As she did with her recently released comedy “Marcello Mio,” Chiara Mastroianni emphasized what it’s like to live in the shadow of her father, Marcello, by highlighting his work while inside the Criterion Closet. Known as one of the most iconic performers of the 20th century, Marcello worked with the likes of Federico Fellini, Sophia Loren, Jeanne Moreau, Robert Altman, and Agnès Varda, starring in classic pieces of cinema such as “8 1/2” and “La Notte.”
During her visit to the Criterion Closet, his daughter Chiara made sure to express her appreciation for a few films he was a part of, including Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style,” which won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 1962.
“It’s really, really funny,” Chiara said. “When I was a kid and I first saw it, to me, it was just a comedy. And then growing up and learning about Italian politics and how divorce has been legal in Italy, I think in 1974, which is really, like, late. And that’s when I understood that ‘Divorce Italian Style’ was a very political film in the sense that it’s a guy who wants to get rid of his wife instead of divorcing, because he cannot divorce. And so if he kills her, he only gets three years of jail. You know, that’s what they used to call passionate crimes. So that was a part of — how do you say? — patriarchy. So it is good it has changed for the better. I mean, there’s still some work to do, but…”
After grabbing a few horror options to pair with her comedies, Chiara continued to praise her father’s work, selecting Ettore Scola’s 1977 period drama “A Special Day.” To her, the film serves as another example of what made her father’s appeal so unique, particularly in Italy.
“The other day, someone told me, ‘What is so modern about your father, in your opinion?’ And I think — what came to my head is I think it’s the fact that you have Italian cinema, Italian icons, the idea of the male figure has always been something very macho, virile,” said Chiara. “And suddenly you have this actor who comes in, my father, with a very delicate way of moving himself. And actually my father always told me that the first movies he’s done, well before he was famous — because fame came late in his life — he was dubbed because they thought he had such a soft voice that it couldn’t be right for a man. And I think that’s exactly what makes him so special is that he proposed a different version of a man, the possibility to be someone that seduces you without brutality, without machoism.”
Though she didn’t want to give viewers “indigestion” from constantly referencing her father’s work, Chiara couldn’t help but also shout out one of his lesser-known features, “The Organizer.”
“So ‘The Organizer’ is a Monicelli movie that went very bad when it came out. Absolutely no success,” she said. “It’s the story of a factory in the beginning of the 1900s, and…the workers are not treated properly by the boss and this character that my dad plays is kind of an idealist guy who arrives in this…factory. And little by little, he’s going to be able to help them be conscious that they can stand up for themselves and that they can fight.”
Watch Mastroianni’s full Criterion Closet visit below.
