Fists in the Pocket

Born in Piacenza in 1939 from a family of the upper middle-class, he attended the Liceo of the Barnabite Fathers; in 1959 he abandoned his studies in philosophy at the Catholic University in Milan and enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia (The National Film School in Rom). Then, in London, he followed courses in cinema at the Slade School of Fine Arts, graduating with a thesis on Antonioni and Bresson. He made his debut in full-length films with “Fist in His Pocket – I pugni in tasca” (1965), considered one of the best first works in the history of the Italian cinema. In this great film, the rebellious tendency of the young is skilfully expressed in terms of revolt against family and normality, through the story of a young man who decides to exterminate two members of his own family. His next film, “China is Near (La Cina è vicina)” (1967), marked a turn towards comedy, in the clash between bourgeois hypocrisy and the vain ambition of the fake revolutionaries. His next Monster on Page One (Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina)", 1972), the asylum (“Fit to be Untied – documentary with Silvano Agosti, Stefano Rulli a Sandro Petraglia (Matti da slegare)”, 1975), the military (“Victory March (Marcia trionfale), 1976).
A less flamboyant period followed, during which he concentrated on literary adaptations (”The Seagull (Il gabbiano)", 1977, from Chekhov) and returns to old themes (“The Eyes, the Mouth (Gli occhi, la bocca)”, 1982); he then began collaborating with the psychoanalyst Massimo Fagioli, for “Devil in the Flesh (Il diavolo in corpo)” (1986, from Radiguet) and “The Butterfly’s Dream (Il sogno della farfalla)” (1994). After having separated from his mentor, Bellocchio gives a splendid dream-like version of “The Prince of Homburg (Il Principe di Homburg)” (1997), where Kleist’s play is revisited with a vigour worthy of Lang. Equally striking, “The Nanny (La balia)” (1999) genially betrays Pirandello’s short story, filtering it though the lens of class relationships. His following film, “L’ora di religione (My Mother’s Smile)” (2002) is a powerful and impressive atheist’s meditation upon the marketing of religion. In 2003 “Good Morning, Night (Buongiorno, notte)” brings on screen one the darkest episode of Italian history, the kidnapping and execution of Aldo Moro by members of the Red Brigades. The film was partly inspired by the book “Il prigioniero (The Prisoner)” written by one of Moro’s jailer. In 2003 Bellocchio is the screenplay writer of the film “Radio West” with Alessandro Valori e Francesco Colangelo. In 2006, Sergio Castellitto is once more Bellocchio’s leading actor in “The Wedding Director (Il regista di matrimoni)”, a bitter-sweet reflection upon the making of images.
Marco Bellocchio also directed a few documentaries, among which “Addio del passato (Farewell of the Past)” where he goes back to the popular msuic tradition of his hometown, and “Sogni infranti (Broken Dreams)” in which he questions his political past.