“Invito alla lettura di Flaiano” is the new essay by Lucilla Sergiacomo on the great writer from Abruzzo, a widely updated and enriched reinterpretation of a previous text from 1996, among the various works that the author has dedicated to Ennio Flaiano (Pescara, 5 March 1910 – Rome, 20 November 1972).
Therefore, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his death, especially on the part of Sergiacomo who has published so many studies on Flaiano, one of the greatest and most eclectic authors of the twentieth century, this further significant tribute could not be missed.
Ennio Flaiano, in fact, was a journalist, theatre and film critic – for the World of
Pannunzio, the Corriere della Sera, the Europeo, the Espresso, and other newspapers -, as well as
screenwriter of some of the most important post-war films.
In this particular sector, the strong collaboration with Federico Fellini stands out, for the screenplay of The White Sheik, Nights of Cabiria, I Vitelloni, La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, Juliet of the Spirits, authentic masterpieces of the seventh art, but also for other great directors such as Lattuada, Monicelli, Steno, Blasetti, Rossellini, Risi, Antonioni, Germi, Petri, Zampa, Ferreri, Montaldo and many others.
A bitter and tragic moralist, Flaiano wrote various narrative and prose works pervaded by an original satirical vein and a lively sense of the grotesque, through which the most paradoxical aspects of contemporary reality are captured: Time to Kill (1947, Strega Prize), One and One Night (1959), The Game and the Massacre (1970), The White Shadows (1972), The Autobiography of Prussian Blue (posthumous, 1974), Diary of Errors (posthumous, 1977). His theatrical texts have similar tones: War Explained to the Poor (1946), The Woman in the Wardrobe (1958), A Martian in Rome and Other Farces (1971).
In 1974, the Flaiano Prize was dedicated to his memory, certainly the most important competition for cinema scriptwriters and screenwriters.
It might interest you
The event takes place every year in Pescara, his hometown, where a monument has also been erected in his honor.
“Invito alla lettura di Flaiano” by Lucilla Sergiacomo, recently published by Mursia. Ennio Flaiano, winner of the first Strega Prize with Tempo di uccidere, an anti-colonial and counter-current novel, screenwriter of Fellini’s legendary Dolce vita, original playwright, author of powerful satires on Italian vices and famous and lightning-fast aphorisms, prestigious signature of the great national journalism, has long since entered the literary canon of the twentieth century, after the publication of his posthumous writings.
The value of his multifaceted and talented work has been confirmed in recent years by the rediscovery and appreciation of Flaiano as a journalist, an acute and prophetic observer of
costume, of the film and theatre reviewer, of the singular and compelling writer for the cinema.
This new edition of the Invitation to Reading Flaiano by Lucilla Sergiacomo,
largely updated, it also highlights these components of the eclectic production of the
great author from Abruzzo and his ability to experiment with the different languages of
contemporaneity.
The book opens with a rich and very interesting Chronology, really very clear and effective, which year by year, from birth 1910 to death 1972, summarizes the most significant facts (Life of Flaiano - Cultural events - Historical events) giving an illuminating picture of the writer's personal story and of the cultural and historical context. This first part of the book is certainly of great use to the reader. At least this is how the writer here has evaluated it.
Already in the incipit of the first chapter Lucilla Sergiacomo clearly clarifies the meaning and intent of this substantial investigative work on the life and works of Flaiano.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to