Luciano Emmer

The pensive Muse is Polyhymnia, “of many songs.” Daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, Memory—like her other sister Muses—Polyhymnia celebrates with her hymns those who have gained immortal fame thanks to their works. A reflective muse, depicted with her hand on her chin in a pensive and melancholic pose, she evokes a particular dimension of interiority and intellectual pathos. She is the spiritual guide of Luciano Emmer's journey through the thoughts and marble faces of the ancient philosophers.

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The film tells the true story of a poor peasant woman in the 1600s who lived in an isolated cave in the Val di Non. Accused of witchcraft by the townspeople, the woman is taken to Palazzo Nero, where under torture she admits her guilt and implicates her accusers in revenge for their wickedness. Condemned to death, she refuses to repent, and for this reason is burnt at the stake in the town’s square.

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The color of an eternal city, Naples, its people, its sounds and its volcano.

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It is the story of three women in three different places: Turin, Paris and Luxembourg City. Stefania, whose husband has left her for a younger woman, lives alone and types fiction teleplays for a living... until the day she decides to open a new chapter of her life. Elena tries to commit suicide by jumping into the River Seine. She is saved by Bernard, a tramp who, after attempting to reanimate her, takes her to the emergency ward. Later on, they meet again. Stella tries to wake up her drunk companion so that he can become again Diabolique, the fire-eater of a small circus. She more or less manages to but her man is wounded while performing his act and finishes the night in a hospital room.

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Luciano Emmer and his love for art history, accompanied by Enrico Ghezzi. A journey through the historical and artistic memory of the great director, immersed in the recollection of the images he produced and loved throughout his long career.

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Art documentary on the paintings of the French artist Balthus.

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Reporter Marcello has a brief encounter with Irene while waiting for a train. A young woman who has lost her sight finds herself falling for the voice of a ship's captain she hears over a radio broadcast. Egle, a massage therapist who is soon to be married, finds herself pursuing one last fling with Gabriele -- though the odds are not in her favor, since he happens to be gay. Elena is a young woman with a child who wants to abandon her husband. And Carla wonders if she has any future at all with her lover -- who is married to someone else.

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Half a century after his documentary on Picasso, which was cut into various short films in Italy in order to distribute it more easily, Emmer returns to his own material to re-appropriate it and transform it: it would no longer be the asymmetric tale of an anonymous filmmaker who observes the genius painter in amazement, but a work created in complicity between the two authors reflecting on their two expressive means. It is half a tale that finally takes on the form sought by Emmer (the tale of a pigeon between two wars), and half a processual film in which we see Picasso create a mural that only exists in this film. Incontrare Picasso (Meeting Picasso) with the voice-over in the first person points towards the full expository and discursive authorship of Emmer’s two main essays: Bella di notte and Con aura…senz'aura.

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A nocturnal exploration of the Villa Borghese museum in Rome.

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The friendship between two high school friends is tested when they are forced to separate because of university.

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Luciano Emmer reconstructs the dawn of Italian TV advertising, in two parts: "Gli anni ruggenti" (The Roaring Years) and "Ma chi l'ha ucciso?" (Who Killed Him?).

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Emmer travels across the peninsula in search of the unique features that have always made it a destination for artists, writers, actors, and celebrities. Numerous interviews paint an interesting picture of foreign visitors, who are mainly motivated by a desire to absorb the culture of our land, but are sometimes simply fascinated by the spirit of Italians and their human warmth. Cities, monuments, and works of art are observed through the eyes of exceptional tourists.

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The famous painter of “La Vucciria” analyzes the work of another artist, in this case David and his Dead Marat, emphasizing how many artists love the works of others and often draw them to study their composition, geometry, and profound beauty. This, says Guttuso, is a severe, austere painting, devoid of any rhetoric.

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The twins Judy and Kathy are two successful show dancers who are supported by their manager Alberto. In addition to their talent for the big stage, the two also have another gift: they are gifted thieves. The fact that they look like two peas in a pod is often a great advantage. Alberto can't do anything about it and usually has to get them out of trouble.

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Deals with the works of the artist Giotto, contrasting the hieratic mood of his predecessors with his innovations. Shows the major cycles of his frescoes, including those at the Upper and Lower Church of San Francesco, Assisi, the Scrovegni family Arena Chapel in Padua, and St. Croce in Florence.

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Intrepid reporter Alberto Piergiorgi stumbles upon thieves stealing a priceless archaeological treasure. When he reports the incident to the police, they dismiss his claims, forcing him to conduct his own investigation.

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In 1966, Luciano Emmer was commissioned by Twentieth Century Fox to shoot a promotional film for a movie about Michelangelo starring Charlton Heston. When the deal with the Americans fell through, Emmer retrieved the footage and edited it into a documentary about Michelangelo the man, exploring the anxieties and fears revealed in his writings. The sound of the chisel on marble blends with that of a heartbeat. The skewed perspectives on Michelangelo’s sculpture reinforce this idea of the difficulty and effort from which the...

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More than twenty years after Racconto da un affresco (1940-1946), Luciano Emmer returns to Padua and the Scrovegni Chapel, home to Giotto's frescoes. He retains the structure of his first film (telling the story of Christ through the frescoes) and his principle of immersion in the paintings, but this time in color. He adds an introductory educational section (a historical presentation of the chapel and Giotto's frescoes) and a descriptive commentary that runs throughout the film.

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Television investigation on the topic of free time.

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A romantic drama partially set in Amsterdam, this standard tale starts out in a mining area in Holland where conditions are about as rough as they get. Two of the miners, Italians Federico and Vincenzo take off together for the city's red-light district, where the women pose in windows for prospective customers. There the duo meet Else and Carrel who are willing to leave their windows to spend a weekend at a resort with the two men. Soon Else has fallen in love with Vincenzo and the future of the two hookers, as well as the miners, seems to look brighter.

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Pietro is in love with a nurse; they keep their affair secret until she falls pregnant. Worried that marriage will affect his career, she prepares for the upcoming childbirth

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A traveling salesman is sent to prison after being accused of bigamy, while his wife and son are forced to consider leaving him permanently.

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A documentary made up of 16-mm footage shot by explorers/filmmakers, originally shown to audiences during lectures organized by Connaissance du Monde.

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Camilla, a middle-aged Venetian widow, arrives in Rome to take up service as a maid for the Rossetti family, who are not prosperous. With her discreet presence, she is an element of cohesion for them thru tensions and misfortunes.

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The evolution of Picasso's painting up to his “pink phase.”

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It's the last year of highschool of a group of teenagers, and now they have to face their final exam, and the loves, happy or not, that sprung during those years of school.

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This documentary tells the story of the brilliant Italian polymath, artist, sculptor, painter, poet, musician, writer, philosopher, scientist, botanist, geologist, cartographer, mathematician, anatomist, paleontologist, architect, urban planner, engineer, and inventor. The legacy of the brilliant Leonardo (1452-1519) to the world came in many forms: in the breathtaking beauty of The Last Supper and The Mona Lisa; in his rich collection of engravings; and in his notes on original thoughts on astronomy, biology, and physiology.

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Three gorgeous seamstresses meet on the historic steps of the Piazza de Spagna in Rome to discuss one another's love lives.

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A historical documentary tracing Italy’s turbulent first half of the twentieth century, from the assassination of King Umberto I in 1900 to the proclamation of the Italian Republic after World War II. Moving through monarchy, fascism, war, and renewal, the film situates political upheaval alongside cultural moments such as the Holy Year celebrations.

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A group of Italian soccer fans arrive in Paris for a match, but most of them go their separate ways to explore the sights, have a bit of an adventure, and maybe even find some romance.

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