Anna Magnani in Mamma Roma.
New Haven is a pretty easy place to find Italian food and fairs, but what about films? The Institute Library is satisfying that craving this summer with their new film series, “Ciao, Bella!” On Thursday night the second film of the three in the series — 1962’s Mamma Roma, directed by Pier Polo Pasolini — was screened among the stacks of their biography room. Library member John Hatch had the idea for the series and according to operations manager Eva Geertz, it was one she was happy to help come to fruition.
“It’s his baby.” said Geertz, who also said she “got more and more amped up” as they figured out how to get the series going, which included figuring out how to darken the room. That involved putting a tarp over the skylight on the roof, which Gertz said “worked brilliantly the first time” — the June 25 screening of the 1980 Federico Fellini film, City of Women.
Geertz noted that the first time she walked into the library back in 2002 she said “this is the set of a Hitchcock film.”
“In a way it’s a dream fulfilled,” she said of the library offering a film series. “It tickles me.”
Karen Ponzio Photo.
John Hatch and Eva Geertz.
Hatch, who has a background in film, television and live theater, happened to mention wanting to have a film series at the library when he was there assisting artistic curators Martha Lewis and Maxim Schmidt break down a show. Lewis directed him to executive director Janice Swiatek, who had wanted to do the same thing, and Geertz, who was eager to help make it happen.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” said Hatch. “I love movies and I happened to be on an Italian film kick,” adding that he had been watching them home on his own and really “just wanted to share them” with others.
“This is a very new concept for me, but maybe the time is right,” he said. “This is a great space.”
A table was set up outside of the biography room with a bucket of Italian ices as well as pitchers of water for attendees. Hatch greeted people as they came by and told them to partake if they pleased.
Karen Ponzio Photo.
Italian ices. Apropos.
At 7 p.m. he welcomed everyone and asked if anyone had seen the film. He then mentioned that the film “tackled difficult subjects” and that he loved it mainly for its star, Anna Magnani, who in 1955 became the first Italian actress to win an Oscar (for her performance in the film The Rose Tattoo). After Geertz also welcomed everyone and gave a brief history of the Institute Library, the film began.
Karen Ponzio Photo.
Hatch introducing the film.
Magnani gives it her all right from the very first moment you meet Mamma Roma as she leads three pigs into the wedding reception of Carmine, her former lover and pimp, and his bride Clementina. With her uproarious laugh and a lovely singing voice, she sizzles in a way that makes you hang on every word she says and keeps your eyes on her every move.
The story centers on Mamma Roma’s relationship with her teenage son Ettore (played with just the right amount of youthful indifference by Ettore Garofolo) as she attempts to give him a better life by way of turning tricks and tricking others to make money and gain favors. Ettore’s budding relationship with a woman named Bruna (played by Silvana Corsini) has Mamma Roma looking for ways to get her out of the picture so Ettore can focus on that better life, but as it all plays out both Mamma and Ettore seem to both lose their focus and fall into patterns that may only do them more harm.
Pasolini was a poet as well as a filmmaker, which tracks as to how the dialogue and the story unfolds in a more nontraditional though quite lyrical way. The scenes where Mamma Roma walks the streets at night, meeting people and having short and often existential conversations with them, were rhapsodic, the moments in the film when Pasolini’s writing and Magnani’s acting both truly shined. “How you end up is your own fault,” says Mamma Roma to another woman working the streets on one of these walks. This piece of wisdom turns out to be rather prescient.
While I will not give away the ending or too many of the details of the rest of the story, I can say that this film made me want to watch more Pasolini films as well as everything Magnani has ever been in. Hatch recommended The Rose Tattoo highly and even had his own copy with him. He is also hoping to put together another series, with another genre of films, in August. It’s one sure way to beat the midsummer heat.
The next film in the series is the 1957 Federico Fellini film Nights of Cabiria on Thursday, July 25, 7 p.m., at the Institute Library, 847 Chapel St. No tickets or RSVPs are required but the Institute Library asks guests to make a suggested donation of $10. Italian ices will be available. For more information about the library and any future film series, visit their website.