Le ragazze di San Frediano

The young mechanic Andrea Sernesi — nicknamed “Bob” because of his supposed resemblance to Hollywood star Robert Taylor — is a notorious heartbreaker in the Florentine neighborhood of Borgo San Frediano, and currently in a relationship with five different women. When one of his “fiancées” finds out, she informs the other four and together they decide to teach Bob a lesson. Zurlini’s debut is a portrait of a generation caught between a still rural Italy, with its archaic morals, and a country that is modernizing at a rapid pace. As a character, Bob anticipates the traits of Pasolini’s “ragazzi di vita,” while the female protagonists cling to traditional roles while also exploring new forms of emancipation.

Showing first: Serenata da un soldo Italy 1953 35 mm ital. OV/Engl. ST 12 min.
Soldati in città Italy 1953 35 mm ital. OV/Engl. ST 10 min.
La stazione Italy 1953 35 mm ital. OV/French ST 11 min.

SERENATA DA UN SOLDO: This short film "told the story of the lives and organization of the street pianists of Barberia. […] The musicians were mostly from the south and were employed and paid a pitttance by shady pair of men, who owned about 20 old pianos, which they shuttled around the city from morning to sunset." (Valerio Zurlini)
SOLDATI IN CITTÀ: Once again, military personnel play a leading role in a work, by Zurlini, but this time in peacetime. The camera follows several soldiers who are on leave through streets of Rome.
LA STAZIONE: “The film was the very first example of cinéma vérité, predating the emergence of this style by many years. The documentary was shot in a month, always in the still gloomy hours of dawn, and captured the raw reality of an Italy that has not changed: poor people sleeping in third-class waiting rooms, southerners waiting for the train that would take them north to seek work, and the whole naked and secret life of the beautiful, newly inaugurated train station" (Roma Termini). (Valerio Zurlini)