Portrait of Gina (1958)

Original title

Orson Welles at Large: Portrait of Gina

Directed by

Orson Welles

Genre

documentary film

Country

United States

Runtime

26 min

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 4 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This short documentary by Orson Welles offers a quick tour of Italy in the 1950s. It mixes local color with brief chats with famous Italian stars like Gina Lollobrigida and Vittorio De Sica. The film touches on both the attractive and less flattering sides of Italian life.

livelyfast-pacedobservationallightheartedopinionatednostalgiccelebrity-studdedanecdotal

What happens

Portrait of Gina, or Viva Italia is a 1958 documentary film by Orson Welles. It was funded by ABC TV. Around 30 minutes long, it follows a similar style to The Fountain of Youth (1958) and F for Fake (1973). It was intended to be the pilot for a television series called Around the World with Orson Welles, which is also the name of a series Welles made in 1955 for British commercial television. The film is about Italy (Welles's third wife, Paola Mori was of Italian nationality) where the filmmaker lived and worked intermittently for about 20 years (roughly 1947–1969). The film discusses both negative and positive aspects of Italian culture. Actress Gina Lollobrigida, who is interviewed at the end of the film, has refused it to be allowed a public release, reportedly because she was displeased by its portrayal of her as an ambitious young actress. Vittorio De Sica, Rossano Brazzi, Anna Gruber, and Welles' wife, Paola Mori, are also briefly interviewed, and the film moves along at a rapid speed. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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