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Synopsis

A mental hospital somewhere in Tuscany during the thirties. Far away from fascism, this closed world is rules over by Dr. Bonaccorsi, a passionate benevolent psychiatrist whose dream is to isolate the germ of madness. He is also a very active ladies’ man and makes three women benefit from his sexual itch: Francesca the hospital manager’s wife, Bianca, his devoted nurse and Carla, a nymphomaniac doctor’s wife. His well-ordered universe starts being challenged with the coming of Anna, a trainee psychiatrist, who disapproves of his theory on the origin of madness. Worse, she resists his advances. As Bonaccorsi is more insecure than he looks, what will become of him? – IMDb

Director

Original

Mauro Bolognini

Mauro Bolognini (28 June 1922 – 14 May 2001) was an Italian film director of literate sensibility, known for masterful handling of period subject matter.

Mauro Bolognini was born in Pistoia, Tuscany.

A former architectural student, Bolognini began his film career as an assistant to director Luigi Zampa in Italy, and directors Yves Allegret and Jean Delannoy in France. He began directing his own feature films in the mid 1950s, and had his first international success with Gli innamorati (“Wild Love”).

His other notable films of the 1950s and early 1960s include Giovani mariti (“Young Husbands”), La notte brava, La giornata balorda (“From a Roman Balcony”), and the Marcello Mastroianni-Claudia Cardinale starrer Il bell’Antonio (arguably his masterpiece), all written by Pier Paolo Pasolini.

Parting professionally with Pasolini in 1961, Bolognini went on to direct two sensual love stories starring Cardinale, La Viaccia and Senilità, before turning his talents… read more

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Daniel S.

17May11

Asylums are places that cinema have often visited. With the castle and the cemetery, the asylum is one of the favorite settings of horror directors. It's also an ideal place to recreate and comment the outside world, the society. So, in Per le antiche scale, Mauro Bolognini tells us that fascism could be a kind of madness. You may also enjoy the production design and the women surrounding Mastroianni. Recommended.

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