La Briglia Sul Collo

by Cecilia Mangini

Italy
1974
15 min
OV Italian - with French subtitles
Short film
Documentary
Color
DCP

Daniella Shreir from "Another Gaze" will be attending

Retrospectives & Focus 2021

Official synopsis

Seven-year-old Fabio Spada is seen through factual details that soon turn into an interrogation of the state and the paradoxical nature of rebels in society. Mangini films a little boy pulling funny faces, giving the film an obvious comic aspect but above all offering a fascinating reflection on the institutional order. (Another Gaze)

The programmer’s eye

The film consists of interviews with the proverbial "village" involved in the education of this child, who was deemed unsuitable by his school. Fabio's dad, wedged in a bar and raising a drink to the film crew, recounts his sons' misdeeds with amused detachment, including his attempt to assassinate the family's pet fish a week earlier. His mother struggles to talk about her son as she changes her youngest child, the others wreaking havoc around her - and asks the film crew if they'll edit the chaos. Meanwhile, a neighbor notes Fabio's lack of respect for his mother and his father's fear. 


The facts of this child's life soon turn into an interrogation on the state and the paradoxical nature of the rebel in society, a category which, one can note, has historically included saints, revolutionaries and social reformers. Fabio himself is often present, quietly listening to those around him judge him. However, Mangini offers half of the film to Fabio, who tells his own story and manages to charm us with the art of mimicry and his wacky fantasies of punishing the adults who have wronged him. 

— Another Gaze

Biography and Filmography

Born in 1927, Cecilia Mangini is a filmmaker, documentary filmmaker and photographer who has taken an engaged, attentive and personal look at individuals and society from the outset, with particular attention to the themes of marginality, immigration and social injustice. The first woman in Italy to shoot documentaries in the post-war period, the author of a few feature films and more than forty short films, largely co-directed with her husband Lino Del Fra, she was able to highlight the transition of her country which was moving away, sometimes slowly, from fascism, towards an industrial society. Her itinerary crossed those of Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Florestano Vancini, Vasco Pratolini and Pier Paolo Pasolini to whom she entrusted the writing of three commentaries. Cecilia Mangini passed on some of the most beautiful images of Italy from the 1950s and 1960s to future generations. (Tënk)

2021 - IL MONDO A SCATTI - Cecilia Mangini, Paolo Pisanelli - Director, screenwriter
2020 - DUE SCATOLE DIMENTICATE - Cecilia Mangini, Paolo Pisanelli - Director, screenwriter
2013 - IN VIAGGIO CON CECILIA - Mariangela Barbanente, Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
2000 - REGINA COELI - Nico D'Alessandria - Screenwriter
1992 - KLON - Lino Del Fra - Screenwriter
1977 - ANTONIO GRAMSCI: I GIORNI DEL CARCERE - Lino Del Fra - Screenwriter
1974 - LA BRIGLIA SUL COLLO (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1973 - LA TARTE VOLANTE - Lino Del Fra - Screenwriter
1973 - LA VILLEGGIATURA - Marco Leto - Screenwriter
1967 - BRINDISI '65 (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1967 - TOMMASO (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1964 - ESSERE DONNE (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1963 - LA STATUA DI STALIN (Short) - Lino Del Fra, Cecilia Mangini - Director
1962 - ALL'ARMI SIAM FASCISTI! - Lino Del Fra, Cecilia Mangini, Lino Miccichè -Director, screenwriter
1961 - LA CANTA DELLE MARANE (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1963 - DIVINO AMORE (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
1960 - MARIA E I GIORNI (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
1960 - STENDALÌ: SUONANO ANCORA (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
1958 - IGNOTI ALLA CITTÀ (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director

Nuovi Schermi

Cineteca di Bologna

by Cecilia Mangini

Born in 1927, Cecilia Mangini is a filmmaker, documentary filmmaker and photographer who has taken an engaged, attentive and personal look at individuals and society from the outset, with particular attention to the themes of marginality, immigration and social injustice. The first woman in Italy to shoot documentaries in the post-war period, the author of a few feature films and more than forty short films, largely co-directed with her husband Lino Del Fra, she was able to highlight the transition of her country which was moving away, sometimes slowly, from fascism, towards an industrial society. Her itinerary crossed those of Vittorio De Seta, Gianfranco Mingozzi, Florestano Vancini, Vasco Pratolini and Pier Paolo Pasolini to whom she entrusted the writing of three commentaries. Cecilia Mangini passed on some of the most beautiful images of Italy from the 1950s and 1960s to future generations. (Tënk)

2021 - IL MONDO A SCATTI - Cecilia Mangini, Paolo Pisanelli - Director, screenwriter
2020 - DUE SCATOLE DIMENTICATE - Cecilia Mangini, Paolo Pisanelli - Director, screenwriter
2013 - IN VIAGGIO CON CECILIA - Mariangela Barbanente, Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
2000 - REGINA COELI - Nico D'Alessandria - Screenwriter
1992 - KLON - Lino Del Fra - Screenwriter
1977 - ANTONIO GRAMSCI: I GIORNI DEL CARCERE - Lino Del Fra - Screenwriter
1974 - LA BRIGLIA SUL COLLO (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1973 - LA TARTE VOLANTE - Lino Del Fra - Screenwriter
1973 - LA VILLEGGIATURA - Marco Leto - Screenwriter
1967 - BRINDISI '65 (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1967 - TOMMASO (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1964 - ESSERE DONNE (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1963 - LA STATUA DI STALIN (Short) - Lino Del Fra, Cecilia Mangini - Director
1962 - ALL'ARMI SIAM FASCISTI! - Lino Del Fra, Cecilia Mangini, Lino Miccichè -Director, screenwriter
1961 - LA CANTA DELLE MARANE (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director
1963 - DIVINO AMORE (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
1960 - MARIA E I GIORNI (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
1960 - STENDALÌ: SUONANO ANCORA (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director, screenwriter
1958 - IGNOTI ALLA CITTÀ (Short) - Cecilia Mangini - Director