La donna nel mondo
Encyclopedia
La donna nel mondo is a 1963
mondo
documentary film made by Italians
Gualtiero Jacopetti
, Paolo Cavara
and Franco Prosperi. Original music was composed by Riz Ortolani
and Nino Oliviero. The film is a series of segments profiling many interesting or unusual activities done by women in different countries.
Among those featured are women training in the Israel Army
, a female priest
in Sweden, window prostitutes in Hamburg's red light district
, bed models in Hollywood California, professional mourners
in Sardinia
, Lamaze classes
in Switzerland, a fashion show given to the Maasai, divorce ranches in Nevada, United States Treasurer Elizabeth Rudel Smith
, eyelid-shaping surgery in Japan, and spent ordnance scavengers in Western Sahara
.
Released first in Italy on January 30 1963, most of the footage was shot in 1962. Its original uncut length is 107 minutes. Narration for the Italian version was done by Stefano Sibaldi, while English narration was provided by Peter Ustinov
.
and Women of the World were a unique project in realization, then divided in two parts, and two films. When this news were published Mondo Cane was too far to issue and last immediately Cineriz’ success remembered was “The Sweet Life”(1960). They are important documents testifyin’ director Paolo Cavara
’s and his supervisor Stanis Nievo’s interviews on film.
ISLE WOMEN TO PLAY ROLE IN ITALIAN FILM DOCUMENT
'10 MINUTES WITH A WOMAN HUNTER'
Maggy Burrows
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
mondo
Mondo film
A mondo film is an exploitation documentary film, sometimes resembling a pseudo-documentary, usually depicting sensational topics, scenes, and situations...
documentary film made by Italians
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Gualtiero Jacopetti
Gualtiero Jacopetti was an Italian director of documentary films.He was born in Barga, in northern Tuscany...
, Paolo Cavara
Paolo Cavara
Paolo Cavara has been a screenwriter and a movie director. He was born in Bolognain 1926.-Biography:During the Fifties, he studied architecture in Florence University, then he realized documentaries for scientific trips, and emerged as a pioneer of the underwater cinematography Paolo Cavara has...
and Franco Prosperi. Original music was composed by Riz Ortolani
Riz Ortolani
Riziero "Riz" Ortolani is an Italian film composer.In the early 1950s Ortolani was founder and member of a jazz band of national Italian renown...
and Nino Oliviero. The film is a series of segments profiling many interesting or unusual activities done by women in different countries.
Among those featured are women training in the Israel Army
Women in the Israel Defense Forces
Women in the Israeli Defense Forces are female soldiers who serve in the Israel Defense Forces. Israel is the only country in the world with a mandatory military service requirement for women...
, a female priest
Ordination of women
Ordination in general religious usage is the process by which a person is consecrated . The ordination of women is a regular practice among some major religious groups, as it was of several religions of antiquity...
in Sweden, window prostitutes in Hamburg's red light district
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
, bed models in Hollywood California, professional mourners
Professional mourning
Professional mourning or paid mourning is a mostly historical occupation practiced in Near Eastern cultures and many other parts of the world. Professional mourners are compensated to lament or deliver a eulogy. Mentioned in the Bible, the occupation is widely invoked in literature, from the...
in Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
, Lamaze classes
Lamaze technique
The Lamaze Technique, often referred to as Lamaze, is a prepared childbirth technique developed in the 1940s by French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze as an alternative to the use of medical intervention during childbirth...
in Switzerland, a fashion show given to the Maasai, divorce ranches in Nevada, United States Treasurer Elizabeth Rudel Smith
Elizabeth Rudel Smith
Elizabeth Rudel Smith Gatov was a leader of the California Democratic Party who served as Treasurer of the United States, 1961-1962....
, eyelid-shaping surgery in Japan, and spent ordnance scavengers in Western Sahara
Western Sahara
Western Sahara is a disputed territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria to the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its surface area amounts to . It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly...
.
Released first in Italy on January 30 1963, most of the footage was shot in 1962. Its original uncut length is 107 minutes. Narration for the Italian version was done by Stefano Sibaldi, while English narration was provided by Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
.
Title Variations
| English | Women of the World |
| Finnish | Maailman naiset |
| French | La femme dans le monde |
| German | Alle Frauen dieser Welt |
| Greek | I gynaika s' olo ton kosmo |
| Italian | La donna nel mondo |
| Portugese | Mundo Mulher |
| Turkish | Dünya kadinlari |
Documents
As it’s possible to argue by these rare 1961’ old articles, Mondo CaneMondo cane
Mondo cane is a documentary written and directed by Italian filmmakers Paolo Cavara, Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti. The film consists of a series of travelogue vignettes that provide glimpses into cultural practices around the world with the intention to shock or surprise Western film...
and Women of the World were a unique project in realization, then divided in two parts, and two films. When this news were published Mondo Cane was too far to issue and last immediately Cineriz’ success remembered was “The Sweet Life”(1960). They are important documents testifyin’ director Paolo Cavara
Paolo Cavara
Paolo Cavara has been a screenwriter and a movie director. He was born in Bolognain 1926.-Biography:During the Fifties, he studied architecture in Florence University, then he realized documentaries for scientific trips, and emerged as a pioneer of the underwater cinematography Paolo Cavara has...
’s and his supervisor Stanis Nievo’s interviews on film.
ISLE WOMEN TO PLAY ROLE IN ITALIAN FILM DOCUMENT
- What makes Hawaii’s women tick? An Italian film company intends to let the world in on the secret when it completes a two–part technicolor documentary in time for competition at the Venice Film Festival in September. «There’s a kind of plot», dapper Paolo CavaraPaolo CavaraPaolo Cavara has been a screenwriter and a movie director. He was born in Bolognain 1926.-Biography:During the Fifties, he studied architecture in Florence University, then he realized documentaries for scientific trips, and emerged as a pioneer of the underwater cinematography Paolo Cavara has...
, director for Produzione CinerizCinerizCineriz was an Italian media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films, founded in the early 50s by the businessman Angelo Rizzoli...
of Rome, confined here yesterday. «It’s baring the secret of woman’s survival. Woman is born less sturdy than man. But here she is! The woman chooses a different way to reach success in her fight against man’s superior strength. Sometimes she wins». «This is a factual film. It will be very beautiful. We are tracing woman from the primitive to the modern.» Cavara was aboard the President Wilson yesterday. He will set the Hawaii sequence before the arrival of an eight–man crew including directors, cameramen and production managers now shooting in the South PacificOceaniaOceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
. They are due Feb.1 for a month’s shooting. Just who will be the modern Hawaiian woman or where the filming will take place, Cavara does not know. He has completed the Japanese woman’s role in the film. All European segments, excluding Iron curtain areas, were completed in the past nine months. Women from the most primitive parts of New GuineaNew GuineaNew Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
have been recorded. Africa, said Cavara, will come after “the American parts”. Cavara hopes the film titled “The Woman of the world,” will be another winner for Produzione Cineriz which took first prize at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival with The Sweet LifeThe Sweet LifeThe Sweet Life may refer to:*La dolce vita, a 1960 film directed by Federico Fellini*The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, an American children's television series that airs on the Disney Channel*The Sweet Life...
,, starring Anita EkbergAnita EkbergKerstin Anita Marianne Ekberg is a Swedish model, actress and cult sex symbol. She is best known for her role as Sylvia in the 1960 Federico Fellini film La Dolce Vita which features the legendary scene of her cavorting in Trevi Fountain alongside Marcello Mastroianni.-Biography:Ekberg was born in...
and Marcello MastroianniMarcello MastroianniMarcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
.
'10 MINUTES WITH A WOMAN HUNTER'
- Tokyo is currently undergoing a quiet invasion of youthful, gallant movie types from sunny Rome, here on a familiar Latin quest. The gentlemen are in search of the ladies. The chase have taken them to charm schools, bride schools, transistor factories, night clubs, the Kodokan, the Tokyo cocktail school for fledgling bartenders, and the JTB. Out of this diffuse search into the nooks and crannies of modern Japan will come the feature players of a full–length, wide–screen, full color Italian documentary film “La donna nel Mondo” (Women of the world). This week we met the first stage of the Italian film contingent, production manager Stanislao NievoStanislao NievoStanislao Nievo is an Italian writer, journalist and director. He won the Strega Prize. It is the little little son of Ippolito Nievo, author of Le confessioni di un italiano.-Works:...
and director Paolo CavaraPaolo CavaraPaolo Cavara has been a screenwriter and a movie director. He was born in Bolognain 1926.-Biography:During the Fifties, he studied architecture in Florence University, then he realized documentaries for scientific trips, and emerged as a pioneer of the underwater cinematography Paolo Cavara has...
, who have been here for the past week or so setting the stage for the camera crew of two and two more directors who arrive in Tokyo in a few days. Before getting down to the plot, or rather purpose of “La Donna”, Mr. Nievo explained why so many directors were involved. «Some of the men have other commitments, and you’re doing a long documentary that will take you all over the world, as this one will, you need to work with more than one director. And besides, several directors are something of a tradition in Italian documentaries. A lot of films are made this way, including the recent film on China. “La Grande Muraglia”.» “La Donna”, Mr Nievo went on to say, is a Production Cineriz, the company that made this year’s smashing Cannes Festival success, “La Dolce Vita”(…). But “La Donna” will be quite a different sort of affair. Mr Nievo assured to us. «We want to show what the women of today are doing in Europe, America, Asia and Africa, and to catch the particular essence of the women of different countries. In Europe, it will be ‘changing woman’, in India, perhaps we’ll emphasize fashion, and in Japan, we will try to show the graciousness of the women – a traditional graciousness which they manage to preserve even in the most mundane aspects of modern life». Were Mr Nievo and company trying to come up with a combination for the perfect woman, we asked. «Goodness No!» he laughed. «We aren’t looking for a perfect woman, just for a human woman, one who can be admired by women as well as liked by men. As close as we can get to this will be the sign of our success.» And what will Italian women contribute to this winning combination, was our next question. Mr Nievo answered with a sly smile, «that is a problem we intend to avoid. We will simply contrast the generalized northern European and the generalized southern European woman.» Mr Nievo and company are also deftly skirting the question of the role of man in modern woman’s life. Man, he sneaks in at all, will only be a shadowy figure “somewhere in the background.” “La Donna” has three directors but non scriptwriter. «We all write it as we go along», he explained. «A documentary depends on what you see and discover as you go along.» And getting back to the subject of Japan’s women, director Cavara (who has worked as an assistant director on many made–in–Rome American productions, including John HustonJohn HustonJohn Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
’s “Beat the Devil”) chimed in with one of his discoveries on the local scene. «Here everything I so sweet and gentle. You don’t see any corruption on the faces of the women. In other countries there are women who are tramps and look it. But here if there are any tramps, you can’t tell just by looking at them.» Japan is the first outside Europe. Stop in the movie makers’ itinerary. After several weeks shooting here there are off for Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia. With such a long way still to go, the film won’t be ready for release until fall of ’62.
Maggy Burrows