In 2009 I remembered being totally enamored with an irrepressible young Italian gay couple that documented the struggle of acceptance of gay rights in their Country and being totally horrified about the vitriol and power of the Far Right Political Parties that seem to make the American Evangelistic Conservatives seem like real sweethearts by comparison. … Continue reading
This is one of those old-fashioned screwball comedies that Hollywood may have given up on, but seemingly is still a film genre that has a place in Italian cinema This is the tale of a 60-ish-year-old Jewish psychoanalyst Elio (Toni Servillo) who is so bored with most of his patients that he is quietly tucking into pastries … Continue reading
From the very first glimpse of a rather grand Beatrice (Valerie Bruni Tedeschi) swooping through the grounds of the Villa Biondi clutching her parasol and dispensing instructions without a care in the world to everyone working away, you can sense that this is going to be a performance that should not be missed. However … Continue reading
The Cantone family pasta business in Italy is ready for some new blood. Dad is getting old and looking to his two grown up sons Antonio and Tommaso to take over so that he can retire. Tommaso wants no part if it as he wants to be a writer and return home to Rome to … Continue reading
One doesn’t usually associate Italians with restraint, but in this enchanting movie from 2008 that I have just come across, they are just exactly that in the telling of this wee drama about surviving a death in a family. In a bizarre coincidence when Pietro returns from the beach with his brother after they … Continue reading