Forty years after his death, Casa del Cinema celebrates one of the most important filmmakers in the history of the seventh art and one of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, Orson Welles, in the film series “W for Welles”. It will feature eight masterpieces selected from his extraordinary filmography, for which he played the dual role of director and actor. A journey through the stunning yet rocky artistic career of a pure genius who in his films directed legendary stars such as Marlene Dietrich, Charlton Heston, Rita Hayworth and Jeanne Moreau.
The programme will begin on Tuesday April 1st at 8 pm, from the screening of Mr. Arkadin (Rapporto confidenziale), a Baroque and highly intricate noir, a journey into the labyrinth of memory, between asymmetrical shots and expressionistic shadow that distorts the contours of reality.
On Thursday April 3rd at 6 pm, audiences are invited to view Falstaff, one of the greatest Shakespearian adaptations of all time, a memorable work that delves into the conflict between individual freedom and the reason of state.
The next day at the same time, the screening will feature Touch of Evil (L’infernale Quinlan), a revolutionary noir that plunges its characters into the squalid dreariness of anonymous motel rooms, which opens with one of the most famous long takes in the history of cinema.
The programme will continue on Friday April 18th at 6 pm with the screening of F for Fake, Welles’ spiritual testament, a brilliant and ironic reflection on the relativity of truth and the multiplicity of interpretations.
At 8 pm, the screening will feature Othello, to be shown in the version restored by the CSC – Cineteca Nazionale in the Italian language version, with dialogues curated by Gian Gaspare Napolitano supervised by Orson Welles himself.
On Saturday April 19th at 8:30 pm, the screening will present Citizen Kane, the American filmmaker’s astonishing directorial debut. At just twenty-five years old, he redefined the seventh art’s rules of narrative and style to make the ultimate film, consistently ranked at the top of the list of the best and most influential films of all time.
The series will close on Sunday April 20th at 11 am with the screening of The Lady from Shanghai, a hallucinatory journey to the heart of the noir, with legendary scenes such as the dialogue in the San Francisco Aquarium and the shootout in the hall of mirrors of an abandoned amusement park.