Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
What works in the relationship between Vera and Giuliano is partly the fact that they complement each other, like yin and yang. They talk about a biographical movie they made about Giordano Bruno, a 16th-century Italian philosopher and cosmological theorist, with Gian Maria Volonté.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
As a result of historical research and restoration, it was discovered that the Resurrection had not been painted on the wall on which we now see it, but had been transported from another location, likely the external facade of the building, under the arengario of Borgo Sansepolcro.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Rita Levi Montalcini talks about what, as a little girl, she wanted to be when she grew up. One of her main goals was to help women, especially ones from poor countries, become what they were meant to become.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Montaldo tells how the film about Marco Polo came about. It was shot on three different continents.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We learn some more about the origins of Piero's Resurrection and why it might have been commissioned. As with other works of art, the Resurrection likely had political symbolism as well as religious symbolism.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
As a child, Rita Levi Montalcini was shy and insecure. Her father wanted her to get married and have children, but she had other plans for her life. She also had a twin sister who was an artist.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Inti, who was the 9-year-old grandson of Giuliano and Vera, went to see them as they were filming in China. They put him to work and the experience had a huge influence on him.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
We learn more about how and why Piero's Resurrection was moved from its original position. It's fascinating.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Rita Levi Montalcini was a strong proponent of education and instruction as the means to gain freedom. She was also an example of it. This segment describes a visit to women in prison, and the obstacles Montalcini had to face, as a woman and as a Jew, during the Nazi-Fascist regime.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
After filming Marco Polo in China, where they made lots of friends, they return to Italy to film Gli Occhiali d'Oro (English title: The Gold Rimmed Glasses). Many famous actors took part in that film, all of them beloved by Vera and Giuliano.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
If two important works of Piero's survived the bombings during World War II, it was due to the efforts of art historians and restorers such as Ugo Procacci. In addition to the Resurrection, a wonderful painting of the Virgin Mary as she was expecting a child, "La Madonna del Parto" was saved and is now housed in the museum in Monterchi, Arezzo.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
Because of the racial laws in Italy during the period of Fascism, many Jews left the country, including Rita Levi Montalcini. In Italy she wasn't allowed to work or publish papers, but somehow, she found a way to keep going.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
The first screening of the Gold Rimmed Glasses was a success. Even Bassani, who had written the novel the film was based upon, had good things to say. Inti and her mother comment on the relationship between Vera and Giuliano.
Difficulty: Intermediate
Italy
The formal, ceremonious aspect of the Nobel Prize awards was not what Rita Levi-Montalcini was used to, but she used that recognition to her advantage. Winning the Nobel Prize wasn't necessarily the high point in her career.
Difficulty: Adv-Intermediate
Italy
Giuliano Montaldo received a great many proposals for movies. But he remained amazed to encounter so many people who loved the cinema as much as he did.
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