Tag Archives: Italian cinema

the anti Indiana Jones (film: La chimera – Alice Rohrwacher, 2023)

I had two very good reasons to definitely want to see ‘La Chimera‘ (2023). The first – this is the first feature film of the Italian director Alice Rohrwacher after the unusual and superb ‘Lazzaro felice’ (2018). The second – … Continue reading

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an Italian thriller about the Chinese Mafia (film: ‘L’ultima Notte di Amore’ – Andrea Di Stefano, 2023)

‘Last Night of Amore‘ (2023 – original title ‘L’ultima notte di Amore‘) is the title of a very good Italian ‘noir’ thriller, written and directed by Andrea Di Stefano. It’s the actor-turned-director’s first feature film made in Italy, but it … Continue reading

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when Roberto met Ingrid (film: Stromboli – Roberto Rossellini, 1950)

‘Stromboli‘ (1950) is a movie shrouded in a legend that sometimes seems to overshadow the film itself. Its story begins with a letter that Ingrid Bergman, one of the great Hollywood stars of the 1940s, sent to the Italian director … Continue reading

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neorealism meets hiphop (film: C’è ancora domani – Paola Cortellesi, 2023)

‘C’è ancora domani‘ (2023 – English title is ‘There Is Still Tomorrow‘) is a directorial debut but it does not look at all like one. It can be said that it is also an author’s film, because the director is … Continue reading

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testing the limits (film: La dernière femme – Marco Ferreri, 1976)

Before Lars von Trier (the ‘bad’ one – the one who directed ‘Antichrist’ and ‘Nymphomaniac’) there was Marco Ferreri. In 1976, when he made ‘La dernière femme‘, the Italian screenwriter and director had wowed bourgeois audiences (and the members of … Continue reading

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the first masterpiece by Fellini (film: La strada – Frederico Fellini, 1954)

‘La strada‘, made in 1954, is considered Fellini‘s first masterpiece. There are actually many ‘firsts’ collected by this film. It won the first Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It is the first high-quality ‘road movie’ in European cinema. … Continue reading

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best film about the life of Jesus? (film: Il vangelo secondo Matteo – Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)

Movies inspired by the life, trial, death (and sometimes resurrection) of Jesus Christ are a difficult cinematic genre. The events that took place in Judea in the year 30 (or 33 according to other historians) are described by the most … Continue reading

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the seduction of Lina Wertmüller (film: Mimì metallurgico ferito nell’onore – Lina Wertmüller, 1972)

“The Seduction of Mimi” is an uninspired English translation of “Mimi metallurgico ferito nell’onore“, the original title of the film whose approximate equivalent would be “Mimi the metallurgist wounded in his honor“. The author is Lina Wertmüller, an Italian director … Continue reading

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gory tales (film: Il racconto dei racconti / Tale of Tales – Matteo Garrone, 2015)

‘Il racconto dei racconti‘ (or ‘Tale of Tales‘ in the English version) made in 2015 proves once again that Matteo Garrone is one of the most significant Italian directors of the moment, able to approach various genres with self-confidence and … Continue reading

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Alain Delon between social and existentialist drama (film: La prima notte di quiete – Valerio Zurlini, 1972)

‘La prima notte di quiete‘, the 1972 film by Valerio Zurlini , has three different titles. It was released on the English speaking market as ‘Indian Summer‘, a title that has an explanation somewhere in the film, but has little … Continue reading

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