Alfonso Brescia

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Alfonso Brescia (6 January 1930 – 6 June 2001) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. He began working in film against his father's wishes, and eventually directed his first film Revolt of the Praetorians in 1964. Brescia worked in several genres in the Italian film industry, including five science fiction films he directed following the release of Star Wars. His work slowed down towards the late 1980s, and his last film Club Vacanze could not get distribution.

Biography

Alfonso Brescia was born in Rome on 6 January 1930.Template:Sfn He was the son of a film producer and entered the film business against his father's will.Template:Sfn His father had him work as a production driver, which involved getting up early to persuade him against entering the business which did not work.Template:Sfn He began work as an assistant director as well as working in production offices, eventually directing his first film Revolt of the Praetorians in 1964.Template:Sfn

Following the release of Star Wars, Brescia shot five science fiction films in a row, Anno zero: guerra nello spazio, Battaglie negli spazi stellari (aka Battle of the Stars), La guerra dei robot, Star Odyssey and The Beast in Space.Template:Sfn The Beast in Space was a science fiction pornography film based on Walerian Borowczyk's The Beast.Template:Sfn

In the 1980s, with the decline of genre cinema, Brescia's output drastically diminished.Template:Sfn His final works included Iron Warrior and Miami Cops and Omicidio a luci blu.Template:Sfn He directed his last film in 1995, Club Vacanze, which failed to interest a distributor, making it the only film he lost money on.Template:Sfn

Brescia died in Rome on 5 May 2001.Template:Sfn

Style

Italian film historian Roberto Curti described Brescia as "a hack, but a reliable one".Template:Sfn Curti referred to Brescia as "one of the most prolific and versatile Italian filmmakers of the 1970s".Template:Sfn Brescia worked in popular film genres of their respective eras in Italy, including sword and sandal films, Westerns, war films, mondo films, gialli, erotic films, superhero films, children's films, and science fiction films.Template:Sfn

Selected filmography

Note: The films listed as N/A are not necessarily chronological.

Title	Year	Credited as				Notes	Template:Abbr
		Director	Screenwriter	Screen story writer	Other
Gladiators 7	1962				Template:Yes	Assistant director	Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
The Magnificent Gladiator	1964	Template:Yes	Template:Yes				Template:Sfn
Template:Sort	1965	Template:Yes	Template:Yes				Template:Sfn
Template:Sort	1965	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes			Template:Sfn
Gold Train	1965		Template:Yes				Template:Sfn
Days of Violence	1967	Template:Yes					Template:Sfn
Battle of the Amazons	1973	Template:Yes					Template:Sfn
Super Stooges vs. the Wonder Women	1974	Template:Yes	Template:Yes				Template:Sfn
Blood and Bullets	1976	Template:Yes	Template:Yes				Template:Sfn
Template:Sort	1979	Template:Yes					Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Iron Warrior	1987	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes			Template:Sfn
Cosmos: War of the Planets	Template:N/a	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Battle of the Stars	Template:N/a	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
War of the Robots	Template:N/a	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Star Odyssey	Template:N/a	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes
Template:Sort	Template:N/a	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes

Notes

References

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External links

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