Giovanna Mezzogiorno
Encyclopedia
Giovanna Mezzogiorno is an Italian
theatre
and film
actress.
Giovanna Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, November 9, 1974, daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno
and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on set, conscious about acting. At first she wanted to become a ballerina and she studied dancing for 13 years. She is an atheist.
One year later, she made her film debut in "Il viaggio della sposa" (The Bride's Journey), written by and starring Sergio Rubini. Mezzogiorno was awarded the Targa d'Argento as the New Talent in Italian Cinema, she was also given the Grolle d'Oro, and the Globo d'Oro by the Foreign Press Association and the Premio Flaiano as Best Actress of the 1997 - 1998 season.
In 1999, she played the role of Silvia, daughter of Enzo Tortora by whose mistaken conviction the film was inspired. The film, "Un uomo perbene", with Michele Placido and Mariangela Melato, was directed by Maurizio Zaccaro. In that same year, she worked in Asini, directed by Antonello Grimaldi, with celebrated Italian comedian Claudio Bisio.
In 2000 she travelled between Prague and Paris for work in the film made for TV, "Les Miserables", directed by Josée Dayan, with Gérard Depardieu and John Malkovich. She worked in Denmark in Nobel, directed by Fabio Carpi, with Hector Altero. In Italy she worked with Puglielli in Tutta la conoscenza del mondo (All There Is to Know), and then, L'Ultimo bacio (The Last Kiss) directed by Gabriele Muccino with Stefano Accorsi and Stefania Sandrelli (winning the Premio Flaiano). With the success of this last movie Giovanna become really famous in Italy.
In 2001 she worked in the film "Malefemmene" with Angela Molina and directed by Fabio Conversi, in the role of Francesca, who was imprisoned following a judicial error and came into contact with the reality of friendship and attachment which she had never imagined possible. She also worked on "Stai con me", with Adriano Giannini and directed by Livia Giampalmo, in the role of a mother of twins.
In 2002 she worked on the set of "Ilaria Alpi - Il più crudele dei giorni", in the role of the protagonist, directed by Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani (the film tells the tragic and dark story of the Italian TV journalist killed in Mogadiscio). She also worked in France in the TV movie Il segreto di Thomas (Daddy), directed by Giacomo Battiato, with Klaus Maria Brandauer, based on Loup Duran's best-seller. In Italy she starred in the film "La finestra di fronte" ("facing windows") directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, costarring Massimo Girotti and Raoul Bova. This film, critically acclaimed and a box office success, earned her a lot of awards: the David di Donatello, the Ciak d’Oro, the Nastro d’Argento, the Globo d’Oro by the Foreign Press, the Flaiano Award, the Karlovy Vary Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Lately she starred in the film "L’Amore ritorna", directed by Sergio Rubini, costarring Fabrizio Bentivoglio e Margherita Buy. She was also working in France, on the set of her first comedy: "Au secours, j'ai 30 ans", directed by Marie-Anne Chazel, with Pierre Palmade.
Then in 2004 Giovanna worked in the TV movie "Virginia (La monaca di Monza)", directed by Alberto Sironi. She then returned to the theatre, working with the director Piero Maccarinelli in "4.48 Psicosi", written by Sarah Kane.
, Shirley MacLaine
, Gong Li
, Isabelle Huppert
, Catherine Deneuve
and Sophia Loren
.
Then in 2006 she acted in "AD Project", a sci-fi thriller by Eros Puglielli and acted in "Lezioni di Volo" (Flying Lessons) by Francesca Archibugi
.
In 2007 she became Leila, a sexy thief in an Italian black comedy
: "Notturno Bus" (Night Bus), directed by Davede Marengo and starring Valerio Mastrandrea and Ennio Fantastichini.
She travelled to Colombia
to become Fermina Daza, the principal female character from Love in the Time of Cholera
based on the book written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez
and directed by Mike Newell
(Four Weddings and a Funeral
).
After two films shot in 2008, "Sono Viva" and Palermo Shooting
by Wim Wenders
, in 2009 she achieved great international success with Vincere
by Marco Bellocchio, selected for the official competition in Cannes
and a solid candidate for the final award.
She has voiced and produced a documentary to celebrate the career of her father Vittorio, 15 years after his sudden death in 1994.
She was a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
in May 2010. In January 2011, she was rewarded with the National Society of Film Critics
Award for Best Actress 2010
for her role in Vincere
.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actress.
Giovanna Mezzogiorno was born in Rome, November 9, 1974, daughter of actors Vittorio Mezzogiorno
Vittorio Mezzogiorno
Vittorio Mezzogiorno was an Italian actor.-Biography:Mezzogiorno was born in Cercola, the youngest of seven children. His older brother Vincenzo, who wanted to become a director, introduced him to the theatre....
and Cecilia Sacchi. She grew up watching her parents on set, conscious about acting. At first she wanted to become a ballerina and she studied dancing for 13 years. She is an atheist.
Early years
After her father's death when she was 19, Mezzogiorno moved to Paris where she attended the stages by Arianne Mnouchkine and worked for two years at the Peter Brook Workshop (author of The Mahabharata). She made her stage debut with the role of Ofelia in "Qui est là", based on Shakespeare's "Hamlet". The play toured various European cities. She received the Premio Coppola-Prati 1996, the jury was presided over by theatre critic Franco Quadri.One year later, she made her film debut in "Il viaggio della sposa" (The Bride's Journey), written by and starring Sergio Rubini. Mezzogiorno was awarded the Targa d'Argento as the New Talent in Italian Cinema, she was also given the Grolle d'Oro, and the Globo d'Oro by the Foreign Press Association and the Premio Flaiano as Best Actress of the 1997 - 1998 season.
Becoming a European star
In 1998 she starred in the film "Del perduto amore" directed by Michele Placido, with Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Sergio Rubini (she was awarded the Nastro d'Argento, the Ciak d'Oro and Premio Pasinetti as Best Actress in a starring role) and, for the Italian National Television Network, RaiDue, in a film made for TV "Più leggero non basta" (A lighter burden to bear) in the role of a young girl with muscular dystrophy, directed by Elisabetta Lodoli with Stefano Accorsi.In 1999, she played the role of Silvia, daughter of Enzo Tortora by whose mistaken conviction the film was inspired. The film, "Un uomo perbene", with Michele Placido and Mariangela Melato, was directed by Maurizio Zaccaro. In that same year, she worked in Asini, directed by Antonello Grimaldi, with celebrated Italian comedian Claudio Bisio.
In 2000 she travelled between Prague and Paris for work in the film made for TV, "Les Miserables", directed by Josée Dayan, with Gérard Depardieu and John Malkovich. She worked in Denmark in Nobel, directed by Fabio Carpi, with Hector Altero. In Italy she worked with Puglielli in Tutta la conoscenza del mondo (All There Is to Know), and then, L'Ultimo bacio (The Last Kiss) directed by Gabriele Muccino with Stefano Accorsi and Stefania Sandrelli (winning the Premio Flaiano). With the success of this last movie Giovanna become really famous in Italy.
In 2001 she worked in the film "Malefemmene" with Angela Molina and directed by Fabio Conversi, in the role of Francesca, who was imprisoned following a judicial error and came into contact with the reality of friendship and attachment which she had never imagined possible. She also worked on "Stai con me", with Adriano Giannini and directed by Livia Giampalmo, in the role of a mother of twins.
In 2002 she worked on the set of "Ilaria Alpi - Il più crudele dei giorni", in the role of the protagonist, directed by Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani (the film tells the tragic and dark story of the Italian TV journalist killed in Mogadiscio). She also worked in France in the TV movie Il segreto di Thomas (Daddy), directed by Giacomo Battiato, with Klaus Maria Brandauer, based on Loup Duran's best-seller. In Italy she starred in the film "La finestra di fronte" ("facing windows") directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, costarring Massimo Girotti and Raoul Bova. This film, critically acclaimed and a box office success, earned her a lot of awards: the David di Donatello, the Ciak d’Oro, the Nastro d’Argento, the Globo d’Oro by the Foreign Press, the Flaiano Award, the Karlovy Vary Award as Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Lately she starred in the film "L’Amore ritorna", directed by Sergio Rubini, costarring Fabrizio Bentivoglio e Margherita Buy. She was also working in France, on the set of her first comedy: "Au secours, j'ai 30 ans", directed by Marie-Anne Chazel, with Pierre Palmade.
Then in 2004 Giovanna worked in the TV movie "Virginia (La monaca di Monza)", directed by Alberto Sironi. She then returned to the theatre, working with the director Piero Maccarinelli in "4.48 Psicosi", written by Sarah Kane.
An international star
In 2005 "La Bestia Nel Cuore" (Don't Tell), directed by Cristina Comencini, was an Academy Award candidate for Best Foreign Language Film and earned Giovanna one of the most important international prizes for an actress: the "Coppa Volpi", previously won by Bette DavisBette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
, Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
, Gong Li
Gong Li
Gong Li is a Chinese film actress. Gong first came into international prominence through close collaboration with Chinese director Zhang Yimou and is credited with helping to bring Chinese cinema to Europe and the United States....
, Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in over 90 film and television productions since 1971. She has had 14 films in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Actress Award twice, for Violette Nozière and La pianiste . She is also the most...
, Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve
Catherine Deneuve is a French actress. She gained recognition for her portrayal of aloof and mysterious beauties in films such as Repulsion and Belle de jour . Deneuve was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1993 for her performance in Indochine; she also won César Awards for that...
and Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
.
Then in 2006 she acted in "AD Project", a sci-fi thriller by Eros Puglielli and acted in "Lezioni di Volo" (Flying Lessons) by Francesca Archibugi
Francesca Archibugi
Francesca Archibugi is an award-winning Italian film director and scriptwriter.- Biography :Born and raised in Rome in an intellectual family , she started to study acting with Alessandro Fersen and graduated in Film Direction from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia Cinecittà...
.
In 2007 she became Leila, a sexy thief in an Italian black comedy
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
: "Notturno Bus" (Night Bus), directed by Davede Marengo and starring Valerio Mastrandrea and Ennio Fantastichini.
She travelled to Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
to become Fermina Daza, the principal female character from Love in the Time of Cholera
Love in the Time of Cholera (film)
Love in the Time of Cholera is a 2007 film directed by Mike Newell. Based on the novel of the same name by Gabriel García Márquez, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza and Doctor Juvenal Urbino which spans 50 years, from 1880 to...
based on the book written by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
and directed by Mike Newell
Mike Newell (director)
Michael Cormac "Mike" Newell is an English director and producer of motion pictures for the screen and for television. After the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, Newell became the third most commercially successful British director in recent years, behind Christopher Nolan...
(Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
).
After two films shot in 2008, "Sono Viva" and Palermo Shooting
Palermo Shooting
Palermo Shooting is a film written and directed by German director Wim Wenders, and starring Campino, Dennis Hopper, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Lou Reed as himself, and an uncredited Milla Jovovich, also playing herself. The film was released in Germany on 20 November 2008. The film had its U.S...
by Wim Wenders
Wim Wenders
Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
, in 2009 she achieved great international success with Vincere
Vincere
Vincere is a film that is based on the life of the first wife of Benito Mussolini. It stars Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Ida Dalser and Filippo Timi as Benito Albino Mussolini. It was filmed under the direction of Marco Bellocchio, who also wrote the screenplay with Daniela Ceselli, and it was released...
by Marco Bellocchio, selected for the official competition in Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
and a solid candidate for the final award.
She has voiced and produced a documentary to celebrate the career of her father Vittorio, 15 years after his sudden death in 1994.
She was a member of the jury at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival
2010 Cannes Film Festival
The 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 12 to May 23, 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films screened in and out of competition during the...
in May 2010. In January 2011, she was rewarded with the National Society of Film Critics
National Society of Film Critics
The National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
Award for Best Actress 2010
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
TheNational Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the National Society of Film Critics to honour the best leading actress of the year.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
for her role in Vincere
Vincere
Vincere is a film that is based on the life of the first wife of Benito Mussolini. It stars Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Ida Dalser and Filippo Timi as Benito Albino Mussolini. It was filmed under the direction of Marco Bellocchio, who also wrote the screenplay with Daniela Ceselli, and it was released...
.
Filmography
- Il viaggio della sposa (1997)
- Del perduto amore (1998)
- Più leggero non basta (1999, TV movie)
- AsiniAsiniAsini is a village and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Nafplio, of which it is a municipal unit. Population 6,117 . The seat of the municipality was in Drepano....
(1999) - Un uomo perbene (1999)
- Les Misérables (2000, TV mini-series)
- Afrodita, el sabor del amor (2001)
- State zitti per favore (2001)
- L'ultimo bacioL'ultimo bacioL'ultimo bacio is a 2001 Italian comedy-drama movie directed by Gabriele Muccino.It was remade into The Last Kiss in 2006 by Tony Goldwyn starring Zach Braff and Rachel Bilson....
(2001) - Malefemmene (2001)
- Nobel (2001)
- Tutta la conoscenza del mondo (2001)
- Ilaria Alpi - Il più crudele dei giorni (2002)
- Entrusted (2003, TV movie)
- La finestra di fronteFacing WindowsFacing Windows is a 2003 Italian movie directed by Ferzan Özpetek.Tagline: Desire knows no bounds.-Plot:...
(Facing Windows, 2003) - L'amore ritorna (2004)
- Stai con me (2004)
- Il club delle promesse (Au secours, j'ai trente ans!, 2004)
- Virginia, la monaca di Monza (2004, TV movie)
- La bestia nel cuoreThe Beast in the HeartThe Beast in the Heart , is a 2005 film directed by Cristina Comencini, based on the novel written by herself.It was nominated for Golden Lion prize at the Venice International Film Festival...
(The Beast in the Heart, 2005) - Lezioni di volo (2006)
- Love in the Time of CholeraLove in the Time of Cholera (film)Love in the Time of Cholera is a 2007 film directed by Mike Newell. Based on the novel of the same name by Gabriel García Márquez, it tells the story of a love triangle between Fermina Daza and her two suitors, Florentino Ariza and Doctor Juvenal Urbino which spans 50 years, from 1880 to...
(2007) - Palermo ShootingPalermo ShootingPalermo Shooting is a film written and directed by German director Wim Wenders, and starring Campino, Dennis Hopper, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Lou Reed as himself, and an uncredited Milla Jovovich, also playing herself. The film was released in Germany on 20 November 2008. The film had its U.S...
(2008) - VincereVincereVincere is a film that is based on the life of the first wife of Benito Mussolini. It stars Giovanna Mezzogiorno as Ida Dalser and Filippo Timi as Benito Albino Mussolini. It was filmed under the direction of Marco Bellocchio, who also wrote the screenplay with Daniela Ceselli, and it was released...
(2009)