Cinema Universale
Via Pisana, 43,
Florence
50142
Via Pisana, 43,
Florence
50142
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Previous Names: Universale d'Essai
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Opened in the neighborhood of L'Isolotto to the west of the city centre, The Cinema Universale d'Rssai opened in the 1940’s, it became the first Florence cinema to re-open after World War II, showing those Hollywood films that Italians were cut off from during the war. Late in the 1960’s it became a kind of repertory art and cult house, with film programs changing almost daily and promoted in monthly schedules meant to appeal to the many university students in the city. It was closed in 1990 with the death of the owner and later became a popular disco.
Contributed by
Gerald DeLuca
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
I remember going to a film in this cinema once only. It was on August 19, 1969. The film was Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “Oedipus Rex” (Edipo re), made in 1967. I had already seen a few of Pasolini’s films but not this one, because it had not been shown in the US and wouldn’t be for another fifteen years when it finally made its way to the Public Theatre in New York. So I was very grateful to catch it out of sheer good luck.
There is a feature-length documentary on the history of this cinema, so very important to Florentine film buffs. The film is called “Cinema Universale d'Essai” and was made by Federico Micali in 2015. It can be seen in its entirety on YouTube. It helps to know Italian. It was based in part on the book “Breve Storia del Cinema Universale,” by Matteo Poggi.