Salve ragazzi,
It’s been a while! Come va? Today is a very special time of year because not only is it the 15th anniversary of I Love Italian Movies, but also Luigi Lo Cascio’s birthday! Since Luigi is one of the actors who got me on to Italian cinema in the first place, it all makes sense. Tanti auguri Luigi!
FUN FACT: You’ll know this if you’ve ever had the wait staff sing for you on your birthday in an Italian restaurant, but in the Italian birthday song they sing “tanti auguri” instead of “happy birthday”. It means “many wishes”.
Luckily, there are quite a few of Luigi’s movies that are available to stream or rent in the USA, but as you’ve probably heard, Netflix has stopped sending out DVDs, so those of us who still have a DVD player have lost one of our avenues of Italian films. It’s a bummer, but it was inevitable.
So if you are like me, you’ll be celebrating by watching Luigi Lo Cascio movies all day, and here’s where you’ll find him.
Salvo
GET IT HERE: The Roku Channel, Amazon Prime Video (FreeVee), Apple TV, Vudu, Tubi, YouTube
Salvo is a mafia movie/love story about a kidnapped girl, but Luigi Lo Cascio provides a little comic relief in a cameo as Enzo, a henpecked husband who ends up getting a big kick out of hosting a gangster in his home. (Did I use enough old-timey words in that sentence?)
Luigi’s wife, Desideria Raynor, did the film editing for this movie, worth watching for a million other reasons, but if you are celebrating Luigi today, make sure you’ve seen this one.
If you still have that DVD player and you are feeling adventurous, dust it off and order this from Amazon:
Mio Cognato (My Brother-In-Law)
Mio Cognato is on my “Top Ten Favorite Movies You Won’t Find in the USA,” and I have watched it a dozen times.
In it, Luigi’s brother-in-law is played by Sergio Rubini, a mobster wanna-be who claims that he can help Luigi get his stolen car back. For those of you who are getting tired of mafia movies, this one’s different. It’s got some really funny parts, and Luigi, again playing a big nerd, is completely out of place as a sight-seer in Bari’s gritty underbelly.
The DVD has English subtitles, but this clip doesn’t.
I Cento Passi
FUN FACT: Luigi Lo Cascio started out studying medicine, but it was his uncle, actor Luigi Maria Burruano, who got him into acting.
Burruano introduced him to the director of I Cento Passi (The Hundred Steps), and the rest, as they say, is history. Playing lead character Peppino Impastato, Luigi’s natural acting abilities became immediately obvious, and it was bye-bye medical school.
Luigi Maria Burruano, or Zio (Uncle) Gigi, as Luigi and his family called him, died in 2017, and Luigi told me, “He was a person that was essential for me in many important times, in particular, talking about me to (director) Marco Tullio Giordana and suggesting to him that I play Peppino Impastato (in the film I Cento Passi).
I’d like to mention one in particular. The first stage performance that I can remember attending was actually his play. It was a packed house and he had set us up on the stage, hidden in the wings, and so I was practically spying on it from a very privileged point of view because we could see what the actors were doing and at the same time the reaction of the audience. It is a very strong memory. Perhaps he had a part in introducing me to the pleasure of being onstage, and of being an actor…”
I Cento Passi is a tribute to one of the Sicilian heroes who lost their lives standing up to the Sicilian mafia and is definitely one of the MUST-SEE movies if you are an Italian film lover.
GET IT HERE: Amazon Prime, Apple TV, Vudu
Il Traditore (The Traitor)
If you’re asking me my favorite Luigi Lo Cascio movie, that would be impossible to say, but I am sure his role as Salvatore Contorno in Il Traditore (The Traitor) would be at the top of the list.
There is nobody involved in this film that isn’t at the top of their game, and Luigi is phenomenally authentic, playing Contorno the real-life mobster who was on trial in the famous Sicilian Max-Trials. Director Marco Bellocchio went to great lengths to make you feel as if you were watching the actual trials, where 338 mafiosi were convicted.
This is SUCH a good movie, and a lot of the gritty reality is thanks to Luigi.
GET IT HERE: Hulu, Amazon, Apple TV, Vudu
Il Capitale Umano (Human Capital)
His role as Donato Russo in Il Capitale Umano (Human Capital) isn’t a huge part but a juicy one. Director Paolo Virzì’s film is based on a book by Stephen Amidon that is so good it was begging to be made into a movie.
Amidon’s novel about upper-crust Connecticut becomes Paolo Virzì’s story of upper-crust northern Italy in this stunningly complex drama about money, families going haywire because of it, and a guy on a bike who, one dark snowy night, loses his life and brings theirs into glaringly sharp focus.
La Meglio Gioventù (The Best of Youth)
Another early example of Luigi’s work, La Meglio Gioventù, is long (it was originally a mini-series) but worth every second. The cast is jam-packed with talent: Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio) and Matteo (Alessio Boni) play brothers living through decades of social and political upheavals in Italy during the 1960s and '70s. Along the way, they meet mental patient Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca), Nicola falls for Giulia (Sonia Bergamasco), and Matteo falls for the lovely photographer-turned-librarian Mirella (Maya Sansa).
I Nostri Ragazzi (The Dinner)
With its cast to die for, Luigi Lo Cascio plays alongside Alessandro Gassman, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, and Barbora Bobulova in Ivano De Matteo’s dark story based on a bestselling novel by Herman Koch.
Two couples who can barely stand each other, brothers and their wives, meet monthly for dinner. The monotony of the family tradition might have continued forever had it not been for something their kids got involved in, something truly awful and worse than anyone could have expected.
GET IT HERE: Vudu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV
A BIG HUG FROM US ALL, Luigi! Baci, Abbracci e Tantissimi Auguri!
WHAT I’M WATCHING RIGHT NOW
Thanks to the SDIFF (San Diego Italian Film Festival), you can stream 13 short films as part of their SDIFF 2023 Virtual Festival. Short films are really important for me because they allow me to see new talent and upcoming directors and actors.
San Diego Film Festival Shorts
As I start another year of I Love Italian Movies,
I want to thank all of you for your support and for your love and appreciation of Italian cinema!
I’ve spoken with hundreds of Italian filmmakers and actors; believe me, they appreciate us! I am time and again delighted when I reached out to them to tell them that “we are here!” They are always touched to learn that so many Americans love their work!
If you want to leave a birthday message for Luigi, leave it in the comments because I’ll be sending this to him later today!
Un bacione 💋,
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema
Tanti auguri.... tanti auguri
Lei 'e un attore incredibile!
Cheri,
Welcome back! We/I missed you! :-)
MANY Congratulations on 15 years! Wow! Amazing!
We are fortunate to have you providing us guidance, insight, and discovery! Thank you for all you do.
Luigi is so talented and so good in everything he is in, really. I just love him in “The Best of Youth.”
Luigi, tanti auguri, sir!