“Il Padre di famiglia”, starring Nino Manfredi
Movie Synopsis
Head of the Family (IL Padre de Famiglia) is a sparse seriocomic effort directed and co-written by Italian documentary filmmaker Nanni Loy. When his wife Leslie Caron announces she is pregnant, Nino Manfredi is at first overjoyed. His delight dwindles into quiet desperation as his little family grows and grows. With so many precocious children scurrying about, the macho Manfredi feels that his position as head of the household is threatened. In a gentle, nonaggressive manner, Head of the Family reveals several universal truths about family solidarity.
Actor and Director Nino Manfredi
An actor and director, Nino Manfredi studied a the Accademia DArte Drammatica with Tino Buazzelli, Paolo Danelli, Giancarlo Sbragia, Luciano Salce and Luigi Squarzina. A student of Orazio Costa, he also worked alongside Eduardo De Filippo and appeared in skits, musical comedies and television and radio shows. A great interpreter of Italian comedy, under the guidance of famous directors such as Dino Risi, Ettore Scola and Antonio Petrangeli, he added to the realistic base of his performance a unique flash of surrealism or a vein of bitter sarcasm, almost always bringing to the surface a deep yet completely controlled irony which often takes on a dramatic hue.
As a director, in 1971, he won the Best First Work Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his autobiographical film Per Grazia Ricevuta. He also won the Nastro dArgento Award for Best Actor: in 1966 with Lina Wertmüllers Questa Volta Parliamo di Uomini, in 1970 with Luigi Magnis film Nellanno del Signore and in 1978 with the film In nome del Papa re. He also worked with other well-known directors such as: Nanni Loy, Mario Camerini, Luigi Zampa, Damiano Damiani, Sergio Corbucci, Giuliano Montaldo, Giulio Paradisi, Maurizio Ponzi, Castellano and Pipolo.He has taken part in many important European productions such as Helsinki Napoli All Night Long (1987), Mika Kaurismäkis Napoli-Berlino, un taxi nella notte, Jos Stellings De Vliegende Hollander (1995).
