Hot on the heels of the recent Russian Resurrection announcement comes October's offering in the Australian minority film festival stakes. Sponsored by a coffee company that I am not that enamoured with The Italian Film Festival hits Perth 13th - 26th October.
If you head to their website you will be greeted by a Benvenuti page that uses way too many exclamation marks. Do people not understand the power of the exclamation mark?! Ha. And be told about the "highlights" which include an Italian film starring Robert De Niro and Monica Belucci, The Ages of Love, which I can safely say I have no interest in seeing. De Niro should be taking a long hard look at his recent career trajectory, he could've been someone, he could've been a contender, instead we get a constant stream of nothing movies that are only worth seeing because a once great man is acting in them. Perhaps that's a little harsh. The other major highlight is a film called Basilicata Coast to Coast which is advertised as featuring a 3 minute introduction by the Basilicata tourism office narrated by another former great of American cinema Francis Ford Coppola.
I'll be quite blunt about this festival, it all seems a bit bland. The large majority of films seem aimed at a middle aged, middle class audience who enjoy average genre films and I was hard pushed to find much to excite me in to buying tickets. If this is the state of contemporary Italian cinema then I think their industry needs an injection of new ideas from its youth. There's a chance that it was merely curated by somebody who is middle aged, middle class and enjoys average genre films however.
From the 31 new films selected for the festival I can raise a meagre amount of hope for the following films:
Gorbaciof AKA Gorbachev
A crime film with a lead character who doesn't speak much and an unlikely romance with someone who doesn't speak the same language. It sounds familiar in theme but it screened at TIFF and Venice and looks/sounds worth a watch.
Lost Kisses AKA I Baci Mai Dati
A dramedy about a young girl who claims the Madonna appears to her in a dream and her family who try to cash in on her sudden fame. With satire in a foreign language you're always taking a chance that you'll have no idea what they're satirising but this one sounds fun and the blurb compared it to early Almodovar with its use of colour, drab realism and sardonic humour. Played at Sundance and Venice also.
A dramedy about a young girl who claims the Madonna appears to her in a dream and her family who try to cash in on her sudden fame. With satire in a foreign language you're always taking a chance that you'll have no idea what they're satirising but this one sounds fun and the blurb compared it to early Almodovar with its use of colour, drab realism and sardonic humour. Played at Sundance and Venice also.
A Quiet Life AKA Una Vita Tranquila
A slow-burn sophisticated crime film focusing more on character than action; sounds like something I might enjoy. Interestingly this one also stars the same guy who plays Gorbaciof, Toni Servillo.
A slow-burn sophisticated crime film focusing more on character than action; sounds like something I might enjoy. Interestingly this one also stars the same guy who plays Gorbaciof, Toni Servillo.
School is Over AKA La Scuola E Finita
A gritty drama set in an Italian high school, centering on a bored student and the warring divorced pair of teachers who both try to 'save' him from himself for their own interests. Apparently it mixes a realism/documentary style of film making (I hope that doesn't just mean handheld shaky camerawork) with naturalistic acting performances to great dramatic effect.
A gritty drama set in an Italian high school, centering on a bored student and the warring divorced pair of teachers who both try to 'save' him from himself for their own interests. Apparently it mixes a realism/documentary style of film making (I hope that doesn't just mean handheld shaky camerawork) with naturalistic acting performances to great dramatic effect.
A measly 4 films from 31 means at least I won't be making myself poor in October and work won't be inconvenienced too much by my requests for days off. There is a Dario Argento retrospective which is quite cool of them but I've not exactly been taken by his work in the past so will also be skipping those sessions.
Anyone heard anything good about some of the films in the program? Drop me some blah with your recommendations.
Anyone heard anything good about some of the films in the program? Drop me some blah with your recommendations.
