Beyond Fellini, Pasolini, Bertolucci: New Italian Cinematography. (The Truth W/O)
Feb 15 '02
The Bottom Line Ah, Italians don't always do it better. But sometimes, they do delight you with great performances.
*** Preamble:***
I've been debating with myself for quite awhile on what should be my entry today.
I'm VERY proud of being an Italian. I love my country. In the good and the bad times. For better and for worse.
Being born in the U.S., but having moved to Italy when I was six and having lived here all of my life except for a year in high school and a year in college, I had been given the chance to experience culture, the traditions, the lifestyle of two entirely different nations, and have been granted with the wonderful opportunity of choosing freely where to live in my adult age.
I chose Italy. For many reasons. Perhaps the most influential of them all was that being everyday life somewhat harder and more complicated in Italy than in the U.S., Italians must strive passionately to achieve results, and this translates in a higher cultural and intellectual development. Nothing, in Italy, is usually taken lightly, and hardly anything is simple. Your relationships are scrutinized. Your political tendencies, based on a screwed-up system staggeringly hard to decipher, are an indelible trademark. Even soccer is a faith. And of course, our entertainment follows accordingly.
****(end of preamble)****
Do you know how Italians label an expensive production that results in an empty, superficial movie?
"UN'AMERICANATA."
I'll let you translate that for yourself. Anyway, Italians are extremely proud of their film productions, which I must say, being impartial in judgments, I don't think are always of such outstanding quality. However, there are a number of films that have been released in the past decade, that are extremely valid works of art and enable the viewer to realize for himself what today's life in Italy really is like. These movies don't look anything like your typical glossy U.S. mega productions. And, of course, such cinema hasn’t been granted any commercial exposure at all, because Italians are creative, passionate and highly educated, but they're "pasticcioni (bunglers) and "pezzenti" (poor beggars).
This is my own personal MUST-SEES among today’s great Italian movies and directors, that have been applauded during the past decade by both Italian public and critics, and that might have been overlooked abroad. Some independent movies are avant-garde productions, others have been great hits at the box office, all are extremely enjoyable.
1.Gabriele Muccino - L'ultimo Bacio (2001)
Last year’s No. 1 hit in Italian theaters, “L’Ultimo Bacio” was a minor production featuring young Gabriele Muccino at his second movie as director, scriptwriter and author, and has become a cult movie among viewers of all ages. It’s a disenchanted portrait of love, analyzed through the love life of eight different personalities. Six thirtysomething friends facing adulthood - a young couple expecting their first child, another couple in their thirties with their first-born baby, a young man who’s just been left by the love of his life, another young man who can’t establish serious relationships and has a different love interest every night . An older couple in their fifties who are experiencing a mid-life crisis. And a teenager’s first love.
How do these eight situations blend into one another? Carlo (one of our most talented and recurring young actors, Stefano Accorsi) who narrates the whole movie in first person, finds out he’s about to become a father while dining with his partner Giulia (Giovanna Accorsi, one of the up-and coming actresses both in Italy and abroad) and Giulia’s parents, Anna (Stefania Sandrelli) and Alberto (Marco Cocci). Carlo starts panicking and while Giulia’s planning the details of their next future – househunting, buying a cradle, talking about marriage – Stefano gradually retreats to himself and seeks desperately for incentives to feel young and carefree once again, and identifies his need of with the spark of a new love interest. In the meantime, Giulia’s mother Anna is faced with the shocking evidence that she is eventually getting old (after all, she’s becoming a grandmother....); Giulia’s and Carlo’s best friends, the couple with the baby, are constantly arguing.... The plot develops dynamically, with a fast-paced rhythm, and by watching the totally believable characters dealing with their fears of growing or of getting old, their weaknesses, their moods, any viewer is bound to identify himself with one of the protagonists of this wonderfully crafted drama. The excellence of the acting, the striking resemblance of the roles to today’s Italian stereotypes, the disillusioned tone of the story makes the plot entirely credible and charged with emotional empathy. You will laugh, you will get mad, you will cry, and by the end of the movie, you will end up questioning yourself as well, and left with the eerie sensation that the play was dealing with your very own life.
2.Paolo Virzì - Baci e Abbracci (1999)
This sweet and sour, ironic, dark comedy performed by total novices in the movie system is a perfect representation of today’s odds and financial delusions of grandeur that are so common in Italian’s modern economy. The plot is based upon an accidental exchange of identity: three brothers who decide to become entrepreneurs, open a farm in Tuscany and breed ostriches because they believe ostrich meat and eggs will be the farm produce of the future. In order to be able to develop their project, however, they need to be financed by the Italian government, and fill in an application to the Tuscany region, inviting the inspector for a weekend in their cottage. Upon meeting their guest at the train station, they mistakenly greet a restaurateur who has gone bankrupt and who’s contemplating suicide who’s first name is the same of the awaited guest (Mario), and escort him to their farm, believing he’s the inspector who will grant them the state subsidy.
An incoherent, surreal sequence of hilarious misunderstandings then follow, and however absurd some situations may appear, one is aware that certain circumstances really do occur sometimes ....A very light, entertaining movie, with a good dose of morale and reflection skillfully concealed beneath the lines of a story narrrated in a fable-like tone, with beautiful landscapes of Tuscany and visionary excerpts borrowed by Virzì’s mentors - Fellini and Monicelli above all.
I recommend not only this poetic fairy tale majestically directed by Virzi, but also his two previous movies – ”Ferie d’Agosto” and Ovosodo, for all three are interesting and amusing portrayals of today’s Italian society.
3.Silvio Soldini - Pane e Tulipani (2000)
A small jewel in romantic movies. Pane e Tulipani is a light-hearted, delicate story that involves the tale of a woman, a wife, a housewife that because of a fortunate casualty decides to bring new meaning to her tiresome, bored life. While on a bus tour with her husband, at a rest stop, Rosalba (Licia Maglietta) is left behind, and must arrange her plans individually to return home, but decides instead to take a break from her everyday life and on the spur of the moment plans a long weekend on her own in the city of her dreams – Venice. She sends a letter to her family stating she needs some time on her own and will be back soon, but upon her arrival in Venice, she starts weaving a new life of her own. She applies for a job in a florist’s shop, sublets a room in a waiter’s home who she met the night she set foot in Venice (Bruno Ganz), and begins adapting to her new condition, while her husband (Antonio Catania), irated because of her attitude, sends an employee of his off to Venice to find out what his wife is up to. This is one of those movies that will make you smile from beginning to end, and will warm your heart with the tender image of a passionate woman who is trapped in a life she doesn’t feel her own, but due to her sense of loyalty is torn between her urge to flee from her previous life and her sense of responsibility she believes she owes for the family.
4. Gabriele Salvatores -Marrakech Epxress (1989)
Well, this is one of my all-time favorites, so although it’s been released over ten years ago, I just had to include it. Moreover, the icons that certain characters represent are still of great actuality, for they strongly depict common traits of today’s Italian young adults.
For those of you who have seen Oscar-winner Mediterraneo, directed by Gabriele Salvatores and interpreted by the same actors who are in this cast, this movie is generally considered the preface to Mediterraneo, although set in a totally different time range (it’s contemporary) and with an entirely dissimilar plot.
The story begins with a woman (Teresa) who appears at a guy’s front door, stating she has a message from his long lost friend Rudy, who’s in trouble in Morocco because wrongly arrested by the local police for a matter of drugs he is not implicated in. In order to be released, he must bail out 30milion lire in cash, and he begs his friend Marco (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) to reunite the clique of his ancient pals and rescue him. Marco gathers his longtime friends Ponchia (an amazingly funny Diego Abatantuono), who’s a car dealer and living the yuppie high end life in Milan, Paolino (Giuseppe Cederna) who has become an average employee with a wife and children, and Cedro (Gigio Alberti), a hippie retreated to the mountains and living the existence of a hermit after splitting with his girlfriend, who now happens to be Paolino’s wife. Together, they collect the amount and, with a jeep subtracted by Ponchia’s car fleet, they begin their journey toward Marrakech in their quest to save their friend Rudy. This triggers an infinite sequence of hilarious moments and situations that will make you laugh to tears till the very end. As of today, Marrakech Express is still one of the most sold and rented flicks in Italy, so there must be a reason! I seriously recommend renting Marrakech Express to everybody who’s enjoyed any motion picture by the Coen Brothers, Clerks (by Kevin Smith) or any other movie that’s laced with laughter and irony.
5.Nanni Moretti - Aprile (1998)
I am not including this motion picture for personal reasons, but rather because in order to understand what being involved in Italian politics nowadays is really like, one must absolutely watch at least one of Moretti's productions. Moretti is by far the most controversial, acclaimed, adored and hated persona in contemporary Italian media and cinematography alike. A couple of weeks ago, during the annual renunion of the left party allies (democrats, environmentalists, and yes, comunists, although these days they go by a different name) Moretti stepped on stage, asking for the right to speak, and amidst a cheering audience he basically said that today's left party sucks and is assimilated by today's government (right parties). And guess what? Not only has he created an unprecedented echo among all left party sympathizers, but he's also been summoned by the left party leaders who are eager to transform this eclectic director into a full-time politician. Not to mention the turmoil generated by his exclusion from this year's Oscars with his latest release, "la Stanza Del Figlio", believed to have been hindered by the Italian government, led by Berlusconi, who also happens to be the most porwerful media tycoon in this country...
All of Moretti's movies deal primarily with Italian politics and feature him as main character in real-life circumstances. His latest works - the above mentioned Stanza del Figlio, Caro Diario and Aprile are also conceived as a parallel, intimate account of the director's private life. In Aprile, the story revolves around Nanni Moretti becoming a father, with the wife's pregnancy, the birth of his son, and the first months of his baby's life and his coming to terms with his offspring. On a different level, but closely entwined with the birth and growth of his son, Moretti offers his own vision of the new left party in what is commonly called in Italy "the Second Democracy, and its analogies with his newborn; its tentative first steps, its falling and then snapping back, its seemingly needless wails, its inability to express itself in the proper way. One of the most popular political moments in Italian cinematography - Nanni Moretti cradling his child while watching the news on TV, and yelling, "D'Alema! Dì qualcosa di Sinistra!!" - "D'Alema (then the Italian Left Party secretary and premier), say something LEFT!" has become an anthem for Democrats and left allies alike. No matter what my personal opinion is of this director, I reckon anyone should attempt at sampling one of Moretti's productions, for the sake of catching a realistic, detailed albeit obviously partial glimpse of the political situation and influence in our country.
It's not easy viewing, but it's highly informative.
OTHER HONORABLE MENTIONS:
I don't want to waste any more of your time here, as today there will be an abundance of very helpful submissions by people from all over the world, and you'll have a great deal of reading to do. I will just point out other great flicks that are bound to entertain you with a succint summary and a vote on a 1 to 10 scale:
6. Roberto Benigni - Anything!: 9/10
Roberto Benigni was a famous director and actor long before La Vita è Bella. I can't recommend you strongly enough to try and catch some of his previous works, all developed with a lighter, more comical and carefree tone. My personal favorites are "Il Mostro" (1994), where Benigni delivers a hilarious story of a guy who's charged with a murder, and "Johnny Stecchino (1991), where Benigni doubles up as a poor, inept and innocent guy who's supposed to be a cover-up for a mean mafia boss in Sicily (both roles, of course, are played by him.)
7. Leonardo Pieraccioni - Il Ciclone: 8/10
A beautiful scenery in the Tuscany hills is the background for this funny, light comedy, where a small town is awakened from its drowsiness by the arrival of a Spanish dance troupe. It's a pretty, pleasant picture of what life is in an Italian small town, and it's bound to make you smile and snicker throughout the entire movie. Leonardo Pieraccioni stars as the main character, but all of the actors in this flick are well-known Tuscan comedians.
8. Davide Ferrario -Tutti giù per Terra (1997):9/10
Entirely based upon the bestselling novel written by Giuseppe Culicchia, Tutti Giù per Terra is an extraordinary insight on a typical Italian young man coming of age, with his trouble finding an occupation, his struggle with university classes, his uncertain political beliefs and his treacherous year as a social worker to avoid being drafted for his mandatory year in Italian Army. Deep, meaningful topics, addressed with light sarcasm and mockery, and majestically interpreted by Valerio Mastroandrea, one of the most promising actors in today's film industry.
9.Ligabue - Radiofreccia (1998):8/10
A crossway between Good Morning Vietnam and Trainspotting, Italian rockstar Luciano Ligabue debuts in filmaking by directing and co-writing this reflective, sentimental movie based upon a true story. It's a nostalgic flashback on the setting up, the rising and fall of a local radio station created by five buddies who live in a small town close to Bologna. The main character, called Freccia by his friends (and performed by Stefano Accorsi) is the spiritual lead of the group, until he becomes involved in the deathly spiral of drug abuse.
10. Ferzan Ozpetek - Le fate Ignoranti (2001):9/10
Once again, Stefano Accorsi is the main actor in a very strong and deep movie directed by Turkish Ozpetek who is based in Italy and has been reaping increasing fame because of his thoughtful and artsy productions. It's a very emotional, inspiring story, that unfolds when a widow, who is seeking for her lost husband's lover, happens to discover the reality of another world, entirely different from the one she lived with her husband: that of the socially emarginated, the world of the Rome ghetto, Ostiense, where the gay community and the illegal emigrants have created a microcosm of their own - for her husband's lover was a man. The filming of Ozpetek, according to me, holds striking similarities to other great directors who have explored the meanders of gay communities. Therefore, I recommend this movie for those who have seen and enjoyed Pedro Almodovar's works, from High Heels to All About My Mother, you will certainly appreciate the Italian version Ozpetek gives of the "socially different" universe - and realize that often, the different ones are those who don't believe to be so at all.
*******
I hope you haven't fallen asleep in the meantime, because to wrap it all up, I need your full attention. This is an entry to the Truth Write-Off, graciously hosted by Kuuleimomi (from the Russian Federation) and Copernicus (from Down Under). In an attempt to cast new light on the countries that we call "home", all of the follwing great writers have been hacking their brains and producing very helpful information on the country they know best.
Awaiting to welcome you to their country are:
aaliyahgirluk of the UK
ALawston of England
amysmum of Scotland
beasmith of Scotland
ben-david of New Zealand
CarolaLind of Sweden
cartman_2k of Norway
cr01 of Wales
cripper of Hong Kong
Daniel_Rf of Portugal
DavidMac of Canada
Divine_Cheese of England
ezzuk of Denmark
hadassahchana of Canada
hvojr of the USA, who represents Finland
JAME23 of Canada
LamboLucifer of Germany
Macondo of Spain/England
MagnumForce of Canada
MariaEkaterina of Bulgaria/Korea
mattygroves of England
misstaegu of Korea
monssfisch of England/Japan
mridula of India
murpho of Ireland/the Netherlands
nscanuck of Canada
paulyoungotti of England
Petra of Germany
proxam of Scotland
shadow8 of the USA, who represents Hong Kong/China
smile2k1 of England
And of course, a standing ovation for those who made a trip around the world possible - our hosts:
copernicus of Australia
kuuleimomi of the Russian Federation
And a special THANK YOU! to ed_grover, megugrrrl, girlboxer5, and TheUnknown285, who contributed actively to the gathering of us world and Epinions citizens.
Keep on travelling, and when you can't, go on a fantasy journey...
Daniela
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
elsa70
|
|
Location: Ciao, baby.
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 24 members
About Me:
temporarily out of order. ZZZZZZZ.
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.