A Short, A Doc, And A Biopic That You Will Adore!
❤️
Salve ragazzi,
Before we get started,
I need to talk to you all about Amazon Prime and its evil campaign to make finding Italian movies difficult for us. A few of you have written to me saying that they can’t find movies that I have been recommending.
Helping you find these movies is, by the way, is I Love Italian Movie’s ragion d’essere, raison d’être, reason for being. Amazon, like most streaming platforms, has a very unhelpful and unsatisfactory way to search for foreign films of any kind. My friend Larry told me that the reason they move stuff around grocery stores all the time is not to piss us off (as you might have guessed), but to make wander around the store looking for what’s on our shopping list, and hopefully buy things that aren’t on our shopping list.
Maybe this is why Amazon hides movies from us? Maybe they’re sending us on wild goose chases so that we watch a lot of other things we hadn’t intended to watch? Whatever the reason, I DON’T LIKE IT.
If you agree that it should be easier, let me help you. If I mention a movie and you want to watch it, PLEASE, follow the links I provide rather than searching for them yourself. I have no idea why, but Amazon searches often take you nowhere.
If the link I provide doesn’t work, then you should definitely let me know! Remember, I am one woman, writing this stuff in her kitchen, and I DO make mistakes!
Now, back to our regularly scheduled newsletter
I had never even heard of this movie, and I don’t know how long it’s been available on Amazon Prime (so maybe you’ve all already watched it?), but we really enjoyed Il Peccato (Sin).
Sin is the unglamorous story of Renaissance superstar Michelangelo Buonarroti’s life and the power struggles he was forced to maneuver in the midst of 16th century rivalries. While painting the Sistine Chapel, he’s coerced into doing the statues that are part of the tomb designed for Pope Julius II, and he becomes obsessed with finding the world’s best marble for it.
When the Medici’s take over the Vatican, Leo X asks him to create the facade of the San Lorenzo basilica, practically driving the sculptor crazy trying to keep each of the patrons from finding out about the other.
The director (Andrey Konchalovskiy) is Russian, but the dialogue is in Italian (with subtitles), and it is filmed in Lazio and Toscana. Konchalovskiy really nails the 16th century peasant vibes, grit and all, and the scenes in which they excavate the marble are particularly spellbinding.
If You Have 8 Minutes…
…(and c’mon, you do) you MUST watch this gem from director Alice Rohrwacher. It’s a short film called Le Quattro Strade, her Covid lockdown project captured on 16mm film. With Alice’s usual sweet and tenderhearted sensibilities, she introduces us to her neighbors, from a safe pandemic distance.
You have to subscribe to Mubi for this one, but since I do, I can gift this film to 3 -ONLY THREE! - people, and I will use mine for the first three people to send me their email addresses. If you send me your email address and don’t hear from me, you were too late. First three only, please!
Otherwise, Mubi is definitely worth subscribing to, so CHECK IT OUT!
Italophiles will LOVE LOVE LOVE this one…
We’ve all watched movies about young Italians who, for economic reasons, have to leave their hometowns to find work in cities, lots of times outside Italy. This charming documentary is about who and what they leave behind, and about the lives of their parents and grandparents, the ones who plan to live out their days there.
This particular home town is the Ligurian storybook village of Aracà, population (approximately) 13, plus some out-of-towners with vacation homes. The seniors who remain hold on to the hope that the young people will come back someday, although they acknowledge that they probably won’t be around to see it.
Ciao Aracà, from director Daniel Chisholm, is beautifully filmed and a real treat for those of us who are missing Italy!
Love you guys! Vi voglio bene ragazzi! Alla Prossima!
Un bacione,
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema
Thank you for the wonderful review of "ciao Aracà" Cheri! Much appreciated! :-)
Some gems in this newsletter, thank you! Ciao Araca looks very good and the Michelangelo film as well! I have also recently picked up MUBI as well! Happy 4th!