantoms of the Sierra Madre

Sep 20, 2024

A Danish writer travels to Mexico with the purpose of locating a mysterious Apache tribe that fervently seeks to remain in obscurity.

7.3

The Rebellious Olivia de Havilland

Jul 2, 2021

The legendary British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916-2020), who conquered Hollywood in the thirties, challenged the film industry when, in 1943, she took on the all-powerful producer Jack Warner in court, forever changing the ruthless working conditions that restricted the essential rights and freedom of artists.

10.0

Cartoons Go To War

Apr 26, 1996

This remarkable documentary dedicates itself to an extraordinary chapter of the second World War – the psychological warfare of the USA. America’s trusted cartoon darlings from the studios of Warner Bros., Paramount, and the “big animals” of the Disney family were supposed to give courage to the people at the homefront, to educate them, but also to simultaneously entertain them. Out of this mixture grew a genre of its own kind – political cartoons. Insightful Interviews with the animators and producers from back then elucidate in an amusing and astonishing way under which bizarre circumstances these films partially came into existence.

8.5

You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story

May 15, 2008

Jack L. Warner, Harry Warner, Albert Warner and Sam Warner were siblings who were born in Poland and emigrated to Canada near the turn of the century. In 1903, the brothers entered the budding motion picture business. In time, the Warner Brothers moved into film production and would open their own studio in 1923.

Italia: Fire and Ashes

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

Italia: Fire and Ashes Trailers