The Italian Film Series

For the 2005 Fall Semester

August 31
"I cento passi" (One Hundred Steps)
(2000)

di
Marco Tullio Giordana

"I cento passi" (one hundred steps) was the distance between the Impastatos' house and the house of Tano Badalamenti, an important Mafia boss, in the small Sicilian town of Cinisi. The movie is the story of Peppino Impastato, a young left-wing activist that in the late seventies (when almost nobody dared to speak about Mafia, and several politicians maintained that Mafia did not even exist) repeatedly denounced Badalamenti crimes and the whole Mafia system using a small local radio station, with the arm of irony. In 1978 Peppino (30 years old) was killed by an explosion. The police archived the case as an accident or a suicide, but his friends never accepted this thesis. Note: This is a true story. More than wenty years after Peppino's death, the case has been re-opened. Tano Badalamenti, meanwhile, has been convicted in USA for drug traffic.

September 7
Pane e tulipani (Bread and Tulips)
(2000)

di
Silvio Soldini

An unhappy housewife, accidentally left behind by a tour bus, heads to Venice and soon embarks upon a new life. Leaving her hot-headed husband and teenaged children behind, she meets a melancholy waiter who opens the door to his home and a door to a new beginning for her. One of Italy's biggest recent commercial and critical hits, this film won 9 Donatello Awards, including Best Picture, Actor (Bruno Ganz), Actress (Licia Maglietta), and Director. "Seeing Bread and Tulips may not be as good as having an actual holiday in Italy, but it's close" (Shirley Sealy, Film Journal International). Italian with English subtitles.

September 14
L’ultimo bacio/The Last Kiss

(2001, col. 117 mins.)

by
Gabriele Muccino

The impending birth of a child stirs wild emotions and forces the twenty something parents-to-be to contemplate their worst fears: adulthood, fidelity and commitment. Meanwhile, their friends and family also fight the strains of maturity. "Irresistibly entertaining" ( The New Yorker). Winner of the Audience Award 2002 Sundance Film Festival. In Italian with English subtitles.

*Presented and discussed by Prof. Ben Lawton, Purdue University

September 21
Le fate ignoranti
(2003, col. 112 mins.)

(His Secret Life)

by
Ferzan Ozpetek

After the sudden death of her husband, a woman is surprised and shocked to discover that he had a male lover throughout the entirety of their happy marriage. She confronts the lover and, as they grieve for the man they loved, a friendship emerges. Beautifully filmed in Rome, this final film in director Ferzan Ozpetec's erotic trilogy, which includes Steam: The Turkish Bath and Harem, is "lovely and touching" (A.O. Scott, New York Times). In Italian and Turkish with English subtitles.

September 28
La stanza del figlio/The Son’s Room
(2001)

di
Nanni Moretti

Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, Nanni Moretti's examination of the grieving process is tender but never cloying, emotional but never schmaltzy, as it charts the difficult emotional journey a family must make when it loses one of its own. "Moretti makes the case for the secular humanist's navigation of the ancient terrors...the film thoroughly lays out the way most middle-class people live, think, feel, and cope with calamity in a culture that has permanently downsized God and hired artists and head shrinkers to manage the shakes instead" (Harlan Jacobson, Film Comment). In Italian with English subtitles.

October 5
Fiorile (Wild Flower)
(1993)

di
Paolo e Vittorio Taviani

In the orange groves of Italy, the Benedetti family preserves their time-honored ways, including the curse that has followed them for generations. In this provocative tale, greed, lust, romance and forbidden love stalk the unsuspecting members of this clan in a warmly nostalgic look at the process of history. Italian with English subtitles.

October 12
Io speriamo che me la cavo/Ciao professore
(1992)

di
Lina Wertmuller

A tender and often hilarious comedy from Lina Wertmuller centering on a teacher who is mistakenly assigned to a third-grade class in an impoverished town in Southern Italy. The teacher soon faces the Mafia, truancy and pupils with family problems while trying to steer his students in the right direction. Paolo Villaggio stars. 93 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: Italian Dolby Digital Surround; Subtitles: English.

October 19
Il cuore altrove
(2003)

di
Pupi Avati

Nello Balocchi, a 35-year-old teacher of Greek and Latin, is invited to Bologna by his father, the owner of the Papal tailor's shop in Rome. His father hopes Nello will find a soul mate in Bolgna and thus produce an heir for the business. Nello stays in a guesthouse run by Arabella, a wise woman who already knows all about his situation. He shares a room with Domenico, a crafty barber from Naples. After several unsuccessful efforts, Nello meets Angela, an exuberant, beautiful young blind girl with whom he falls hopelessly in love. The girl's father and Nello's parents do not approve of the relationship, but the real problem is Angela's temperament.

 October 26
Nirvana
(1997)

di

Gabriele Salvatores

Christopher Lambert stars as a video game designer who creates a virtual reality program that spirals out of control in this tense sci-fi thriller. Solo (Diego Abatantuono), the protagonist of the game, is imbued with human consciousness after being infected by a freak computer virus. Unable to bear the thought of living an eternal "life" of infinitely repeating the same actions, Solo begs his creator Jimi (Lambert) to destroy him. Jimi enlists the aid of skilled hackers to pull off the mission behind his company's back. A taut, complex thriller in the vein of The Matrix.

November 2
Baci e abbracci/Kisses and Hugs
(1999)

di
Paolo Virzì

Dominated by a cast of newcomers, this comedy of errors from director Paolo Virzi aims for both laughter and poignance. Three factory workers who lose their jobs when their employer closes shop decide to join forces and open an ostrich ranch, in hopes that ostrich meat will find favor on Italian dinner tables.

November 9
Volere volare
(1991)

di
Maurizio Nichetti

Maurizio Nichetti collaborated with animator Guido Manuli in this inventive comedy that blends live action and animation. The story concerns the nervous and complicated romance of a shy special effects technician, Maurizio (Nichetti), and Martina (Angela Finocchiaro), a beautiful actress who dramatizes bizarre sexual fantasies for a group of strange clients. Complications ensue when Maurizio's body is transformed into the form and shape of a cartoon, assuming its own will. With Patrizio Roversi and Mariella Valentini. Italian with English subtitles.

November 16
Novecento (The Legend of 1900)
(1998)

di
Giuseppe Tornatore

The director of Cinema Paradiso and Malena made his first English language feature with this romantic fable about a talented pianist (Tim Roth) who has spent his entire life on board a luxury liner, perfecting his musical skills while avoiding the pitfalls of the real world. When a beautiful girl captures his heart, he is tempted to leave his haven behind. Also starring the always fine Pruitt Taylor Vince ( Heavy), with Clarence Williams III as Jelly Roll Morton. Music by Ennio Morricone.

November 30
Le chiavi di casa (The Keys to the House)
(2004)

di
Gianni Amelio

Italy 's candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar (2004) stars national screen star Kim Rossi Stuart ( Beyond the Clouds) as a young widower with a handicapped son whom he has not met. Surprised by the extent of the boy's disabilities, Gianni (Stuart) faces his share of frustration and disappointment as he labors to bridge the gap between them. With Charlotte Rampling. "Tells [its story] with an exactness and a restraint that makes it powerfully effective" (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times). In Italian with English subtitles.

All Screenings are in

Greene Hall 239 at 7 p.m.

For more information

Call Antonio Vitti

At 758-5549 or write Vittiac@wfu.edu