Labeled as the first Italian road trip movie and hallmark of the Italian comedy (Commedia all’italiana) genre, director Dino Risi provides an alarming prophecy for the future of Italy during the prosperous early 60’s of what is typically referred to as the Italian Economic Miracle (Boom Economico). This is Italy after WWII that experienced a [...]

When you think about what makes a film a masterpiece, beyond the usual suspects like clever script, believable acting or memorable soundtrack – what I believe worked extremely well for post-war Italian cinema is the historical context. For the neorealism genre it supplied ample stories of hardships told by non-professional actors in actual locations with [...]

First time’s a charm may be an old cliché, but there is something fresh and original to creating something for the first time that is clean from preconceptions and risk of repetitions. Not always. Yet, this charmingly sensitive film, which marks the debut of Gianni Di Gregorio as a director, represents one of the pleasant [...]

With a mysteriously enchanting soundtrack by Nicola Piovani and a black raven donned with a chiming bell flying over the timeless medieval villages perched defiantly on the mountains of Girgenti on the southern coast of Sicily – the brothers Taviani weave together five tales based on novels by 1934 Nobel prize in Literature laureate, Luigi [...]

US Trailer It’s that great excitement you get when you come across a truly rewarding film by a director you have never seen much of his work, when everything seems to work exactly how you’d want it to be. And Mafioso by Neorealist director, Alberto Lattuada is simply that perfectly fun film. It’s the same [...]