Below are some of my favorite Italian films that will keep you cool while their characters heat up the screen!
Johnny Stecchino is definitely one of the funniest movies I've ever seen! Roberto Benigni stars as Dante, a school bus driver for mentally handicapped children, who steals bananas and is unlucky in love. When he meets a beautiful, wealthy woman, played by his real-life wife Nicoletta Braschi, he feels his luck may be changing. However, the woman is only interested in him because of his striking resemblence to her mobster husband, who is wanted by a whole host of enemies. Benigni also takes on the role of Braschi's husband, which takes the movie over the edge in the laughter department!
Presented by Martin Scorsese and directed by Emanuele Crialese, Golden Door is a story of immigration seen directly through the eyes of immigrants. The film offers a firsthand look at the entire process of immigration from the moment the characters decide to make the journey from Sicily to New York, to boarding the ship, to enduring the conditions in which most immigrants had to travel, to their arrival and processing on Ellis Island. Vincenzo Amato gives a strong, sincere performance as a man trying to protect his family while they search for the American dream.
What a ride! That's how you'll feel after watching Caterina in the Big City. Paolo Verzi's coming of age film is the story of Caterina, a teenager who moves from a small town to big time Rome and is faced with the huge task of fitting in. Caterina takes us back to high school crushes, peer pressure and searching for your own identity in the vast sea of choices that we all have when embarking on this journey through life. With outstanding performances by Margherita Buy, Sergio Castellitto and Sergio Rubino, this is a sure crowd-pleaser!
It's a tale of love, deception, money and glamour. Michelangelo Antonioni's 1950 classic, Cronica di un amore tells the story of a wealthy Milanese businessman who becomes curious about his trophy wife's past loves. He hires a private detective to look into her past and in doing so, ends up reuniting the woman with an ex-flame. The Italian classic has been made available in the U.S. by NoShame Films.
Mamma Roma, Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1962 masterpiece is filled with exquisite beauty and tragic sadness. The story documents a mother who is trapped in a world of prostitution as she tries to support her son and give him the things she never had. The social economic landscape of the early 60's was such that she could not escape the world that she tried so hard to leave. Her beloved son gets mixed up with the wrong crowd and reaches out to his mother only to find that it's too late. The outstanding performances by Anna Magnani and Ettore Garofolo will make you laugh one minute and cry the next.
In Ciao Professore!, Paolo Villaggio plays a school teacher from a conservative town in Northern Italy who is transferred to Naples. Upon beginning his new job, he learns of his students' lives of poverty and street crime when only a few of them report to class. He attempts the challenging task of turning things around, and along the way, develops strong bonds with the students. You'll want a box of Kleenex nearby for the end of this movie!
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