Samperi, Salvatore

Salvatore Sampery was born July 26, 1944 in a wealthy family in Padua. He studied at the University of Padua, but dropped out to join the student movement in 1968 ^[1] . In the same year, he played his only small role in the forty-year film career (Student) in the film "Partner" by Bernardo Bertolucci .

Contestation Movement

The first period of the director’s career was marked by anti-bourgeois pathos ^[2] . A big admirer of Marco Bellocchio , with a small amount of cash available, he made his first feature film “Thank you, Aunt” (1968), which he himself perceived as an allusion to the film “Fists in Your Pocket” . The main character is a simulator, parasitic on paralysis of the legs, which he actually does not have, and on the disorder of the nervous system. The reason for the simulation is hatred of Italy's rotten bourgeois environment in the era of the “economic miracle”. His father and his stepmother are a bourgeois; over which he scoffs: reconstructs military operations in Vietnam and seduces stepmother. Moving to his aunt, he plays on her sense of compassion and drives her to madness. The last scene - the hero forces his aunt to inject poison into his vein. The main role was played by the Swedish actor Lou Castell . The political incorrectness of the film gradually, possibly against the will of the director himself, develops into pathological Freudianism and sexual sadism . The Italian communist press condemned the film, accusing it of "simulating" political protest and shocking , which is perceived by the director as an end in itself ^[3] .

In this first work, the two most important characteristics of the cinema of the director are already present: a bitter satire, gloomy, directed against a bourgeois family, and a narrative of painful love, the realization of which is impossible (in this case, love between an aunt and nephew).

In the next two films, “Mother’s Heart” (1969) and “To Hammer a Fattened Calf and Fry” (1970) with music by Ennio Morricone , criticism of the bourgeois family develops into a distinct political position (Sampery joined the Maoists in those years). After parting with a rich husband, the heroine of the first film was left alone with three children trying to establish their full power over her. She joins an extremist group of revolutionaries. The hero of the second film returns to his homeland in Italy for the funeral of his father. He understands that his death was not accidental, begins his own investigation into the murder. His older brother and cousin, who is his brother's mistress, become suspects.

Samperi - The Comedian

For some time, the director left the topic of youth protests, making the comedies “Masterful Robbery for Three Hundred Million” ( Italian: Un'anguilla da 300 milioni , 1971) and “Blessed are the Rich” (1972), both with starring actor Cabaret Lino Toffolo. The hero of the second film is a smuggler who supplies cigarettes to wealthy citizens. Enormous money was left at stake, remaining after the death of a man whom the hero had illegally to transfer across the border.

Psychological dramas of the 70s and 80s

Sampery's most famous work is The Cunning 1973. The action takes place in the 1950s in Sicily . The film describes the career of a humble maid, who, thanks to her charm and sexuality, becomes a high-ranking lady. The film was a great success at the box office, a significant role in this success was played by Laura Antonelli as a sex symbol of the movie of the seventies. In France alone, more than 1.9 million people watched the film, and in the Italian box office the film took third place (the first at the Last Tango in Paris ) with 10-12 million viewers ^[4] . The film earned 6 billion lire in Italian film distribution, and Antonelli herself, whose career, after a successful start, seemed to decline, turned into an erotic movie star ^[5] . A year later, Samperi again turned to a similar topic in the film “Immortal Sin” (“Sin worthy of forgiveness”) ^[6] . The heroine of Laura Antonelli becomes in him the object of desire for a teenager. The cameraman was Tonino Dalley Collie . The film was a great success, but gathered a smaller box office than the previous one.

In 1976, the director put on two projects. The first of them is the movie "Scandal." The action takes place in France in 1940 at the very beginning of World War II . The owner of a pharmacy in a provincial French city starts a lover servant ( Franco Nero ), who took refuge in her pharmacy from being drafted into the army. Soon Arman makes an attempt to seduce the daughter of the mistress. The second film of this year is “Assault Squad” ( Italian: Sturmtruppen ), the action of which also takes place during the war years, but already in the army.

The director later directed the film “Nene” (1977), an adaptation of the novel by Cesare Lanza. The action takes place in Catholic Italy of the 1940s in a small town. The boy is the hero of the film, in love with his elder cousin, deprived of complexes. The film Ernesto (1979) is dedicated to the problems of homosexuality . One of the first roles was played by the young Michele Placido , she brought him the IFF Prize for Best Actor in West Berlin . In the same year, Samperi returned to box office success with the youth film Licorice (Liquirizia). It was one of the most successful commercial jobs of his career, although it was criticized by some critics for bad taste. The film “Pure and Chaste” (1981) did not arouse the interest of viewers and film critics. The heroine of the film takes a vow of chastity before the death of her mother. Rosa breaks the vow by arranging this event as a pagan ritual .

In 1985 he directed the film " Photographing Patricia ." A teenager from a wealthy family lives in a big house. He has an ambiguous relationship with his ten-year-old sister, by whose name the film is named. In 1986, the film “The Handmaid” followed. The story of a man and woman, shy and conservative . Her maid is the exact opposite. She encourages the mistress to free herself from her taboos .

The following films of the director were significantly inferior to the previous ones. The film "Cunning 2000" (1991) was a weak echo of its predecessor. After the failure of this film, Samperi stopped making feature films. A scandal was added to the creative setbacks: on the set of the film "Cunning 2000", the producers insisted on a collagen injection course for Laura Antonelli. The injections were unsuccessful and disfigured her face. Antonelli began the lawsuit, demanding compensation for the damage caused (a criminal case was being conducted against the actress at the time - in the villa of Laura Antonelli the carabinieri found 36 grams of cocaine ), and due to a nervous breakdown she was sent to a psychiatric clinic.

Television work

The director, years after the failure of his film, continued to work on television, filming series in the 2000s. The most successful among them was the dilogy “Honor and Respect” (2006 and 2009). The main roles in the film were played by actors Paul Sorvino , Ben Gazzara , Angela Molina , Virna Lizi . The action begins in Sicily in the 50s of the XX century. The family leaves the backward south and moves to the industrial north. However, it is possible to establish life here only as a result of contacts with local organized crime. One of the brothers becomes a servant of the law, another leader of a criminal group.

Samperi suddenly died in Rome on March 4, 2009. ^[7]

In the 1960s and early 1970s, he acted as a follower of Marco Bellocchio and Bernardo Bertolucci, was fond of communism (in its most radical forms) and Freudianism, subtly combining social with eroticism in his films. In some tapes, he turned to taboo forms of human sexuality - incest , homosexuality, pedophilia . Some films were significantly reduced by censorship when they were released to the box office. So the film "Nene" was reduced in the rental version to 93 minutes (15 minutes compared with the directorial version). The full version of the film “Immortal Sin” takes 100 minutes. The rental option is 83 minutes.

In his films, he collaborated with prominent figures in Italian and world cinema: cameramen Vittorio Storaro (called the "god of chiaroscuro" by Italian critics) and Pasqualino De Santis , composers Ennio Morricone and Ritz Ortolani , actors Franco Nero, Michele Placido, Laura Antonelli, Carla Gravina . The director was distinguished by the ability to work with child actors.

Later films of the director lost their sharp social orientation and acquired a commercial character.

Samperi refused the authorship of the film “The Malfunctioning” ( Italian: “La sbandata” , 1974), which was released under the name of a little-known documentary Alfredo Malfatti ( Italian. Alfredo Malfatti ) as a director. The actress Eleanor Georgie , who played the main female role in the film, answered the question who is actually the director of the film, unequivocally answered:

“Samperi. Alfredo Malfatti was an assistant director, but was forced to recognize himself as the director of the film, and Samperi identified himself in the credits only as a producer, since he had to work under a contract with Clementelli-Cinélite , while this film was shot by Lombardo-Titanus . Legal problems could arise. ”

- Meravigliosa creatura. Eleonora Giorgi (intervista) in "Nocturno", n ° 104, aprile 2011. P. 94

The main male role was played in this film by singer Domenico Modugno . He wrote the music for the film.

• Salvatore Samperi in book: F. Faldini, G. Fofi. L'avventurosa storia del cinema italiano. Feltrinelli, Milano. 1981. Vol. 2, R. 423.