A series of New Italian Films/FilmMakers will be presented by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City from May 30 to June 12 at the Walter Reade Theatre.
Sixteen
Full length Films, plus a number of Short Films will spotlight a NEW generation
of Italian Filmakers who are defined by neither a political position nor
an aesthetic approach,and has been unified by a new spirit of independence,
of breaking away from old models and genres, made necessary by the collapse
of the old industrial structures of the Italian cinema. This new spirit
is also indicative of the myriad backgrounds, experiences and influences,
and a pronounced accent on "regionalism."
======================================================
Open
Roads: New Italian Cinema
By
The Film Society of Lincoln Center
Thanks to Gerry DeLuca at Italiani2@yahoogroups.com
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.
Fri
May 30: 1:30; Sat May 31: 4:15; June 8: 3:45
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
http://www.filmlinc.com/wrt/programs/6-2003/italy.htm