
Marco Bellocchio
Marco Bellocchio (Italian: [ˈmarko belˈlɔkkjo]; born 9 November 1939; Bobbio) is an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. 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, making his first film, Fists in the Pocket, (I pugni in tasca, winner of the Silver Sail at the 1965 Festival del film Locarno), funded by family members and shot on family property, in 1965. Bellocchio's films include China Is Near (1967), Sbatti il mostro in prima pagina (Slap the Monster on Page One) (1972), Nel Nome del Padre (In the name of the Father – a satire on a Catholic boarding school that shares affinities with Lindsay Anderson's If....) (1972), 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.[6] 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.
62 directing credits · 49 acting credits
Directing · 62

Portobello
2026

Exterior Night
2022

The Traitor
2019

Kidnapped
2023

Devil in the Flesh
1986

Vincere
2009

Good Morning, Night
2003

Blood of My Blood
2015

Slap the Monster on Page One
1972

The Wedding Director
2006

My Mother's Smile
2002

Fists in the Pocket
1965

Love and Anger
1969
La macchina cinema
1979

Sweet Dreams
2016

In the Name of the Father
1971
Alfabeto italiano
1998

The Nanny
1999

Marx Can Wait
2021

The Seagull
1977

Dormant Beauty
2012

Esterno Notte (part II)
2022

If I May - Chapter II
2024

Esterno Notte (part I)
2022

China Is Near
1967

Celebrate Cinema 101
1996

The Witches' Sabbath
1988
Rome, November 12, 1994
1995

Victory March
1976

The Conviction
1991

The Prince of Homburg
1997

The Butterfly's Dream
1994

Fit to Be Untied
1975

Down With Uncle
1962

A Leap in the Dark
1980

Culpability and Punishment
1961

Henry IV
1984

Vacation in Val Trebbia
1980

Sorelle Mai
2011

All for a Rose
2017

The Eyes, the Mouth
1982

Long Live the 1st Red and Proletarian May
1969
Nina
2000
The Spring of 2002 - Italy Protests, Italy Stops
2002

The Man with the Flower in His Mouth
1993

The Calabrian People Raised Their Heads
1969

If I May
2021

Clowns
2016

The Cinema Machine
1979
Falcon
—

The Fight
2018
Today is a Beautiful Day
2002
If I May - Chapter III
—
Fresco
2000
Ginepro Became a Man
1962

Farewell to the Past
2002
Elena
1997
A Thread of Passion
2000

Sorelle
2007
Broken Dreams: Reasoning and Delirium
1995

Notes for a Movie About Uncle Vania
2002
The Choir Master
2000
Acting · 49

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975

Marcians
2017

Ennio
2022

Le Cercle
2005

Square
2012
Quelli che il cinema
2025

Marcello, una vita dolce
2006

1968 - The Global Revolt
2018

Slap the Monster on Page One
1972

Filmmakers vs. Tycoons
2005

What Do You Know About Me
2009

My Mother's Smile
2002

Love and Anger
1969
La macchina cinema
1979

Franco Cristaldi e il suo cinema Paradiso
2009

Marx Can Wait
2021

The Seagull
1977

Behind the Scenes: The Traitor
2022

Raffa
2023

La nostra magnifica ossessione - Bernardo Bertolucci e la sua generazione
2025

Francis of Assisi
1966

Behind Love and Anger
2005

Cesare Zavattini
2003

Fit to Be Untied
1975

Planet Venus
1972

Vacation in Val Trebbia
1980

Volonté: The Man of a Thousand Faces
2024

My Name Is Anna Magnani
1980

Cinema Italiano: Moments of Truth
2014

N.P. - The Secret
1972

Cinéma et Réalité
1967

I nostri trent'anni - Generazioni a confronto
2004

Glauber, Claro
2020

The Cinema Machine
1979

La mia casa e i miei coinquilini - Il lungo viaggio di Joyce Lussu
2016

Colpiti al cuore
2019

Opera Prima
2021
A Need for Change: The Making of 'Fists in the Pocket'
2005
Mother
2014
A un millimetro dal cuore
2002
Caro Paolo
2013

Same rage, same spring
2003

Voi siete qui
2011

Filmstudio, mon amour
2015

Journey into the Twilight
2021

Tutte le storie di Piera
2014

Lino Micciché, mio padre - Una visione del mondo
2013
Tutto in comune
1974

Lo Spazio Inquieto
2022