L'Oro di Napoli to 'pre-open' Venice film fest

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 23 - A restored version of Italian commedia all'italiana masterpiece L'oro di Napoli is to be the 'pre-opening' highlight ringing up the curtain on the 81st Venice Film Festival marking the 50th anniversary of director Vittorio De Sica's death and the 70th anniversary of the iconic comedy's debut in cinemas.
    Featuring an all-star cast of Sophia Loren, Silvana Mangano, Paolo Stoppa, Eduardo De Filippo, Tina Pica, and De Sica himself, all in a state of grace, the film is one of the greatest masterpieces of Italian popular cinema.
    Organisers said it would also be a way of paying homage to Loren, who was 20 at the time and who will be 90 on September 20.
    Martin Scorsese says in his My Voyage to Italy: "L'Oro di Napoli was on television back then in New York and everyone in the district saw it again and again and we really loved it. It embodies something I really appreciate in Italian cinema: the way it moves effortlessly between comedy and tragedy".
    The fest runs from August 28 to September 7. (ANSA).