| Bellissima | |
| Director: | Luchino Visconti |
| Producer: | Salvo D'Angelo |
| Starring: | Anna Magnani Walter Chiari Tina Apicella Gastone Renzelli Tecla Scarano Arturo Bragaglia Alessandro Blasetti |
| Music: | Franco Mannino, inspired by Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore |
| Cinematography: | Piero Portalupi |
| Editing: | Mario Serandrei |
| Studio: | Film Bellissima |
| Distributor: | CEI Incom |
| Runtime: | 115 minutes |
| Country: | Italy |
| Language: | Italian |
Bellissima is a 1951 Italian drama film directed by Luchino Visconti and starring Anna Magnani, Walter Chiari and Tecla Scarano.[1] In 2008, the film was included on the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage’s 100 Italian films to be saved, a list of 100 films that "have changed the collective memory of the country between 1942 and 1978."[2]
Bellissima centers on a working-class mother in Rome, Maddalena, who drags her young daughter to Cinecittà Studios to attend an audition for a new film by Alessandro Blasetti. Maddalena's efforts to promote her daughter grow increasingly frenzied.
Alessandro Blasetti, a contemporary film director, appears as himself. Keeping in with the tradition of Italian neorealism a number of roles went to members of the public. Magnani played a part in their selection, approving of Gastone Renzelli a butcher who was cast as her husband.[3]
The film's sets were designed by Gianni Polidori. It was shot at the Cinecittà Studios, which appear prominently in the film. It was not a box office success.[4]