Born in Finale Ligure in 1913 and died in Rome in 1985, Renato Castellani trained as an architect, worked as a screenwriter and then directed light, humane comedies set among ordinary Italians in the aftermath of the war, sometimes called 'rosy neorealism'. Under the Sun of Rome (1948) and Two Cents Worth of Hope (1952), the latter winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes, are portraits of young people in poverty. His Romeo and Juliet (1954), filmed in Verona and Venice with painterly colour and using Renaissance paintings as sources, won the Golden Lion in Venice.
Filmography
- Under the Sun of Rome (1948)
- Two Cents Worth of Hope (1952)
- Romeo and Juliet (1954)
- Il brigante (1961)
- Mare matto (1963)