The Girlfriends – Le Amiche (Michelangelo Antonioni – 1955)

Do you see your friends as sources of support or anxiety? More often than not, friendships provide us with mirrors through which we can interpret and validate our reality. In this film, Michelangelo Antonioni explores the intricate, at times fragile relationships between four women in Turin. The story is based on a 1949 article published… Continue reading The Girlfriends – Le Amiche (Michelangelo Antonioni – 1955)

Christ Stopped At Eboli – Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli (Francesco Rosi – 1979)

In this film, Francesco Rosi tells the story of painter Carlo Levi, an anti-fascist activist that was arrested in Turin in 1935 and was sent by Mussolini to the remote town of Gagliano (invented name) – in what is known today as Basilicata. If you ignore the historical context of this film and focus on… Continue reading Christ Stopped At Eboli – Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli (Francesco Rosi – 1979)

Respiro – Grazia’s Island (Emanuele Crialese – 2001)

Session Winter 2007. Last movie. Lampedusa, an island of 6000 people, closer to Africa than to Sicily. They don’t even speak italian. They don’t speak anyway. This movie talks through the southern people’s glance, the wild gestures of bearfooted children, the dark thick skin of the fishermen and the close mouth of their women. Blessed… Continue reading Respiro – Grazia’s Island (Emanuele Crialese – 2001)

The Wedding Director – Il Regista di Matrimoni (Marco Bellocchio – 2006)

Franco Elica, a famous movie director, accidentally in Sicily, has been given the job by the Prince of Gravina, to shoot the movie of his daughter’s wedding. The film opens with the scene of the wedding of his daughter (the director’s), that he initially let others film it, but then he jumps into the crowd… Continue reading The Wedding Director – Il Regista di Matrimoni (Marco Bellocchio – 2006)

Malèna (Giuseppe Tornatore – 2000)

The key ingredients of this film include: Academy award winner director Giuseppe Tornatore; international debut of bombshell Monica Belluci; coming of age story of a young boy in a small Sicilian village during World War II; and the timeless music of Maestro Ennio Morricone. Yes, the film may look like an attempt to repurpose Tornatore’s… Continue reading Malèna (Giuseppe Tornatore – 2000)