The ‘Fare Cinema’ Festival hosted in Berlin’s Arsenal Theatre is dedicated to the ‘commedia all’italiana’. The Festival is organised by the Italian Cultural Institute and proposes a marathon screening of 20 films produced between 1958 and 1974. The films that will be shown with subtitles include: ‘Big Deal on Madonna Street’ (‘I Soliti Ignoti’) by Mario Monicelli, ‘The Traffic Policeman’ (‘Il vigile’) by Luigi Zampa, ‘The Police Commissioner’ (‘Il Commissario’) by Luigi Comencini, ‘I Knew Her Well’ (‘Io la conoscevo bene’) by Antonio Pietrangeli and ‘Il sorpasso’ by Dino Risi. From 1950 to ’70, the ‘commedia all’italiana’ was synonymous to a virtuous and entertaining lifestyle satire. The most significant aspect of this comedy was that it represented the immediate response to the socio-cultural changes that took place following World War II. This style, which took the name of Neorealism, concealed a pungent social criticism behind a comic story.
