Farewell Bertolucci – The passing of Bernardo Bertolucci, and remembering the work of the Italian director with a “global” reputation, has featured heavily in the foreign press this week, mostly on November 26. (New York Times went with – Bernardo Bertolucci, Director of ‘Last Tango in Paris,’ Dies at 77) He was remembered as a key figure in the new wave of Italian cinema in the 60s (The Guardian – Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango in Paris director, dies aged 77), whilst the article in the Wall Street Journal (Bernardo Bertolucci, Director of ‘Last Tango in Paris,’ Dies at 77) remembered that he was the only Italian to win an Oscar for best film with his “The Last Emperor”. Other papers revived other memories of him such as his search for aesthetic pleasure (Libération – BERTOLUCCI: «LE PLAISIR ESTHÉTIQUE ET LE SUCCÈS NE SONT PAS NÉCESSAIREMENT DE DROITE»), his transgression (Le Monde – Bernardo Bertolucci, le cinéaste de la transgression, est mort; Handelsblatt – Neun Oscars und ein Skandal) and how he liked to polemicize (El País – Bernardo Bertolucci, de profesión polemista.)
He was also remembered as the “maestro” (El Mundo, November 26 – Muere Bernardo Bertolucci, el gran maestro del cine), calling him the “last Emperor of Italian neo-realism (El Mundo, November 26 – Italia despide a Bernardo Bertolucci, el ‘último emperador’ del neorrealismo italiano) and El País commented that it was impossible to imagine the European film world without him (November 26 – Bernardo Bertolucci: la alegría de filmar y de vivir). A few papers used images to celebrate Bertolucci’s work (El País – La vida de Bernardo Bertolucci, maestro del cine italiano, en imágenes), as well as scenes from his films (El País – Bertolucci, en ocho películas) or even by remembering the most famous actresses to appear in them (El Mundo – Todas las mujeres de Bernardo Bertolucci).
Culture – There was also other news of a cultural nature. Luca Guadagnino, whose reputation for aesthetics and his choice of actors means that he is seen to be part of the fashion world, featured in an article (Les Echos November 23 – Luca Guadagnino, cinéaste fashion). The New York Times wrote about the success, in the US, of the TV adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend” (November 26 – ‘My Brilliant Friend’: A Fairy Tale of Youth Gives Way to Messy Adolescence),whilst El Mundo featured Italian music in an interview with Eros Ramazzotti who still likes to sing “romantic” songs (November 26 – Eros Ramazzotti: “No se puede comparar el ‘trap’ con Queen, no va a perdurar”).
Tourism and Food & Wine – Tuscany was in the spotlight this week, with Les Echos, writing about Florence, noting that it is not just a Renaissance museum, but it is also home to several important collections of modern and contemporary art (November 23 – Escale à… Florence) whilst another article in the same paper was all about the “straightening” of Pisa’s famous leaning tower (November 22 – Ca se passe en Europe : la Tour de Pise se redresse). For Bloomberg however, it was the Trentino and Franciacorta that were of interest, in an article that explored local alternatives to Prosecco (November 27 – Beyond Prosecco: These Italian Sparkling Wines Are for More Than Mimosas*).
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