Salve ragazzi,
I’m planning my annual pilgrimage to the Venice Film Festival, and I know what you’re thinking: It won’t be any fun because of the SAG-AFTRA strike.
You know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking it might be even more fun. Even though the strike will prevent American actors from coming, the show must go on. And, YAY! It will go on with more European films. Festival director Alberto Barbera is preparing for what he calls a “Pan-European” Film Festival.
One obvious disappointment would be, for instance, not seeing Zendaya, the star of the fest’s opening-night film, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers. Challengers is supposed to open the festival, but if the strike hasn’t settled, that will have to happen without Zendaya. Guadagnino can bring his film, but not her.
I’m not gonna lie; seeing celebrities run around Venice is a lot of fun. You’re sitting at dinner, and you look over at the table next to you, and there’s Viggo Mortensen. Who’s that sleeping next to you on the overnight flight to Venice? It’s Julianne Moore, and she’s snoring. Normally, you keep your eyes open and your camera ready, but this year might be a good one to skip if you are there hoping to spot George Clooney.
But I’m there for the Italians. And they’ll be there.
Venice 2023, WHO ARE THE ITALIANS?
There are SIX! of them: Matteo Garrone, Pietro Castellito, Saverio Costanzo, Giorgio Diritti, Edoardo De Angelis and Stefano Sollima.
Matteo Garrone, with his film ‘Io Capitano’
Y’all know Matteo Garrone. He’s the most widely known of the six directors for films like Gomorrah and Dogman. Io Capitano is, according to Cineuropa.com, “a Homeric fairy tale that tells the adventurous journey of two young boys, Seydou and Moussa, who leave Dakar to reach Europe. A contemporary Odyssey through the dangers of the desert, of the sea and the ambiguities of the human soul.”
And here’s a fun one. Who was I JUST telling you that you should keep an eye out for? Was it Pietro Castellitto, Sergio Castellitto’s son? (Correct answer - yes. Go back and read more about him HERE.) The young actor/director will be in Venice with a film he directed and starred in called Enea. Also starring the Italian “It” girl, Benedetta Porcaroli.
Enea is a film about 🤷♀️ - you tell me. Not much, if anything at all, has been said about it yet.
Edoardo De Angelis will be there, and I LOVE this guy. He’s such a lovely man and a talented director, and you’ll remember him from Indivisibile (Indivisible). I urge you to do so now if you haven't seen it. It’s a really beautiful story of eighteen-year-old conjoined twins Daisy and Viola (twins Angela and Marianna Fontana) who have been supporting their family since their father figured out they could sing.
To the 2023 festival, he’s bringing Comandante, starring the “It” guy, Pierfrancesco Favino. Variety says it’s an “ambitious anti-war epic that has required the construction of a life-size steel submarine.” Favino plays heroic Sicilian World War II naval officer Salvatore Todaro, who “sank a Belgian merchant ship called Kabalo that was carrying aircraft parts and operating under British rule.”
“He then surfaced, disobeying orders from his own command, to rescue the Kabalo’s 26 crew members, initially by towing their lifeboat and later, when it started sinking, taking them on board at great risk to his own life and the lives of his crew.”
De Angelis said: “A defenseless enemy is no longer an enemy, he’s just another human being.”
I’m not a huge Giorgio Diritti fan, but I’ll probably go see his film Lubo. Cineuropa says it “unfolds in Switzerland in the winter of 1939. Youngster Lubo, who’s of nomadic Yenish descent, is called up for military service in the Swiss army to protect the border. He’s soon joined by his cousin, who tells him that the police have taken his children, on account of their being children of itinerants and gypsies, in line with the national re-education program drawn up by the Kinder der Landstrasse, an organization governed by the principles of eugenics which gained ground in Europe in the Thirties. Lubo embarks on a vendetta with unexpected repercussions, forcing us to rethink the blurred boundaries between good and evil.”
Saverio Costanzo (My Brilliant Friend) is premiering a film that will be affected if the strike persists because the cast has some big-name American actors: Lily James, Willem Dafoe, and Joe Keery (Stranger Things). Finalmente L’Alba (means, “finally dawn”), according to Variety, stars James as “a 1950s Hollywood Star at Cinecittà,” and they call it a “high-end costume drama.” Sounds fun!
Last but not least…
Stefano Sollima, known for the TV show version of Gomorrah will be in Venice with a crime story titled Adagio - it has a “da morire” cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo, Valerio Mastandrea, and Adriano Giannini.
Solima says Adagio is a “dark story of revenge and redemption, which will be the last chapter of my Roman criminal trilogy.”
What’s Going On Here?
OK, I have talked about this before, but I’ve been skeptical and hesitant in the past, but it’s a whole new thing now. If you have Roku, you have to check out the Italia’s Cinema app.
When a friend first pointed it out to me, it was definitely too good to be true. For the low, low price of FREE, you could watch the latest Italian movies with subtitles. I asked people I knew in the industry how this could be, and nobody had an answer for me. I used it, but I didn’t feel good about it. It felt like stealing, but it was a Roku app.
A few years later, something happened, and the app still worked, but all the good stuff on it was gone. I figured that it had been, after all, illegal, and they got caught violating distribution agreements. It was no fun anymore, so I forgot about it.
A few weeks ago, I was wondering what was going on over there, and I fired up the app. To my surprise, NOW, Italia’s cinema has 1,000 titles for a $7.99 subscription fee, and it has a TREASURE TROVE of the very latest movies and older ones I’d always hoped I could share with you but have never been available in the USA. When I saw one of my all-time favorite Paola Cortellesi movies, Tu La Conosci Claudia (Do You Know Claudia), I just about lost it. It’s an ADORABLE comedy with Paola and the comedy trio of Aldo, Giovanni, and Giacomo. You NEVER find Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo in the USA!
I was even able to watch the 2023 film L’Ultima Notte Di Amore, starring Pierfrancesco Favino!
There’s only one catch…
NO SUBTITLES.
So, if you speak Italian or are learning Italian, check it out! I’m still slightly suspicious that there’s something fishy going on. I mean, how are they doing what everyone else says is impossible? I’m paying for the service, so I at least don’t feel like a thief anymore.
Just For Fun…
I know everyone is trying to cut down on screen time, but there’s a guy that you’ll really enjoy and should follow on YouTube.
Rome has its own delightful version of Carpool Karaoke, thanks to taxi driver Emanuele Della Seta, known to fans by his nickname Il Duca 40. Il Duca has been making his customers sing with him ever since 2007. Every so often, famous people show up, like Stefano Fresi:
One time, he picked up Italian pop singer Emma Marrone and didn’t recognize her. "She was wearing sunglasses and a hat,” he told La Stampa. "I asked her if she could sing, and she replied 'a little bit'".
Un bacione, cari amici, 💋
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema
Garrone's "Dogman" was so painful to watch! I "think" the director elicited out of us what he wanted! Punch in the gut.....kinda like "Bad Tales!" :-(
"Commandante" sounds intriguing!
Watched Willem Dafoe's "Tomasso" recently - fork in the eye, even though some very good acting.
To keep it upbeat, I re-watched "Hand to God" which was even better the second time I watched it! Looking forward to Sorrentino's future film about Napoli.
Another go to for me is, "I Am Love," "Sapienza," and I REALLY enjoyed Moretti's "Three Floors." Alba Rohrwacher is just so lovely and diversely talented.