Salve ragazzi,
I have something at both ends of the spectrum today! Our Insider movie is pure melodrama, but I found a REALLY FUN animated series that is quite the opposite. First…
FUN FACTS about our Insiders movie this weekend.
Our film, Tutto Il Mio Folle Amore (All My Crazy Love) was directed by Gabriele Salvatores.
Salvatores won a Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1992 for his film Mediterraneo, but I preferred his 2003 Io Non Ho Paura (I’m Not Scared).
Mediterraneo is very sentimental, as is our Insider movie, but Io Non Ho Paura is one of the most extraordinary foreign films of the 1990s. I would put it on my top 25 of all time, and if you haven’t seen it, PLEASE DO. It’s Salavatores’ best work.
It’s a classic story of right and wrong, seen through the eyes of a young boy. And since this is a child’s challenge, he isn’t even equipped with the same power and tools that an adult would have in a dangerous situation.
Ten-year-old Michele finds Fillipo in chains in a hole in the ground covered with a sheet of metal, and you might think that his first instinct would be to tell the adults – to get help. But Michele knows that the adults, even his own parents, are not to be trusted. As he begins to understand more about what’s going on, he’s compelled to help Filippo.
Io Non Ho Paura is based on the story of real boy from Milan who was kidnapped during the period in Italy in which terrorist groups kidnapped wealthy people from the North and held them in the South, and killed them if a ransom wasn’t paid.
This gripping movie set in 1978 Basilicata was filmed from a child’s perspective – literally – the lens is lowered to a child’s eye level. And it is told from a child’s emotional level; we are really made to feel Michele’s compassion and fear and Filippo’s despair.
While Tutto Il Mio Folle Amore, doesn’t have the weight of Io Non Ho Paura, it’s a feel-good movie that is also based on a true story. The movie’s characters, Willy and Vincent, are based on the lives of real people, Franco and Andrea Antonello, a family living with autism.
The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival and stars Valeria Golino (she’s EVERYWHERE!) and Claudio Santamaria, who we say in Torneranno I Prati.
Diagnosed as autistic at age three, Andrea’s parents struggled with how to help him grow into a self-sufficient adult. The movie tells about a road trip with the boy and his father, one of self-discovery and bonding.
Links and password will be mailed out Saturday morning! (May 14, 2022).
It’s not too late to become an Insider - just $5 a month and you’ll get movies you won’t find anywhere else, and at the same time help support this newsletter!
I’m LOVIN’ IT!
I’m not usually a HUGE fan of animation, but I’m truly enjoying binging through Strappare Lungo I Bordi (Tear Along The Dotted Line). It’s clever, hip, smart, eye-catching…I could keep going forever with the superlatives and praise. It’s mostly just FUN, and it’s a really interesting window into the world of Italy today.
The six-episode season lets us into the brain of Italian cartoonist Zerocalcare (Michele Rech) with his characters Secco, Sarah, the Wild Boar Friend, and the Armadillo, voiced by Valerio Mastandrea.
FUN FACT: His pen name, literally meaning "zero limescale”, was inspired by an Italian TV commercial jingle for a descaler product because he had to choose a screen name to post on a discussion in a chat room.
AND…
If you are wondering if Italians can do standup comedy - keeping in mind I did not say GOOD standup comedy, take a look at this. Michela Giraud is not what I would call hilarious, but it is interesting to watch Italians do standup!
I was worried for nothing…
Read what Variety’s Italian correspondent Nick Vivarelli wrote about the future of Netflix in Italy:
“Netflix on Friday officially opened its Italian base in Rome, in a classy neoclassical building near the iconic Via Veneto, and announced a substantial slate of originals that stand as testament to what co-CEO Reed Hastings called the streaming giant’s “growing business in Italy.”
“The breadth and variety of our Italian slate perfectly represents our ambitions,” said Hastings, who took the stage at the presentation’s conclusion. Hastings took the opportunity to note how pleased he is that Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” which Netflix produced, scooped top honors at Italy’s David di Donatello Awards, the country’s top film prizes, earlier this week.
Netflix’s new Italian slate is headlined by a high-end English-language series adaptation of “The Leopard,” the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. It’s a historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown” and clear aspirations to make a global mark.”
Riposa in pace, Lino Capolicchio
It was sad to read about the death of Lino Capolicchio, the handsome star of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis.
Il Giardino Dei Finzi Contini is a 1970 historical drama film directed by Vittorio De Sica and based on Italian Jewish author Giorgio Bassani's 1962 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. It tells the story of an upper-class Jewish family in Ferrara during the Fascist era.
Un bacione 💋,
Cheri
America’s Cheerleader For Italian Cinema
I just watches the trailer for "Tutto Il Mio Folle Amore" and I can't wait to see the whole film! Thank you for giving us the backstory; it makes all the difference. The real Franco and Andrea are stunningly beautiful men, aren't they? You are so persuasive I think I'll go back to see "Mediterraneo" and "Io Non Ho Paura" again. Did you know that some of the music for that last movie was composed by the late great Ezio Bosso? Grazie mille, as always, Cheri. I hope you're completely over your bout of COVID and feeling great! Un bacione, carissima