Dear Friends,
We are opening our restoration of The Wide Blue Road at Film Forum on
Wednesday, June 6 (today!). It's a wonderful film from 1957 starring Yves
Montand and Alida Valli and was directed by Gillo Pontecorvo (The Battle of
Algiers). It is being presented by Jonathan Demme and Dustin Hoffman. This
was a two-year project to acquire and restore the film and it's an absolute
labor-of-love on our part. For those who want to read specifically about the
restoration, we'll have the press kit up on our website later this week. The
film is absolutely one of our favorites we have ever done. There is an review
today in the New York Times' where you can read all about it.
Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/06/arts/06BLUE.html">'The
Wide Blue Road': As a Comrade, He Could Ha…</A>
And for those who get the Times, there was also an article about it in
Sunday's (June 3) Arts and Leisure section.
We hope that as many of you from the New York area can come to the film --
especially for it's first week. It's VERY important that the film is
supported the first five days of the screening to generate good grosses and
excitement -- we want our beautiful film to flourish (these days, any "old"
film is a struggle to succeed theatrically) and with your help, it will.
So please! Come to the film, email all your friends, and pass the word! And
for those who can't make it (ie. those of you who live too far away, like
Papua New Guinea or Piscataway), pass the word on to your friends anyway!
THE WIDE BLUE ROAD is at Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street (W. of 6th
Avenue), New York, with screenings daily at 1:00, 2:55, 6:15, 8:10 and 10:10.
Thank you!
Dennis Doros
Milestone Film & Video
PO Box 128
Harrington Park, NJ 07640
Phone: (201) 767-3117 or (800) 603-1104
Fax: (201) 767-3035
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.milestonefilms.com
Yves Montand Stars in Pontecorvo's THE WIDE BLUE ROAD, Premiering Wednesday,
June 6;
1957 Feature, Presented by Jonathan Demme and Dustin Hoffman,
Heads Film Forum's Summer Releases
Film Forum is pleased to present THE WIDE BLUE ROAD (LA GRANDE STRADA
AZZURRA), a remarkable debut feature directed by Gillo Pontecorvo, famed for
THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966), only now receiving its US theatrical premiere
-- in a beautiful, newly restored print -- thanks to the efforts of Jonathan
Demme, Dustin Hoffman and Milestone Film. Demme writes: "I fell madly in
love with THE WIDE BLUE ROAD, filmed in spectacular color and starring Yves
Montand (what a hunk!). Because this is such a great movie, enormously
gripping and entertaining, as well as being early undeniable proof of
Pontecorvo's and Montand's greatness, I have gone ahead to help find the
film its long overdue American release."
Set in a fishing village off Italy's Dalmatian coast, under a brilliant,
turquoise sky, Montand plays Squarciò, a rogue fisherman who manages to feed
his family by tossing bombs into the water to kill the maximum number of
fish. When a new chief of police puts Squarciò's illegal and dangerous
exploits under closer scrutiny, his livelihood is threatened. Montand's
unforgettable, complex character is part working-class hero, part
macho-cowboy, part 1950s sex symbol at sea.
THE WIDE BLUE ROAD (1957, 90 minutes) Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo.
Presented by Jonathan Demme and Dustin Hoffman. Produced by Maleno
Malenotti. Written by Franco Solinas, Ennio De Concini, Pontecorvo. Based on
Solinas's novel Squarciò. Director of Photography: Mario Montuori. Music by
Carlo Franci. Editor: Eraldo Da Roma. Starring: Yves Montand (Squarciò),
Alida Valli (Rosetta) and Francisco Rabal (Salvatore). Restoration by
Studio Cine SRL, Rome with support from Turner Classic Movies. Italy. In
Italian with English subtitles. A Milestone Film release.
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Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the
University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu
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