One of the great directors of Italian neorealism tells an epic and engaging story, with acute social observations, thrilling adventure and passionate love
Silvana Mangano and Yves Montand in the rugged mountains of Abruzzo, where men can be more dangerous than wolves
Giuseppe De Santis is one of the most important directors of the post-war period. He developed a very personal vision of neorealism, and managed to unite observations of reality and political themes in favour of ordinary people with the cadences of spectacular popular cinema. During production of Uomini e lupi, the director brought his cast and crew to the rugged mountains of Abruzzo, in a year of record snowfalls. The precise and intransigent social observations do not get lost in the action, which is worthy of a western. The description of a place and time is interrupted by an attack by a pack of wolves straight out an adventure film. As for the cast, critic Leo Pestelli had this to say when the film was released: “Silvana Mangano paints a painful and gentle portrait of a common woman with pictorial sensibilities, while Yves Montand alternates breezily between being arrogant and moving.”
In a small town in Abruzzo, the shepherds live in terror that wolves will attack their flocks. Two “lupari” (professional wolf hunters) arrive, attracted by the money offered by the town. One of them arrives with his family while the other is alone. The two men end up as rivals, not just in work, but also in love…
One of the great directors of Italian neorealism tells an epic and engaging story, with acute social observations, thrilling adventure and passionate love
Silvana Mangano and Yves Montand in the rugged mountains of Abruzzo, where men can be more dangerous than wolves
Giuseppe De Santis is one of the most important directors of the post-war period. He developed a very personal vision of neorealism, and managed to unite observations of reality and political themes in favour of ordinary people with the cadences of spectacular popular cinema. During production of Uomini e lupi, the director brought his cast and crew to the rugged mountains of Abruzzo, in a year of record snowfalls. The precise and intransigent social observations do not get lost in the action, which is worthy of a western. The description of a place and time is interrupted by an attack by a pack of wolves straight out an adventure film. As for the cast, critic Leo Pestelli had this to say when the film was released: “Silvana Mangano paints a painful and gentle portrait of a common woman with pictorial sensibilities, while Yves Montand alternates breezily between being arrogant and moving.”
In a small town in Abruzzo, the shepherds live in terror that wolves will attack their flocks. Two “lupari” (professional wolf hunters) arrive, attracted by the money offered by the town. One of them arrives with his family while the other is alone. The two men end up as rivals, not just in work, but also in love…
