Tagged: Italian Cinema
Review: Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) is the Ultimate Arthouse Jesus Film
Mary (Margherita Caruso) is pregnant. Joseph (Marcello Morante), her fiancé is worried, because they’re not married yet. God sends His angel (Rossana Di Rocco) to reassure him: She is still a virgin. The Lord himself made her pregnant with His Son, Jesus (Enrique Irazoqui). Flash-forward thirty years: Jesus is now an adult. He is preaching the Lord’s word to the people of Israel, gathering followers, healing the sick and making, casting out evil spirits and doing all kinds of miracles. Most people seem okay with that: But not the pharisees. He’s taking away their power, so they want him dead. Continue reading
Mini-Review: Dino Risi’s Il Sorpasso (1962) is a Perfect Snapshot of Italy in the Sixties
*Attenzione: Spoilers*
It’s Ferroagosto in Rome. Everyone’s on holiday, except for Roberto (Jean-Louis Trintignant) a law student, already preparing for his exams in September. Hold on, I see a Lancia Aurelia. Yep, that’s Bruno (Vittorio Gassman). Who the hell is Bruno? I don’t know he’s a 40-ish man who wants to use Roberto’s phone. Roberto let’s him in. To thank him for the favor Bruno invites Roberto to breakfast. Driving like crazy across the Italian west coast the two become great friends, but then the film needed an ending. Continue reading
Mini-Review: Benvenuto Presidente! (2013) Still Wants to Believe in Democracy
Giuseppe Garibaldi (Claudio Bisio) aka Peppino lives in a small mountain village in Italy, where he works as a librarian. One day there is a mixup in the Italian government and the three leading parties elect him as the new president of the republic. Peppino is supposed to clear up the misunderstanding and go back to his life, but when he sees all the corruption going on in Rome, he decides to remain and play president just for a little. At first he is a complete disaster. Once he understands how the system works however, he decides to change things. Needless to say his opponents want him out. Continue reading
Interview-Review: Roberto Rossellini’s Journey to Italy (1954)
Since this is the first so-called interview-review, I’ll have to explain what it is. Basically, it’s a new way to give the reader essential information about the film without writing a structured review. Instead I’ll be asking myself five standard questions (which apply to any movie) and then answer them briefly. The aim is to condense everything I’d write in a normal review, but make it easier and quicker for the fast reader to detect. Why did I make this thing up? To offer more variety. Continue reading
Mini-Review: Il Vedovo (1959) – Your Typical Italian Tragicomedy Starring Alberto Sordi
Alberto Nardi (Alberto Sordi) is an enthusiastic, but unlucky Roman entrepreneur trying to make it big in Milan. All of his business ventures seem to be busts, but he still hasn’t given up hope and keeps dreaming of becoming very rich one day. In the meantime he has only made a lot of debts and if it wasn’t for his wealthy wife Elvira Almiraghi (Franca Valeri) he would probably be insolvent and declaring bankruptcy. Other than financial interests, Alberto doesn’t seem to care much about his wife. One day, it seems that Alberto’s luck has finally come: His wife has died in a terrible train accident and he is going to inherit her fortune. What a happy ending, but wait this is an Alberto Sordi film: It never ends well! Continue reading
Mini-Review: Buongiorno Papà (2013) is a Predictable, Yet Charming and Endearing Italian Melodrama
Andrea (Raoul Bova) is a young bachelor, he works for a company that is responsible for product placement in movies. Aside from his job he loves young girls, clubbing and his best friend Paolo (Edoardo Leo) who lives with him. Andrea doesn’t seem to really care about anyone else except himself. One day, out of the blue, his careless lifestyle of casual sex and easy money is shaken when Layla (Rosabell Laurenti Sellers) a rebellious 17-year-old teenager shows up at his front door. She claims to be his daughter. Her mother is dead and Andrea is the only relative she has left, aside from her grumpy grandfather Enzo (Marco Giallini). Since their trailer broke down, they plan to crash at Andrea’s, where there’s going to be a lot of melodrama, but we all know it’s going to end well, right? Continue reading
black is white 