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… Continue reading Seduced and Abandoned – Sedotta e abbandonata (Pietro Germi – 1964)
Category: Comedy
Mid-August Lunch – Pranzo di ferragosto (Gianni Di Gregorio – 2008)
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… Continue reading Mid-August Lunch – Pranzo di ferragosto (Gianni Di Gregorio – 2008)
Mafioso (Alberto Lattuada – 1962)
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 sad story,… Continue reading Mafioso (Alberto Lattuada – 1962)
Big Deal on Madonna Street – I Soliti Ignoti (Mario Monicelli – 1958)
On one hand you can look at this film and say it’s all about men camaraderie in effort to solve an economical problem, and indeed the relationships among the protagonists run the gamut from support, anger, humor, and compassion. And yet, this film is known as the first to usher the Italian Comedy (Commedia All’Italiana)… Continue reading Big Deal on Madonna Street – I Soliti Ignoti (Mario Monicelli – 1958)
Swept Away – Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto (Lina Wertmüller – 1974)
Summertime and the living is easy…so why not enjoy a summer masterpiece from Lina Wertmüller who started her career as an assistant director in Fellini’s 1962 film 81/2? The film, is by no means your typical summer movie, weaves together issues of sex, politics, male-female, poor-rich, relationships into comedy turned drama. Swept away by an… Continue reading Swept Away – Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto (Lina Wertmüller – 1974)