Required Reading for Italian-Americans...

Sicilian Culture: News & Views

Open Roads: New Italian Cinema
By the Film Society of Lincoln Center

Over the past few years, a new generation of Italian filmmakers has begun to emerge. While defined by neither a political position nor an aesthetic approach, in a sense this generation has been unified by a new spirit of independence, of breaking away from old models and genres. Some of this "independence" has been in fact forced on them, as the collapse of the old industrial structures of the Italian cinema has forced filmmakers to really make it on their own. But this spirit is also indicative of the myriad backgrounds, experiences and influences this new generation brings to the films.

One common feature of this new generation, and of many of the films in the program, is a pronounced accent on "regionalism." Several of the films - TWO FRIENDS, PATER FAMILIAS, SOUL MATE - in the series deal directly or indirectly with Italy's "North/South" divide, with the continuing legacy of the very different cultural traditions and economic conditions that coexist within modern Italy. (For an older and decidedly more comic take on the subject, check out Il mafioso, shown as a tribute to the late, great Albert Sordi). Filmmakers are also continuing to explore various Italian subcultures, such as illegal drag racers in V-MAX, soccer fanatics in OUTSIDERS OF THE CROWD, or comic book fans in TRUTH OR LIES.

There's a remarkable variety of styles and approaches to be seen throughout the series, from the loving journey in search of a mother in ONE MORE DAY WITH YOU, to the enigmatic, unsettling look at the closed world of two sisters in OPEN MY HEART. We're also pleased to present a revival of Luigi Comencini's masterpiece PINOCCHIO, still the finest feature film version of perhaps the most adapted of all classics from children's literature. So join us, beginning May 30, and discover the new pleasures of an old friend - Italian cinema.

Many of the directors are expected to be present for Q & A.

THE POWER OF THE PAST aka TRUTH AND LIES / LA FORZA DEL PASSATO

Piergiorgio Gay, 2002; 98m

Based on the well-loved novel by Sandro Veronesi, THE POWER OF THE PAST is the story of Giovanni Orzan (Sergio Rubini), an acclaimed writer of children's books, married with an eight -year-old son. One day, a man comes to his door; he introduces himself as Gianni Bogliasco (Bruno Ganz), and claims that he was an old friend of Giovanni's recently deceased father. What's more, Gianni reveals that the father, who had been a rather cold military man with whom Giovanni had a troubled relationship, was in fact a spy for the KGB. Suddenly, Giovanni's whole world seems to collapse, as he struggles to determine how much he knows about his own past - and how much he can confide in his new friend, who seems to implicate himself more and more in Giovanni's life. Rubini and Ganz are brilliant together, and their scenes together become taut mano a mano psychological battles as each tries to gain the upper hand over the other. Rounding out the cast is the wonderful Sandra Ceccarelli, seen in last year's Open Roads in Light in My Eyes.

ULTIMO STADIO

Ivano de Matteo, 2002; 96m

An x-ray of Italian family life today: as Rome awaits the finals of the year's soccer championship, the lives of four families will come together and then move apart again as each explores the possibility of making their dreams come true. Director de Matteo, a former actor making his feature film debut, creates a stirring and perceptive work that shows the way professional sports - especially soccer, which de Matteo has described as the modern-day "opiate of the people" - weaves its way into so many aspects of daily life.

Fri May 30: 4; Sun June 8: 6:45

EL ALAMEIN

Enzo Monteleone, 2002; 117m

A great critical and box-office success in Italy, EL ALAMEIN recounts one of the epic battles of WWII, in which the Italian Army, fighting alongside the Germans, sought to drive the Allied forces from North Africa. Yet director Monteleone doesn't try to delineate the chronology of the battle, nor give it a historical context; rather, the film's less than glorious depiction of combat powerfully expresses the sense that war is truly hell - a hell in which one must conquer oneself before taking on the enemy. EL ALAMEIN focuses on the intimate, emotional lives of the soldiers caught up in the battle, revealing their fears, hopes and feelings about the war.

Fri May 30: 6:30; Sat May 31: 1:30

OPEN MY HEART / APRIMI IL CUORE

Giada Colagrande, 2002; 90m

Maria works as a prostitute who brings her clients home with her, while her sister Caterina only ventures out to attend dancing school. Each woman seems to accept the bounds and limits of their relationship, carefully shielding themselves as much as possible from the unwanted intrusions of outsiders. Then Caterina strikes up a friendship with the janitor at her dancing school. Enraged, Maria must decide what changes, if any, she'll allow in the private kingdom she's created. An extraordinarily bold work, Giada Colagrande's debut feature transports us into a reality that resembles our everyday world yet is decidedly one step beyond. Avoiding any sensationalizing of her material, she focuses instead on analyzing interpersonal structures of power that serve to define us in relationship to those we love most.

Sat May 31: 9:15; Mon June 2: 4

SAY IT WITH WORDS / DILLO CON PAROLE MIE

Daniele Luchetti, 2003; 105m

We're pleased to present the newest film by Daniele Luchetti (La scuola, Il portaborse), described as "a comedy set on the Greek island of Ios made up of chatter and misunderstandings, myths, sweets, sun rashes, Homeric questions, fixations, broken diets, anti-histamines, messages of love…" Looking for a getaway, from her routine and also somewhat from her longtime boyfriend Andrea, Stefania takes off on holiday to Greece. What she wasn't expecting is that her niece, Megghy, has decided to tag along, determined to make hers a summer vacation to remember. Luchetti, working from a screenplay by Stefania Montorsi (who also plays Stefania in the film), offers a wry and revealing look at the dreams, illusions and realities of love and romance as they play across very different generations.

Fri May 30: 9:15; Fri June 6: 6:30

V-MAX / VELOCITÁ MASSIMA

Daniele Vicari, 2002; 111m

Italians seem to know a thing or two about cars, and as V-MAX shows, they also have a pretty good sense for high-octane car-racing movies. A great box-office hit, V-MAX follows Claudio, a 17-year-old with a passion for cars, as he discovers the world of underground car racing. Sent by his father to work in a garage in Ostia, Claudio discovers that Steffano, the owner, is preparing for a showdown with Fischio, his nemesis on the asphalt. At first Claudio is just there to customize the cars - but then he meets Giovanna, and realizes there might be a future for him as well in racing. Vicari has a great talent for filming the racing sequences, and is clearly enjoying having the chance to tweak some of the conventions of a film genre that for some might seem quintessentially American.

Sun June 1: 1:30; Thurs June 5: 8:45

HAPPINESS FOR FREE / LA FELICITÀ NON COSTA NIENTE

Mimmo Calopresti, 2003; 93m

Mimmo Calopresti tends to give his films titles that are declarative sentences: The Word Love Exists, I Prefer the Sound of the Sea (ND/NF 2002), and now Happiness for Free. Once again, this title sets up the tone of the story, and the longing of a serenity denied by daily life. His fourth picture, co-produced by Luc Besson, is a daring moral tale that investigates the very essence of happiness, and the emptiness of an existence doomed by materialistic values. One of the most ambitious and original films recently made in Italy.

Sun June 1: 4; Mon June 2: 9; Fri June 6: 1:30

MY NAME IS TANINO

Paolo Virzi, 2002; 100m

Paolo Virzi's new film, written once again with Francesco Bruni and Francesco Piccolo, was presented with great success at the 2002 Venice Film Festival. A new episode of his reworking of the stories and atmosphere of "Comedy Italian Style," MY NAME IS TANINO is a smart, ironic portrait of a young man who grows up through the disappointments and the disillusions of love. Tanino comes to America in search of a girl and a dream: he misses both, but he learns the painful excitement of becoming a man.

Sun June 1: 6:15; Mon June 2: 1 & 6:30

CASOMAI

Alessandro D'Alatri, 2002; 114m

After Garden of Eden, his ambitious and controversial film about Jesus, Alessandro D'Alatri returns to comedy, with a story written by Anna Pavignano. CASOMAI narrates the romance of Tommaso and Stefania as mirrored by the comments, suggestions and gossip of the circle of their relatives and friends. Their passion, their crises, and finally their separation become the center of a never-ending speculation of a world that prefers conformism over happiness, safety over freedom. One of the most successful comedies of the year, with a perfectly tuned cast, lead by Stefania Rocca and Fabio Vo.

Sun June 1: 8:45; Tue June 10: 3:45; Wed June 11: 1

A TRIBUTE TO ALBERTO SORDI

The death of the great Italian actor and director Alberto Sordi this past February was a tremendous loss for world cinema. For many people Sordi was Italian comedy. His broad smile, lightning changes of expression and constant sense of improvisation made him the perfect "everyman" to chronicle the postwar transformation of Italy. His name will forever be remembered right alongside the greatest comedians whose work ever graced the screen. As a brief tribute to this master, we're delighted to present a Sordi film to be announced. Be sure to check this page again for more information.

Thurs June 5: 1:30 & 6:30

OUTSIDERS OF THE CROWD / E.A.M. - ESTRANEI ALLA MASSA

Vincenzo Marra, 2001; 90m

Right after his marvelous Sailing Home, shown in last year's Open Roads, Vincenzo Marra shot this documentary literally without a budget, using his digital camera and serving also as cinematographer. The story follows the typical day of seven Neapolitan soccer fans of the "Ultras Feddayn E.A.M." (Outsiders of the Crowd), and their journey to a football match in northern Italy. Deciding to minimize his presence inside the group, Marra brilliantly narrates the friendship, the dreams, the hopes, and the difficulties of seven young men, who mirror the life of a city that has always been young and ancient, poor and noble, violent and wise. An impressive new achievement by the most authentic heir of the great Italian neorealist tradition.

Thurs June 5: 4; Sun June 8: 8:30

SOUL MATE / L'ANIMA GEMELLA

Sergio Rubini, 2002; 104m

In a small town in southern Italy, Tonino and Maddalena share a special, passionate love, inciting the wrath of Maddalena's cousin Teresa, who's determined to pull the couple apart. She even attempts to enlist the aid of the local witch, but sometimes magic comes back at those who try to use it. Since the release of La stazione back in 1990, Sergio Rubini has been hailed as one of the "engines" behind this newest generation of Italian filmmakers. Here, he creates a kind of modern fable peopled by characters who find themselves swept up by forces they can hardly understand. Valentina Cervi, as Teresa, gives a remarkable performance.

Fri June 6: 4; Sat June 7: 9:15; Thurs June 12: 4:15

TWO FRIENDS / DUE AMICI

Sprio Scimone & Francesco Sframele, 2002; 90m Awarded Best First Film at the 2002 Venice Biennale, TWO FRIENDS is adapted from the theater piece Nunzio. Scimone and his co-director Sframele star as Nunzio and Pino, two Sicilians trying to eke out livings on the outskirts of a large industrial city. Nunzio works in a paint factory; Pino seems to travel a lot, especially when he receives a surprise fish delivery at home. Then one day the man in charge of these fish deliveries turns up dead. Everything seems to be up in the air: what were these unscheduled deliveries really about? Is there any hope for Nunzio and Maria, the young woman to whom he's ready to devote his life? A lovely, sensitive film about a peculiar, and rather touching, kind of male bonding, TWO FRIENDS offers a refreshingly offbeat look at working- class lives and friendships.

Fri June 6: 8:45; Sat June 7: 6:45; Mon June 9: 2

ONE MORE HOUR WITH YOU / UN'ORA SOLA TI VORREI

Alina Marrazzi, 2002; 56m

"My mother was born in 1938 and died in 1972, when I was seven. Telling her story through these old family films is a way to give back dignity to the person who put me in this world." Alina Marrazzi describes with these words her extraordinary documentary, which won best documentary at the Torino Film Festival and a special mention in Locarno. A painful but loving journey in search of a beautiful and suffering mother, whose tormented existence is narrated through the reinvention of old footage and new, stylized, symbolic images. preceded by Roberto Catani's magical La funambola (Special Mention, Annecy Animation Film Festival) and Sando del Rodario's glistening, animated noir L. City ("Circuito Off" Prize, Venice).

Sat June 7: 5; Mon June 9: 6:15; Tue June 10: 1:30

THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO / LE AWENTURE DI PINOCCHIO

Luigi Comencini, 1971; 134m

Probably Luigi Comencini's masterpiece, this PINOCCHIO was made for Italian television based on a script by Suso Cecchi D'Amico. With the help of Armando Nannuzzi's cinematography and Pietro Gherardi's costumes, this great, overlooked director reinvented the magic realism of Collodi's story, setting the film in locations close to the author's birthplace, and captured the spiritual essence of the story. Most of the actors give the best performances of their careers, but the show is stolen by the moving, unforgettable Nino Manfredi as Geppetto.

Sun June 8: 1; Tue June 10: 8; Thurs June 12: 1:30

PATER FAMILIAS

Francesco Patierno, 2002; 90m

A gripping "memory film," Francesco Patierno's debut feature is the story of Matteo, a man returning to his native village near Naples after a ten-year absence. He must put his dying father's papers in order, but the visit affords him the opportunity to straighten out much in his past. Patierno powerfully captures the stifling quality of small-town life, the dashed hopes and dreams that threaten to spiral into frustration and even violence. Newcomer Luigi Iacuzio is sensational as Matteo, a character who seems to grow increasingly complex, and ever surprising, right before our eyes.

Sun June 8: 6:15; Mon June 9: 4 & 8

CINEMA NOVISSIMA; RECENT SHORT FILMS FROM ITALY

Approximately 90m

As a special feature of this year's Open Roads, we're pleased to present this excellent selection of recent Italian shorts - powerful, provocative works that suggest some of the exciting places the Italian cinema of the next few years might take us. Stay tuned!

Red Mud / Rossofango (Paolo Ameli; 2002)

Handshake / Stretta di mano (Davide Marengo; 2002)

The Last One Standing / L'Ultimo rimasto di piedi (Ugo Capoluto; 2002)

Radioportogutenberg (Alessandro Vanucci; 2002)

Playgirl (Fabio Tagliavia; 2002)

In utero (Ila Beka; 2002)

Tue June 10: 6; Wed June 11: 3:30; Thurs June 12: 9 june 12: 9

This series has been organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center together with Italia Cinema, with the help of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Special thanks to Alitalia for their generous support of the series. The series was selected by Antonio Monda and Richard Peña, with the help of Giorgio Gosetti and Griselda Guerrassio.

Italian Cinema at the Walter Reade Theater
www.filmlinc.com/wrt/programs/6-2003/italy.htm

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