From Sophia Loren to Monica Bellucci, 20 Times Italian Bombshells Ruled the Venice Film Festival
Just as Cannes has its effortlessly chic French girls, Venice Film Festival has always been the undisputed domain of the Italian bombshell. Since the showcase’s inception nine decades ago, these impossibly glamorous women have shimmied off their private water taxis and onto the Lido in showstopping ball gowns, with dramatic cat eyes and lashings of mascara, their hair teased up to perfection and eye-wateringly expensive jewels draped around their necks.
Among them were Fellini heroines like Claudia Cardinale; Michelangelo Antonioni’s bewitching muse Monica Vitti; the always elegant Sophia Loren; and Monica Bellucci, still the very definition of va-va-voom style. As we count down to the event’s 83rd edition, we look back at their most dazzling moments from festivals past. Venice Film Festival 1953. Lenova Ruffo Italian film star.
August 1953 D5369-004 (Photo by WATFORD/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix Italian actress Sophia Loren, wearing a tailleur with a bow, holding an umbrella because of the rain, standing on a water taxi, Venice, 1955. (Photo by Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/ French actress Francoise Arnoul (Francoise Annette Marie Mathilde Gautsch) and Italian actress Giulietta Masina posing among the pigeons in San Marco square during the 16th Venice International Film Festival
Venice, September 1955 (Photo by Mario De Biasi/Carlo
Venice, September 1955 (Photo by Mario De Biasi/Carlo BavagnoliMondadori Portfolio by Getty Images) Gina Lollobrigida and her husband Milko Skofic are seated in the stalls waiting for the start of XVII Venice International Film Festival, around them photographers and members of the audience. Venice, 1956. (Photo by Emilio Ronchini/Mondadori via Getty Images) 1956 Venice Film Festival, Friday 31st August 1956; pictured is Italian actress Elsa Martinelli speaking with Bernard McElwaine Sunday Pictorial Journalist.
(Photo by Carl Bruin/Mirrorpix via Getty Images) The Italian actress Anna Magnani guest at the Film Festival laughs sitting near the actor James Mason. Venice, August 1956. (Photo by Emilio Ronchini/Mondadori via Getty Images) (Original Caption) Venice: Maria Meneghini Callas, Italian Opera singer, arriving at International Film Festival in Venice, Italy. 9/29/56. Italian actress Sophia Loren, sitting on a terrace floor, smoking a cigarette, wearing a tailleur, a beads necklace and a wide-brimmed hat, flower pots around her, Venice, Movie Festival, Biennale, 1958.
(Photo by Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/ Italian actress Claudia Cardinale, wearing a fun fur and a hat, portrayed on a taxi boat, leaning on the roof top, St Mark’s basin, Venezia 1958. (Photo by Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/ Italian actress Sophia Loren portrayed against a wall during a film shoot, Venice, 1958. (Photo by Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/ The Italian actress Sophia Loren smiling during the Film Festival
Venice, 1958 (Photo by Mario De Biasi/Mondadori ITALY
Venice, 1958 (Photo by Mario De Biasi/Mondadori ITALY – NOVEMBER 01: The Italian Actress Antonella Lualdi And The French Director Claude Chabrol Representing The Film A Double Tour At The Venice Film Festival On September 3, 1959. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone Monica Vitti is the picture of serenity on the back of a water taxi in 1962
Claudia Cardinale and Liz Taylor, Party, Venice Film Festival 1962. (Photo by: Universal Archive/Universal Images Group Portrait of actress Monica Vitti on a boat, attending the International Film Festival, Venice, September 1962. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/ Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida (Luigina Lollobrigida), very elegant in Bulgari earrings and necklace, attending a party held for the 23th Venice International Film Festival
Venice (Italy), September 1962 (Photo by Sergio del GrandeMondadori PortfolioMondadori Italian actress Claudia Cardinale portrayed during a party with Warren Beatty and Jean Sorel in the background, Venice, 1965. (Photo by Archivio Cameraphoto Epoche/ (Original Caption) 9/14/1967-Venice, Italy- Curvaceous Claudia Cardinale makes Venice’s tired old Grand Canal sparkle with her glittering smile and shapely legs as she poses on a motorboat for a local photographer
Claudia is in Venice for the 28th International Venice Film Festival. Model Anjelica Huston, actress Monica Vitti, and model Lauren Hutton attend dinner party after ‘Made in Milan’ film screening. The film is directed by Martin Scorsese, and the dinner is organized by Giorgio Armani. Both events took place on the last day of the Venice Film Festival. (Photo by Fairchild Archive/WWD/Penske Media via Getty Images) Venice, ITALY: Italian actress Monica Bellucci poses for photographers at her arrival to the premiere of her movie “The Brothers Grimm” at the 62nd edition of Venice International Film Festival in Venice Lido 04 September 2005.
AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTE (Photo credit should read FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP
Source: www.vogue.com
