Marco Bellocchio
Marco Bellocchio (born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. His is most known for his films Fists in the Pocket (1965), Slap the Monster on Page One (1972), A Leap in the Dark (1980), Good Morning, Night (2003), The Traitor (2019) and Kidnapped (2023).
Marco Bellocchio
Filippo Caranti aka Terrasque · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Marco Bellocchio
- Born
- 9 November 1939
- Birthplace
- Bobbio, Italy
- Occupation
- Film director, screenwriter, actor
- Nationality
- Italy
- Education
- Experimental Centre of Cinematography
- Honours
- Gold Medal of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art · ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival · FIPRESCI Prize of the Festival de Cannes · Chicago International Film Festival Awards · David di Donatello for Best Director · David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement
- Languages
- Italian
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Documentary summary
Marco Bellocchio (born 9 November 1939) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. His is most known for his films Fists in the Pocket (1965), Slap the Monster on Page One (1972), A Leap in the Dark (1980), Good Morning, Night (2003), The Traitor (2019) and Kidnapped (2023).
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Note VALÉORINE
Marco Bellocchio (born 1939) is an actor, director and film actor, among other activities, of Italian nationality. The actor was born in Bobbio.
Marco Bellocchio was educated at Experimental Centre of Cinematography. The actor worked in Italy.
Languages used include Italian. Works are held at Museum of Modern Art. Honours include ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival Awards and David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement, among others.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q53010 · wikipedia · Marco Bellocchio
In this article
Biography
Biography
Marco Bellocchio studied at Experimental Centre of Cinematography. The recorded working language is Italian. Places of work recorded in the authority are Italy. Work by Marco Bellocchio is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Gold Medal of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art, ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival, FIPRESCI Prize of the Festival de Cannes and Chicago International Film Festival Awards.

Italian film director Marco Bellocchio at the Italian Film Festival in Tokyo, 1 May 2010.
Yasu (talk)
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Marco Bellocchio • Born — 9 November 1939 • Birthplace — Bobbio, Italy • Occupation — Film director, screenwriter, actor • Years Active — 1962–present
Life and career
Life and career
Born in Bobbio, near Piacenza, Marco Bellocchio had a strict Catholic upbringing – his father was a lawyer, his mother a schoolteacher. He began studying philosophy in Milan but then decided to enter film school, first at the Dramatic Art Academy of Milan, then the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, and later at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. His first film, Fists in the Pocket (I pugni in tasca, winner of the Silver Sail at the 1965 Festival del film Locarno), was funded by family members and shot on family property in 1965.
Political activity
Political activity
Bellocchio made a big impact on radical Italian cinema in the mid-1960s, and was a friend of Pasolini. In 1968, he joined the Union of Italian Communists (Marxist-Leninist), a Maoist group, and began to make politically militant cinema. However, in a 2002 interview, he talked about divided state of the Italian left, politics' lacking from the aim of radical change, and how such a radical change not being appealing for him anymore: In another interview conducted in London Film Festival of 2006, he insisted still being a leftist, but argued for a need to reinvent the term: He was candidate for Italian Parliament in 2006, with Rose in the Fist list, a political cartel made by socialists and Italian Radicals (a liberal, social liberal and libertarian party).
Personal life
Personal life
Bellocchio is an atheist. He is the third son in his family along with his twin brother Camillo, who committed suicide in 1969 leaving an lasting impact on Bellocchio's life. He has three children including a son Pier Giorgio Bellocchio with actress Gisella Burinato and a daughter Elena with his current partner Francesca Calvelli who is also the editor for his films.
Television
Television
• Year — English title — Original title — Notes • 2022 — Exterior Night — Esterno notte — 6 episodes miniseries • 2026 — Portobello — 6 episodes miniseries
Documentaries
Documentaries
• Year — English title — Original title — Notes • 1969 — Il popolo calabrese ha rialzato la testa — Co-directed with • Viva il 1º maggio rosso proletario • 1975 — Fit to Be Untied — Matti da slegare — co-directed with Silvano Agosti, Sandro Petraglia, Stefano Rulli • 1979 — The Cinema Machine — La macchina cinema • 1980 — Vacation in Val Trebbia — Vacanze in Val Trebbia • 2002 — Farewell to the Past — Addio del passato • La primavera del 2002 - L'Italia protesta, l'Italia si ferma • Appunti per un film su Zio Vanja • 2021 — Marx Can Wait — Marx può aspettare
Actor
Actor
• Francesco di Assisi (1966) – Pietro • Love and Anger (1969) - Lecturer (segment "Discutiamo discutiamo") • N.P. (1971) - Preacher (voice) • Pianeta Venere (1972) • The Canterbury Tales (1972) - voice of the greedy friar in the Summoner's Tale • Slap the Monster on Page One (1972) - Giornalista Conferenza (uncredited) • Tutto in comune (1974) • Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975) - The President (voice, uncredited) • Il gabbiano (1977) - Servant (uncredited) • Vacanze in Val Trebbia (1980) - Il marito • L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre) (2002)
Identity
Identity
Marco Bellocchio is recorded with the occupation film director. Recorded as screenwriter, politician, film editor, actor and film producer.
Only Writer
• Abbasso il zio (1961) • Il ginepro fatto uomo (1962) • Discutiamo, discutiamo, episode of Love and Anger (1969) – co-direction • Nel nome del padre (1972) • Sogni infranti (1995) – TV documentary • La religione della storia (1998) – TV documentary • L'affresco (2000) • Elena (2002) • Sorelle (2006) • Sorelle Mai (2010) • The Life Apart (2024)
Films
Films
Bellocchio's films include China Is Near (1967), Slap the Monster on Page One (1972), Nel Nome del Padre (In the name of the Father – a 1972 satire on a Catholic boarding school that shares affinities with Lindsay Anderson's If....), Victory March (1976), A Leap in the Dark (1980), Henry IV (1984), Devil in the Flesh (1986), and My Mother's Smile (2002), which told the story of a wealthy Italian artist, a 'default-Marxist and atheist', who suddenly discovers that the Vatican is proposing to make his detested mother a saint. In 1991, he won the Silver Bear – Special Jury Prize at the 41st Berlin International Film Festival for his film The Conviction. In 1995, he directed a documentary about the Red Brigades and the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro, titled Broken Dreams. In 2003, he directed a feature film on the same theme, Good Morning, Night. In 2006, his film The Wedding Director was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. In 1999, he was awarded with an Honorable Prize for the contribution to cinema at the 21st Moscow International Film Festival. In 2009, he directed Vincere, which was in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival. He finished Sorelle Mai, an experimental film that was shot over ten years with the students of six separate workshops playing themselves. He was awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in September 2011. His 2012 film Dormant Beauty was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. On 6 September 2012, Bellocchio condemned the Catholic Church's interference in politics after the premiere of his controversial film about a high-profile euthanasia case. The film approaches the topic of euthanasia and the difficulty with legislation on end of life in Italy, which has Vatican City within its borders. The subject is inspired by Eluana Englaro's case. Following the decision of the jury of the Venice Film Festival, which excluded the film from the Golden Lion, Bellocchio has expressed strong criticism against President Michael Mann.
Feature films
Feature films
• Year — English title — Original title — Notes • 1965 — Fists in the Pocket — I pugni in tasca • 1967 — China Is Near — La Cina è vicina • 1972 — Slap the Monster on Page One — Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina • 1976 — Victory March — Marcia trionfale • 1977 — The Seagull — Il gabbiano • 1980 — A Leap in the Dark — Salto nel vuoto • 1982 — The Eyes, the Mouth — Gli occhi, la bocca • 1984 — Henry IV — Enrico IV • 1986 — Devil in the Flesh — Il diavolo in corpo • 1988 — The Witches' Sabbath — La visione del sabba • 1991 — The Conviction — La condanna — Silver Bear Special Jury Prize • 1994 — The Butterfly's Dream — Il sogno della farfalla • 1996 — The Prince of Homburg — Il principe di Homburg • 1999 — The Nanny — La balia • 2002 — My Mother's Smile — L'ora di religione (Il sorriso di mia madre) • 2003 — Good Morning, Night — Buongiorno, notte • 2006 — The Wedding Director — Il regista di matrimoni • 2009 — Vincere • 2012 — Dormant Beauty — Bella addormentata • 2015 — Blood of My Blood — Sangue del mio sangue • 2016 — Sweet Dreams — Fai bei sogni • 2019 — The Traitor — Il traditore • 2023 — Kidnapped — Rapito
Short films
Short films
• La colpa e la pena (1961) • La colpa e la pena (1961) • Ginepro fatto uomo (1962) • L'uomo dal fiore in bocca (1993) • Elena (1997) • Nina (1999) • L'affresco (2000) • Un filo di passione (2000) • Il maestro di coro (2001) • Oggi è una bella giornata (2002) • Pagliacci (2016) • Per una rosa (2017) • La lotta (2018) • Se posso permettermi (2021) • Se posso permettermi - Capitolo II (2024)
Reception
Marco Bellocchio is recorded as having received Gold Medal of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art, ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival and FIPRESCI Prize of the Festival de Cannes.
Recognition and collections
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Marco Bellocchio received Gold Medal of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art, ANONIMUL International Independent Film Festival, FIPRESCI Prize of the Festival de Cannes, Chicago International Film Festival Awards, David di Donatello for Best Director and David di Donatello Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Marco Bellocchio”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q53010: Marco Bellocchio
General reference · Wikidata
Awards and nominations
Awards and nominations received by Marco Bellocchio • Award — Year — Work — Category — Result • Cannes Film Festival — 2021 — Honorary Palme d'Or • Berlin International Film Festival — 1991 — The Conviction — Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize • Venice Film Festival — 2011 — Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement • David di Donatello — 1980 — A Leap in the Dark — Best Director • 2003 — My Mother's Smile • 2004 — Good Morning, Night • 2007 — The Wedding Director • 2010 — Vincere • 2011 — Sorelle Mai • 2017 — Sweet Dreams • 2020 — The Traitor • 2023 — Exterior Night • 2024 — Kidnapped • 2003 — My Mother's Smile — Best Screenplay • 2004 — Good Morning, Night • 2010 — Vincere • 2017 — Sweet Dreams • 2020 — The Traitor • 2023 — Exterior Night • 2024 — Kidnapped • 2014 — Lifetime Achievement Award • Nastro d'Argento • 1966 — Fists in the Pocket — Best Director • 2003 — My Mother's Smile • 2004 — Good Morning, Night • 2007 — The Wedding Director • 2009 — Vincere • 2011 — Sorelle mai • 2013 — Dormant Beauty • 2017 — Sweet Dreams • 2019 — The Traitor • 2023 — Kidnapped • 1966 — Fists in the Pocket — Best Story • 1968 — China Is Near • 1976 — Victory March • 2002 — My Mother's Smile • 2007 — The Wedding Director • 1966 — Fists in the Pocket — Best Screenplay • 1968 — China Is Near • 1998 — The Prince of Homburg • 2002 — My Mother's Smile • 2004 — Good Morning, Night • 2013 — Dormant Beauty • 2019 — The Traitor • 2023 — Kidnapped
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Independent Review, p. 14, 15 November 2002
- 2.Festival de Cannes. Marco Bellocchio.
- 3.Miller, Henry K. The nonconformist: Marco Bellocchio and his protest cinema. BFI. 2018-07-20.
- 4.Berlinale: 1991 Prize Winners. berlinale.de.
- 5.Festival de Cannes: The Wedding Director. festival-cannes.com dead link. January 2018.
- 6.21st Moscow International Film Festival (1999). MIFF.
- 7.Cannes Film Festival to honour jailed Iranian directors. BBC News. 11 May 2011.
- 8.Venezia 69. labiennale.
- 9.Anger Bellocchio on Venice jury.
- 10.Clarke, Roger. Marco Bellocchio: Mother love?. The Independent. 15 November 2002.
- 11.Jahed, Parviz. Socialism and the Left Should Be Reinvented, Interview with Marco Bellocchio. Universal Cinema. July 5, 2022.
- 12.Interview to Studiocinema.
- 13.Palma d'Oro d'Onore a Marco Bellocchio.
- 14.Marco Bellocchio.
- 15.Leone d'oro alla carriera a Marco Bellocchio.
- 16.Personaggi - Marco Bellocchio.
- 17.Personaggi - Marco Bellocchio.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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