I basilischi (The Lizards). 1963. Written and directed by Lina Wertmüller

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I basilischi (The Lizards). 1963. Written and directed by Lina Wertmüller. Courtesy of Cinecittà

I basilischi (The Lizards). 1963. Italy. Written and directed by Lina Wertmüller. With Antonio Petruzzi, Stefano Satta Flores, Sergio Ferranino. In Italian; English subtitles. ed by Lina Wertmüller. With Antonio Petruzzi, Stefano Satta Flores, Sergio Ferranino. 4K digital restoration by Cinecittà; courtesy Cinecittà. 85 min.

After assisting Federico Fellini on 8½, Lina Wertmüller made her directorial debut with this portrait of three young men who halfheartedly pursue girls, careers, meaning…any form of escape, really, from the stifling parochialism of their hillside town in southern Italy. The Lizards, with its overtly Neorealist allusions to Fellini’s I vitelloni, was a breakthrough not only for Wertmüller, who would go on to make such idiosyncratic, polarizing films as Love & Anarchy and Swept Away, but also for Ennio Morricone, whose score wavers between gentle irony and tender melancholy, recalling Georges Delerue’s musical compositions for François Truffaut.

This film accompanies Ennio Morricone and Ennio Morricone.

Past events

Mon, Dec 4, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1
Sat, Dec 2, 2023, 1:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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