Il Bell´Antonio

Music by Piero Piccioni

 

 

 

 

 

Classic soundtrack from Italian cinema that changed ways after neo-realism orchestral tradition, Il Bell'Antonio (1961) is possibly the most important work in Piero Piccioni career.

The main theme and its variations are incredibly significant in the world of shadows to which Antonio (Marcello Mastroianni) seems inclined to hide himself. The almost agonized resignation of the music (in jazz language) is undoubtedly one of the film music greatest achievements in giving visibility to not verbalized character´s condition (the impotence). As does Antonio, the music dodges, hides in empty halls as a lonely lament. The mundane atmosphere of jazz swings and carefree waltzes (Part 03, Part 09, Part 25) even more alienates Antonio and his silence in a patriarchal society in which virility is a public virtue. A milestone soundtrack in the history of Italian cinema and possibly the entire European cinema.