Four of the films he directed won Academy Awards: Sciuscià and Bicycle Thieves were awarded honorary Oscars, while Ieri, oggi, domani and Il giardino dei Finzi Contini won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. Indeed, the great critical success of Sciuscià (the first foreign film to be so recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) and Bicycle Thieves helped establish the permanent Best Foreign Film Oscar. These two films generally are considered part of the canon of classic cinema. Bicycle Thieves was cited by Turner Classic Movies as one of the 15 most influential films in cinema history.
De Sica was also nominated for the 1957 Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Major Rinaldi in American director Charles Vidor's 1957 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, a movie that was panned by critics and proved a box office flop. De Sica's acting was considered the highlight of the film.
Born into poverty in Sora, Lazio (1901), he began his career as a theatre actor in the early 1920s and joined Tatiana Pavlova's theatre company in 1923. In 1933 he founded his own company with his wife Giuditta Rissone and Sergio Tofano. The company performed mostly light comedies, but they also staged plays by Beaumarchais and worked with famous directors like Luchino Visconti.
His meeting with Cesare Zavattini was a very important event: together they created some of the most celebrated films of the neorealistic age, like Sciuscià (Shoeshine) and Bicycle Thieves (released as The Bicycle Thief in America), both of which De Sica directed.
De Sica appeared in the British television series The Four Just Men (1959).
His passion for gambling was well known. Because of it, he often lost large sums of money and accepted work that might not otherwise have interested him. He never kept his gambling a secret from anyone; in fact, he projected it on characters in his own movies, like Count Max (which he acted in but did not direct) and The Gold of Naples.
In 1937 he married Giuditta Rissone, whom he met ten years before and who gave birth to their daughter, Emi. In 1942, on the set of Un garibaldino al convento, he met Spanish actress Maria Mercader (sister of Ramon Mercader, Trotsky's assassin), with whom he started a relationship.
He was a Roman Catholic.
After divorcing Rissone in France in 1954, he married Mercader in 1959, again in Mexico, but this union was not considered valid under Italian law. In 1968 he obtained French citizenship and married Mercader in Paris. Meanwhile he had already had two sons with her: Manuel, in 1949, a musician, and Christian, in 1951, who would follow his father's path as an actor and director.
Although divorced, De Sica never parted from his first family. He led a double family life, with double celebrations on holidays. It is said that, at Christmas and on New Year's Eve, he used to put back the clocks by two hours in Mercader's house so that he could make a toast at midnight with both families. His first wife agreed to keep up the facade of a marriage so as not to leave her daughter without a father.
Vittorio De Sica died at 73 after a surgery at the Neuilly-sur-Seine hospital in Paris.
Parlami d'amore Mariù
Vittorio de Sica Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Splende un sorriso di stella negli occhi tuoi blu!
Anche se avverso il destino domani sarà
Oggi ti sono vicino, perché sospirar?
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Tutta la mia vita sei tu!
Gli occhi tuoi belle brillano
Dimmi che illusione non é
Dimmi che sei tutta per me!
Qui sul tuo cuor non soffro più
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
So che una bella e maliarda sirena sei tu
So che si perde chi guarda,
quegli occhi tuoi blu
Ma che mi importa se il mondo si burla di me,
meglio nel gorgo profondo
ma sempre con te,
sì, con te.
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Tutta la mia vita sei tu!
Gli occhi tuoi belle brillano
Fiamme di sogno scintillano
Dimmi che illusione non é
Dimmi che sei tutta per me!
Qui sul tuo cuor non soffro più
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Dimmi che illusione non é
Dimmi che sei tutta per me!
Qui sul tuo cuor non soffro più
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
The song "Parlami d'amore Mariù," which roughly translates to "Talk to Me About Love Mariù," tells the story of a man who is deeply in love with a woman named Mariù. The song starts by expressing the man's admiration for Mariù, saying how beautiful she is tonight and how her blue eyes are shining like stars in the sky. Even if tomorrow everything goes against them, tonight he is by her side and there is no need to worry.
The chorus of the song, which is repeated throughout, urges Mariù to talk to him about love, as she is his entire life. He describes how her eyes shine with dreamy flames, and he wants her to tell him that his love is not an illusion and that she is all his. Here, the man professes total surrender and vulnerability to this woman, saying that on her heart, he no longer suffers.
In the second verse, the man acknowledges that Mariù is a beautiful and enchanting siren, and that others who look into her blue eyes may get lost in her. Despite this, he does not care if the world laughs at him, as long as he is with her. He always wants to be with Mariù, even if it means diving into the deep abysses of life, as long as they are together.
Overall, the song is about the power of love and how it allows one to overcome any obstacle with the person they love. It is an emotional and romantic ballad that has captured the hearts of many listeners over the years, and it continues to be a beloved classic.
Line by Line Meaning
Come sei bella più bella stasera Mariú!
You look stunning this evening, Mariú!
Splende un sorriso di stella negli occhi tuoi blu!
Your blue eyes sparkle like stars with a smile.
Anche se avverso il destino domani sarà
Even if tomorrow brings unfortunate events,
Oggi ti sono vicino, perché sospirar?
I am here with you today, so why worry?
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Talk to me about love, Mariú!
Tutta la mia vita sei tu!
You are my whole life!
Gli occhi tuoi belle brillano
Your beautiful eyes shine bright.
Fiamme di sogno scintillano
Flames of dreams sparkle within them.
Dimmi che illusione non é
Tell me this is not an illusion.
Dimmi che sei tutta per me!
Tell me that you belong to me.
Qui sul tuo cuor non soffro più
Here on your heart, I do not suffer anymore.
So che una bella e maliarda sirena sei tu
I know you are a beautiful and enchanting mermaid.
So che si perde chi guarda, quegli occhi tuoi blu
I know those who gaze into your blue eyes get lost.
Ma che mi importa se il mondo si burla di me
But I do not care if the world mocks me,
Meglio nel gorgo profondo ma sempre con te, sì, con te.
It's better to be in the deep abyss with you, always with you.
Contributed by Camilla E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
bleinc marine
Come sei bella più bella stasera Mariú!
Splende un sorriso di stella negli occhi tuoi blu!
Anche se avverso il destino domani sarà
Oggi ti sono vicino, perché sospirar?
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Tutta la mia vita sei tu!
Gli occhi tuoi belle brillano
Fiamme di sogno scintillano
Dimmi che illusione non é
Dimmi che sei tutta per me!
Qui sul tuo cuor non soffro più
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
So che una bella e maliarda sirena sei tu
So che si perde chi guarda,
Quegli occhi tuoi blu
Ma che mi importa se il mondo si burla di me,
Meglio nel gorgo profondo
Ma sempre con te,
Sì, con te.
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Tutta la mia vita sei tu!
Gli occhi tuoi belle brillano
Fiamme di sogno scintillano
Dimmi che illusione non é
Dimmi che sei tutta per me!
Qui sul tuo cuor non soffro più
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Dimmi che illusione non é
Dimmi che sei tutta per me!
Qui sul tuo cuor non soffro più
Parlami d'amore, Mariù!
Graziana Irno
Che meraviglia , questa è la vera Italia , fatta di uomini e donne di un eleganza e di una dignità che oggi ci sogniamo , che nostalgia di un tempo che non ho mai vissuto..............🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹😍😍😍😍
L'Homme Maudit
Concordo completamente con Vaoi,signora Irno !
Monica Onano
Concordo pienamente
Gianfranco Cartella
Questo uomo era veramente un attore. Cantava, ballava, recitava. Un fenomeno
gino loizzo
E regista….
Marco Urraro
Sembrerà che a quei tempi le cose fossero più complicate in realtà era la semplicità a risolvere tutto. Adoro questo film
Luciano R
Non siamo più in grado di fare una scena così semplice eppure così meravigliosa. A tanto siamo scesi in basso...
Sin Thai Lim
This is a magical scene; all the four characters make it so alive. I have always known Vittorio De Sica as the great director of The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di biciclette). It is only later that I know he was also a popular actor. There are so many versions of the song 'Parlami d'amore, Mariu' but I find the one sung by Vittorio De Sica is the most heart-warming. Thank you Vittorio De Sica for your great contributions and getting me to love Italy so much!
L'Homme Maudit
Indeed ,so heart-warming and soul-soothing at the same time.These loveliest bygone times....
Franco Verzili
L"ascolto e non trovo parole, aggettivi adatti per esprimere la felicità che questa canzone mi trasmette. De Sica, Lia Franca indimenticabili in "Gli uomini che mascalzoni" era l"anno 1932 quando fecero questo piccolo capolavoro, una ventata di cose buone, semplici, un mondo che oggi, purtroppo, non esiste più. Un grosso grazie a chi lo ha caricato.