Jaeger - Le Coultre goes to the movies
The Mostra (generally referred to in English as the Venice Film Festival) is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. For the third year running, the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre will be present at all the festival highlights, from the Golden Lion prize-giving ceremony for directors and actors honored by the jury, to making prestigious models available to stars for their red carpet walk across the famous “footbridge”.
In addition to its role within the festivities themselves, Jaeger-LeCoultre intends to extend its patronage and to reinforce its action within the movie world.
The project dedicated to restoration of the filmmaking heritage, first proposed two years ago by the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia, naturally caught the attention of the Swiss fine watch manufacturer. Itself enriched by over 170 years of history, the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre is particularly sensitive to the concept of safeguarding and passing on values and skills, keenly aware of the extent to which the future is built on knowledge and improvement of the legacy handed down by previous generations.
The idea of creating a fund for restoring old films, called the “Fund for Cinema”, was thus born.
In 2006, Jaeger-LeCoultre was particularly touched by the decision to restore the Italian film “Il Feroce Saladino”, a cult movie released in 1937, just a few years after the creation of the Reverso watch (1931).
In 2007, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Mostra, the film selected for restoration is ” Gli uomini che mascalzoni” (What Scoundrels Men Are), directed in 1932 by Mario Camerini. A particularly powerful symbol in light of the fact that this was the first Italian film presented at the first edition of the Mostra Internazionale d’Arte Cinematografica on the evening of August 11th 1932.
Development projects
Looking ahead, these projects are to be followed by an annual contribution to the film restoration fund of La Biennale di Venezia, in which the brand has every confidence with regard to the choice of projects to be supported.
For the 2007 edition, Sergio Castellito, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Josh Hartnett, Valentino Rossi and Oliver Stone have graciously provided their respective signatures.
These one-of-a-kind creations will be auctioned at the festival pre-opening gala evening staged by La Biennale di Venezia at the PALAZZO QUERINI DUBOIS on August 28th.
The entire proceeds from this auction, organized by the famous Antiquorum auctioneers, will be donated to the fund for restoration of old films run by La Biennale di Venezia.
Important Notice
• Buyers will be charged only the hammer price
• As these watches are sold for charity, local TVA is not applicable and cannot be deducted upon exportation from Italy
FICHE FILM
What Scoundrels Men Are! (Gli uomini che mascalzoni…,1932)
Provisional title: Taxi; Director: Mario Camerini; Story: Mario Camerini, Aldo De Benedetti ; Screenplay: Mario Camerini, Aldo De Benedetti, Mario Soldati ; Actors: Vittorio De Sica (Bruno) , Lia Franca (Mariuccia), Cesare Zoppetti (Tadino) , Aldo Moschino – later Giacomo Moschini (conte Piazzi), Pia Lotti – later Carla Lotti (Gina); Photography: Massimo Terzano, Domenico Scala; Editing: Fernando Tropea ; Music: Cesare A. Bixio, Armando Fragna; Songs: “Parlami d’amore Mariù” by Cesare A.Bixio and F.Neri; Sets: Gastone Medin; Produced by: Emilio Cecchi for Cines (Società anonima Stefano Pittalunga); Duration: 67′
Milan, 1930s. Bruno (Vittorio De Sica), a driver, meets Mariuccia, a shop assistant and daughter of a taxi driver, Tadino, in a perfumery. He invites her to go for a spin around the lakes north of Milan, in a car which he leads her to believe is his. Once they have arrived at an inn, Bruno leaves Mariuccia for a moment and happens to see his boss’s wife. He is forced to flee with the car without warning the girl. During his flight, he runs into a farmer’s cart; he returns home with a damaged car and is fired. Meanwhile, the troubled Mariuccia has had to spend the night at the inn, and she decides to break off her relationship with Bruno. The two start competing in making the other jealous. Thanks to Mariuccia, but without acknowledging the fact, Bruno finds a job at the Milan Trade Fair, and pretends to woo the girl in the stand opposite Mariuccia’s. He invites the other girl to the funfair, but when he sees Mariuccia in tears, he follows her, full of remorse, embraces her and they make up. The story ends with the girl’s father finding the pair of them in his taxi, and giving them his consent to get married.
Gli uomini che mascalzoni… was the first Italian feature film to be presented at the first edition of the International Film Festival, on the evening of 11th August 1932 on the terrace of the Hotel Excelsior at Lido di Venezia, and then called the Venice Film Exhibition. It is the most characteristic of Camerini’s works, and in many ways it forms a link between “white telephone films” and neo-realism. It is also one of his best films, marked by his highly graceful style that has rendered him immortal. In Gli uomini che mascalzoni…, we find all the main elements to be found in Camerini’s style: he reveals himself as a great portrayer of the lower middle classes in 1930s Italy, depicting the customs of the time through sentimental stories and episodes drawn from everyday reality, staged with a subtle and melancholic humorous tone. With this comic and sentimental film, Camerini in many ways anticipated the neo-realist movement, stylishly portraying the lives of ordinary people: a chauffeur, a taxi-driver in a real Milan, shown amidst its modernisation process in the 1930s, with its people, its roads and shops. The film marked the debut of Vittorio De Sica as actor and star of the silver screen. With this film, De Sica underwent two baptisms: as cinema actor and for the famous song by Bixio, “Parlami d’Amore Mariù”, which would become highly popular. Gli uomini che mascalzoni… proved to be one of the greatest successes of those years, and was remade in 1953 by Glauco Pellegrini under the title Gli uomini che mascalzoni!.
Biographical notes:
Mario Camerini (1895 – 1981), is unanimously considered to be one of Italy’s most important directors. Over a period of 50 years, he was one of the most productive and famous “craftsmen” in his field. Most of his 50 films (made between the end of the silent era and the beginning of the 1970s) were very well received throughout the world. Alongside Blasetti, Camerini was confirmed as the most important Italian director of the 1930s, following the release of Rotaie (1929), his last silent film. In 1930, he produced his first film with sound, La riva dei bruti, for Paramount at Joinville in France. Figaro e la sua gran giornata dates from 1931 and marks the beginning of the director’s comic and ironic touch, which was to characterise his best films. The film that revealed Camerini’s approach best is Gli uomini che mascalzoni…. Later, he also made Il cappello a tre punte (1934), Darò un milione (presented in Venice in 1935); Il signor Max (rewarded in Venice in 1937 with the Coppa del Ministero della cultura popolare for best Italian film), Ma non è una cosa seria (1936), Batticuore (1939), Grandi magazzini (presented in Venice in 1939), Una romantica avventura (presented in Venice in 1940), Promessi sposi (1941). After the war, Camerini filmed the quasi neo-realist Molti sogni per le strade (presented in Venice in 1950), which has some analogies with the contemporary Ladri di Biciclette, and subsequently and successfully devoted himself to popular drama and history films. These years saw him direct Il brigante Musolino (1950), Moglie per una notte (1952), Suor Letizia (presented in Venice in 1956), and Ulisse (Ulysses, 1954). The 1960s saw him make Crimen (1961) and Delitto quasi perfetto (1966). Camerini’s career continued until Don Camillo e i giovani d’oggi (1972), which enjoyed great public success. But the films that have assured him a place in the history of film-making are those from the “lower-middle-class”, as G.C. Castello defined them, made in the 1930s, in which he succeeded in giving a voice to the mannerisms, aspirations and dreams of a little, other Italy, with a subtle underlying vein of mischief.
It seems like they need some popularity! Now I see why Movado doesn’t do this!
Related Posts
Tags: GoldWatches, Info, italy, Jaeger-LeCoultre Watches, Jewelerslounge, Movado, Watch, Watches, Watches in the Movies
