Freaks, Zombies, and Grave Robbers, All'Italiana
Salve ragazzi,
THE BIG NEWS:
Those of you who are in the New York City area and don’t take advantage of the best Italian film festival in the USA are JUST PLAIN CRAZY! 🤪 Coming June 9 until June 15, Lincoln Center’s Open Roads, New Italian Cinema will host films and even some of the directors for a spectacular chance to see contemporary Italian films you might not find anywhere else. All films are in Italian with English subtitles unless otherwise noted and will screen at the Walter Reade Theater (165 W. 65th Street NY, NY)
Up until Covid, I never missed it, and because of it, I got to meet all kinds of amazing actors and filmmakers.
For tickets and more information…
More To Look Forward To!
In 3 days, May 27, Jonas Carpignano’s ‘A Chiara’ will open in select US theaters. A Chiara was the winner of the Cannes’ Directors' Fortnight Award, and its star, Swamy Rotolo, won best actress at the 2022 Premi David di Donatello (Italian Academy Awards).
A Chiara takes place in Calabria, and Swamy plays Chiara, a Daddy’s girl who is heartbroken and rocked to her core when she discovers who and what her Daddy really is. Make sure you check your local theaters for showtimes. It’s a beautiful film, and you won’t want to miss it!
What I Watched Last Night
If you like a good zombie movie, Andrea De Sica’s Non Mi Uccidere (Don’t Kill Me) is just what you are looking for. It’s silly. It’s gross. It’s actually not even a very good zombie movie, but I enjoyed it for reasons that only an Italian film fan could.
Reason #1, the director, Andrea De Sica, whose lineage is especially notable. We’ve already seen his work in the TV series Baby, and though I wasn’t crazy about that one either, I know many of you young people adored it. It looks like he’s firmly planted in the family business, and it’s always good to see what he’s up to.
Andrea’s grandfather was the legendary actor/director Vittorio De Sica (The Bicycle Thief, Two Women), his father is a composer, and his uncle is Christian De Sica, is the reigning champ of Cinepanettone (Christmas comedies).
FUN FACT: Christian De Sica is married to Carlo Verdone’s sister, Silvia.
Above, starting from the left, going clockwise, 1)Crown Prince Andrea De Sica, 2)Vittorio De Sica with his wife Maria Mercader and sons Manuel and Christian, 3) Christian De Sica with wife Silvia and her brother Carlo Verdone.
Reason #2, the amazing cast. We’ve got rising star Alice Pagani, who is also in Baby, Giacomo Ferrara, from Suburra the TV show, and the award-winning Fabrizio Ferracane, from Il Traditore!
Reason #3, the dark, teenage love story alla Twilight, Robert Pattison look-a-like and all. When 19-year-old Mirta (Alice Pagani) dies of drug overdose with her lover Robin, she wakes up in her mausoleum and breaks out. She’s Mirta, and she’s not Mirta. An important change for the new Mirta - in order to live she must eat human flesh.
Reason #4, ROMA! As zombie Mirta and her friends drove through the streets, I had fun recognizing places I’ve been.
Perhaps you’ve read about Marco Bellocchio in Cannes.
For one thing, critics are raving about the film he brought there, Esterno Notte, and some are saying it’s better than Il Traditore (The Traitor), so we have that to look forward to.
Esterno Notte star Fabrizio Gifuni as Aldo Moro, Margherita Buy as Eleonora Moro, and Toni Servillo as Pope Paul VI and YOU KNOW that one will be coming soon. It’s about the kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro by the Red Brigades.
But this was interesting - Bellocchio is making a new movie based on the true story of Edgardo Mortara, a Jewish boy who was kidnapped, baptized, and forced to live as a Christian in 19th-century Italy.
FUN FACT: Steven Spielberg had originally wanted the story but gave up on it when he couldn’t find the right young boy for the part. Or so he said.
According to Bellocchio, “I have trouble believing that was the problem.”
“My impression is it was a political problem. This story, even though it’s set 170 years ago, can be perceived as re-igniting the conflict between Jews and Catholics at a time when they are seeking peace, not conflict. And Spielberg has such a great stature in the Jewish world,” he added.
One more interesting coming attraction for the USA…
Neon has acquired the North American rights to Alice Rohrwacher’s (Happy as Lazzaro) latest, La Chimera, starring Josh O’Connor (The Crown) and Isabelle Rossellini.
Set during the 1980s, it’s about the tombaroli, or tomb robbers, and a young English archaeologist (O’Connor) who gets caught up in it.
Ragazzi, siete fantastici - you are awesome!
Un bacione 💋,
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema