We continue our Italian Film Festival 2011 preview with the rest of the films on show. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to check out Part One of our preview (for all the other films and the dates when the festival is playing near you).
As always, let us know which films you go to see at the festival and which you’d recommend.
Check out the ‘Calendar’ section of the Italian Film Festival site for all screening times.
Italian Film Festival 2011 films (continued):
The Right Thing (La Cosa Giusta): 2009, Marco Campogiani, 86min, Drama Comedy
Two mismatched police officers – an idealistic rookie and a hard-bitten veteran – are assigned to tail a Moroccan man who has just been released from jail but is still suspected of having ties with al-Qaeda.
Cast: Ennio Fantastichini, Paolo Briguglia, Ahmed Hafiene
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Bets & Wedding Dresses (Tris di Donne & Abiti Nuziali): 2009, Vincenzo Terracciano, 101min, Comedic Drama
2009 Venice Film festival: Official selection – Horizons
‘Bets & Wedding Dresses’ stars Sergio Castellitto (The Wedding Director) in the role of Franco Campanella, a former post office worker married to German-born Josephine (Martina Gedeck, The Baader Meinhof Complex). More than anything else Franco is a gambler and he frequents the dingiest corners of Naples to bet on horses and play poker, roulette and “zecchinetta”.
Despite the trouble his debts have caused over the years and the disapproval of his family, he has managed to maintain a precarious balance… until now. For the Campanella family, and in particular for Josephine, their daughter Luisa’s wedding has to be perfect as it is the day of their social redemption. But Franco, desperate to make his daughter’s dreams come true, can see only one path, certain that fate – this time – will be on his side.
Cast: Sergio Castellitto, Martina Gedeck, Paolo Briguglia
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Sorry I Want to Marry You (Scusa Ma ti Voglio Sposare): 2010, Federico Moccia, 105min, Romantic Comedy
This is the highly anticipated sequel to the sensational box office hit Sorry If I Love You.
Everything is going splendidly three years after Alex (Raoul Bova, ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’), a mature and successful advertising agent, and the teenage Niki (Michela Quattrociocche), swore eternal love. They live together, they’re in love and everything seems just right. That is until Niki starts moving in new social circles at university. Becoming increasingly paranoid that Niki might leave him for a fellow student her own age, Alex decides it’s time to pop the question. A domino effect of misunderstandings and miscommunications unfolds as the pressure builds on their previously trouble-free relationship.
Cast: Raoul Bova, Michela Quattrociocche
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Raise Your Head (Alza la Testa): 2009, Alessandro Angelini, 87min, Drama
2009 Rome Film Festival: In Competition, Winner Best Actor.
Tough-as-nails shipyard worker and former boxer Mero (Castellitto) and his teenage son Lorenzo (promising new talent Gabriele Campanelli) live in the sprawling, multi-ethnic seaside outskirts of Rome, between Fiumicino and Ostia. The handsome youngster is more talented in the ring than Mero, who trains him, although he lacks his father’s drive and focus. When Mero, a man of few words, is forced to admit that he has taught Lorenzo everything he knows and it may be time for him to move on to a more experienced coach, it is a quietly heartbreaking moment for both men.
Cast: Sergio Castellitto, Duccio Camerini, Gabriele Campanelli
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Happy Family: 2010, Gabriele Salvatores, 90min, Comedy
Recently dumped screenwriter Ezio (Fabio De Luigi, Many Kisses Later) is having trouble writing a story about two neurotic families whose paths cross when their teenage children, Filippo and Marta, decide to marry. Filippo’s parents (Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Margherita Buy) and Marta’s parents (Diego Abatantuono and Carla Sinoris) arrange to have dinner to meet for the first time, with hilarious consequences. Ezio soon writes himself into his script, and into a love story, while the characters pester him about wanting bigger and better roles!
Cast: Fabrizio Bentivoglio, Margherita Buy, Valeria Bilello, Fabio De Luigi, Diego Abatantuono, Carla Sinoris
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Weddings and Other Disasters (Matrimoni e Altri Disastri): 2010, Nina di Majo, 102min, Comedy
Nina di Majo’s engaging Florentine comedy tells the story of single 40-something Nanà who runs a bookstore, lives with her cat and, despite the nagging of her well-to-do family, has no intention of finding a Prince Charming after her great love joined the priesthood. Secretly though, Nanà (Margherita Buy) is in love with Bauer (Mohammad Bakri), a self-centred novelist who takes advantage of her feelings to obtain small professional favours.
Problems in Nanà’s love life have given her an allergy to the very notion of matrimony and so her sister Beatrice’s absurd idea of having her organise her wedding while Beatrice is away on a business trip shocks her. The result is an irresistible series of mishaps and plot twists!
Cast: Margherita Buy, Fabio Volo, Luciana Littizzetto, Francesca Inaudi, Mohammad Bakr
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Me, Them and Lara (Io, Loro e Lar): 2010, Carlo Verdone, 112min, Comedy
Writer-director Carlo Verdone plays Carlo, a missionary in Africa who after ten years returns home hoping that the warmth and understanding of his family will help him overcome his spiritual crisis. But once back he is the ignored guest of what seems like a madhouse that is nothing like his fondly remembered childhood home. Carlo’s father Alberto (Sergio Fiorentini) is now married to his voluptuous minder; his sister Beatrice (Anna Bonaiuto), though a psychoanalyst, seems to be completely submerged in a sea of her own imaginary problems; and their bankrupt brother Luigi (Marco Giallini) is merrily hooked on more than just the volatile stock market.
A twist of fate delivers the enigmatic and seductive Lara (Laura Chiatti) into their lives, triggering a series of mix-ups that the family must resolve.
Cast: Carlo Verdone, Laura Chiatti, Anna Bonaiuto, Angela Finocchiaro, Sergio Fiorentini, Marco Giallini
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Kiss Me Again (Baciami Ancora): 2010, Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds), 145min, Drama
2010 Shanghai International Film Festival: Golden Goblet Best Picture Prize, Best Screenplay and Best Actress (Vittoria Puccini).
The highly anticipated sequel to the 2001 smash-hit The Last Kiss.
Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) is now divorced from Giulia (Vittoria Puccini), the woman he cheated on. They have a 10-year-old daughter and their divorce settlement is imminent. However, Carlo would do anything to reunite with Giulia. Meanwhile, Paolo (Claudio Santamaria, Crime Nove‘) is involved in a rocky relationship with Livia (Sabrina Impacciatore, Manual of Love). Livia’s ex, Adriano (Giorgio Pasotti) has been released from prison and wants to get to know his son, even though he’s been absent from his life for ten years. Rounding out the group is Marco (Pierfrancesco Favino) and his cheating wife Veronica (Daniela Piazza).
Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Vittoria Puccini, Claudio Santamaria, Giorgio Pasotti, Pierfrancesco Favino, Sabrina Impacciatore, Daniela Piazza
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The Last Kiss (L’ultimo Bacio): 2001, Gabriele Muccino (The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds), 113min, Drama
2001 David Di Donatello: Best Director, Best Producer, Best Supporting Actress plus two others; 2002 Sundance Audience Award.
Giulia (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and Carlo (Stefano Accorsi) have been happy together for three years, but Giulia’s announcement that she is pregnant sends him into a secret panic. Terrified at his imminent entry into the adult world of irreversible responsibilities, Carlo finds himself tempted by a bewitching 18 year old girl, Francesca (Martina Stella), whom he meets by chance at a wedding.
Cast: Stefano Accorsi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Stefania Sandrelli, Marco Cocci, Pierfrancesco Favino, Martina Stella, Sabrina Impacciatore
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The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette): 1948, Vittorio de Sica, 87min, Drama
1950 Oscar Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film – plus more awards, including 1950 Golden Globe: Best Foreign Film.
The Bicycle Thief is a simple, powerful story of a man’s desperate bid to provide for his family. A masterpiece of Italian filmmaking, with its a harrowing portrait of loss and depravation in post-war Rome.
Cast: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola
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Baaria (La Porta del Vento): 2009, Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso), 145min, Drama Comedy
Hollywood Foreign Press Association Awards: Best Foreign Language Film
Baaria is a lushly romantic tapestry of 20th century Italian life as seen through the eyes of a Peppino as he grows up, matures, marries and revisits a collection of sentimental memories. Baaria is the dialect term for Tornatore’s native Bargheria, and the film unfolds in this hot, dusty Sicilian village where the young Peppino’s childhood coincides with the rise of the Fascists, the declaration of war and liberation by the Allies. The older Peppino joins the Communist Party and falls in love with the beautiful Mannina; events that are to shape and define his adult years.
Cast: Francesco Scianna, Margareth Made, Nicole Grimaudo, Lina Sastri
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