Italian Film Addiction
October 18th 2009 01:43
It all happens so fast. One week you are functioning perfectly without the need for excess, the next you are at odds with yourself - unsure why such a strong craving has developed over such a small period of time.
As it was with myself and this years Italian Film Festival. One simply cannot get enough of such refined cinema. The final film, for me, was the one to bring about the greatest insight about the Mediterranean boot-shaped country. Vincere (Win) is about Mussolini, the fascist leader who dragged Italy through the two world wars. Parallels with the current leader Silvio Berlusconi were obvious - wanted by women all over the country and maintaining a stronghold on most media sources.
It has been said that Berlusconi's one weak point in the country's media is film. And one can be very thankful that he hasn't extended the hand of tastelessness from his TV channels to the cinema. Even the mafia films seem untainted by local forces - strangely more so than its Hollywood counterpart. Whereby gangster films from the USA tend to glorify the criminals, Italian movies of the same genre break its characters down to their more vulnerable side - which must provide a sense of hope for those living under the oppressive hand rather than a sense of pride for those applying such pointless social pressures.
Brave Men is a mafia movie shedding light on the role of the female organised crime leader. It is a film so absolutely timeless and original, maybe slightly more so in theory than practised here, that it should have a wider distribution and promotional machine in which to sell it to a wider market. Basically, its a movie I would recommend to everyone (over a certain age) - whether they are interested in the genre or not.
I began this years soujourn into Italian film before the aformentioned pieces of perfection with the critically acclaimed Giovanna's Father. The unfolding of the story and the execution of the actors in the respective roles made it obvious why this film comes so highly recommended. A young woman who becomes obsessed with a man to the point of mental illness is no easy topic, and it is handled here with precision and a point to prove. The point being that loyalty is more important in such a situation than a pledge to the mafia - if you dissect the films into their pieces, this would be one way of looking at it.
And finally there is the quintessential Monica Bellucci movie, this year being The Man Who Loves. I feel I would be better positioned to comment on this film if I knew whatever poetic coo follows the words of the title. Can anyone here finish this sentence?
The man who loves...
As it was with myself and this years Italian Film Festival. One simply cannot get enough of such refined cinema. The final film, for me, was the one to bring about the greatest insight about the Mediterranean boot-shaped country. Vincere (Win) is about Mussolini, the fascist leader who dragged Italy through the two world wars. Parallels with the current leader Silvio Berlusconi were obvious - wanted by women all over the country and maintaining a stronghold on most media sources.
It has been said that Berlusconi's one weak point in the country's media is film. And one can be very thankful that he hasn't extended the hand of tastelessness from his TV channels to the cinema. Even the mafia films seem untainted by local forces - strangely more so than its Hollywood counterpart. Whereby gangster films from the USA tend to glorify the criminals, Italian movies of the same genre break its characters down to their more vulnerable side - which must provide a sense of hope for those living under the oppressive hand rather than a sense of pride for those applying such pointless social pressures.
Brave Men is a mafia movie shedding light on the role of the female organised crime leader. It is a film so absolutely timeless and original, maybe slightly more so in theory than practised here, that it should have a wider distribution and promotional machine in which to sell it to a wider market. Basically, its a movie I would recommend to everyone (over a certain age) - whether they are interested in the genre or not.
I began this years soujourn into Italian film before the aformentioned pieces of perfection with the critically acclaimed Giovanna's Father. The unfolding of the story and the execution of the actors in the respective roles made it obvious why this film comes so highly recommended. A young woman who becomes obsessed with a man to the point of mental illness is no easy topic, and it is handled here with precision and a point to prove. The point being that loyalty is more important in such a situation than a pledge to the mafia - if you dissect the films into their pieces, this would be one way of looking at it.
And finally there is the quintessential Monica Bellucci movie, this year being The Man Who Loves. I feel I would be better positioned to comment on this film if I knew whatever poetic coo follows the words of the title. Can anyone here finish this sentence?
The man who loves...
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