LOY, NANNI

(1925-1995)

(Giovanni Loy.) Actor, director, screen-writer. Born into an aristocratic family in Sardinia, Loy moved to Rome in his teens and attended theCentro Sperimentale di Cinematografiawhile studying at university for his law degree. After serving an apprenticeship as assistant director on a number of films, includingLuigi Zampa'sProcesso alla citta(The City Stands Trial, 1952) andAnni facili(Easy Years, 1953), he collaborated withGianni Puccinion the direction ofParola di ladro(Honor among Thieves, 1957) andIl marito(The Husband, 1957) before directing his first solo film,Un audace colpo dei soliti ignoti(Fiasco in Milan, 1959), a sequel toMario Monicelli's enormously popularI soliti ignoti(1958) that many judged to be almost as good as the original.The success of the film allowed Loy to make two films on the war,Un giorno da leoni(A Day as Lions, 1961) andLe quattro giornate di Napoli(The Four Days of Naples, 1962), the latter a remarkably realistic recreation of a popular uprising staged by the people of Naples against the occupying German forces in 1943. The film was widely acclaimed, winning threeNastri d'argentoas well as two Academy Award nominations, and brought a number of offers from Hollywood, which Loy declined in favor of working for Italian television and producingSpecchio segreto(Secret Mirror, 1965), a program inspired by the AmericanCandid Cameraformat. He nevertheless also soon returned to the big screen with the multiepisodeMade in Italy(1965), a satirical look at Italian attitudes and habits, andII padre di famiglia(The Head of the Family, 1967), a portrait of the dashed expectations of an entire generation told through the history of one particular family. He took up the theme of the war again, although in a decidedly comic vein, inRosolino Paternd soldato(Situation Normal:All Fouled Up, 1970) followed by a Kafkaesque voyage through the Italian judicial and penal system inDetenuto in attesa di giudizio(Why, 1971), which earnedAlberto SordiaDavid di Donatellofor his acting and the film a nomination for the Golden Bear at Berlin. AfterSistemo l'America e torno(I Fix America and Return, 1973) Loy turned again to television to makeViaggio in seconda classe(Traveling in Second Class, 1977), a program that examined changes in Italian society using aCandid Cameraformat similar to the earlierSpecchio segreto.Cafe Express(1980), a caustic comedy celebrating the Italian propensity for making do, was followed byMi manda Picone(Picone Sent Me, 1984), which highlighted the extensive social problems in a Naples ever more infiltrated by the camorra. Loy's fascination with Naples, which he regarded as his adopted city, blossomed again in the delightful musical dramaScugnizzi(Streetkids, 1989) and in his final film,Pacco, doppio pacco e contropaccotto(Package, Double Package and Counterpackage, 1993). In the 1990s, as well as making films and producing television programs, Loy directed a number of stage productions, including Italian versions of Neil Simon'sLast of the Red Hot Loversand Beth Henley'sCrimes of the Heart.