BUITONI ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL. 24th – 27th May 2007. FILM TIMES. INTRODUCTION Throughout May, Ireland will see a whole series of events celebrating.
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BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 24th – 27th May 2007FILM TIMES INTRODUCTION Throughout May, Ireland will see a whole series of events celebrating Italian culture. This film event consists of seven recent films including Martin ScorseseÕs epic tribute to Italian cinema, My Voyage to Italy . Running throughout the weekend is Paolo SorrentinoÕs new film The Family Friend, hislatest film since The Consequences of Love, that proved such a hit at the IFI two years ago. In addition, the weekends leading up to the festival are given over to films cited as key works by Scorsese and other experts on Italian cinema, two Fellini classics, and ViscontiÕs wonderful The Leopard.The event is organised in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in Dublin, and the IFI wouldalso like to acknowledge the assistance of Film Italia, RAI Trade, The Italian Trade Commission and the Italian Cultural Institute. Our deepest gratitude goes to Buitoni with whom we have had the pleasure of working previously. Their interest in making the events they are associated with a success is absolute, and their financial and creative investment has been key to the inauguration of an Italian cultural cornerstone for our calendar. A TASTE OF ITALY comes to the IFI on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th May As well as the finest of Buitonipasta dishes specially prepared for the festival at the IFI restaurant, film-goers will be treated to a free food and wine tasting on stalls in the IFI Atrium: Fumagalliham; Gattinarawines from Travaglini and Brunello, Montepulcianoand Brutwines from Gavioli; coffee from Saeco; chocolate and sweets from Ferrero . Sunday 13 May1.00pm 81/2(Otto e mezzo) 1.30pmThe Spivs (I vitelloni)Saturday 19 May1.30pm The Leopard (Il gattopardo) Sunday 20 May1.30pm The Leopard (Il gattopardo) PRE-FESTIVAL ITALIAN FILMS SHOWING AT THE IFI Monday 28 May1.30pm, 6.15pm The Family Friend (LÕamico di famiglia) Tuesday 29 May1.30pm, 6.15pm The Family Friend (LÕamico di famiglia) Wednesday 30 May1.30pm, 6.15pm The Family Friend (LÕamico di famiglia) Thursday 31 May1.30pm, 6.15pm The Family Friend (LÕamico di famiglia) POST-FESTIVAL ITALIAN FILMS SHOWING AT THE IFI Thursday 24 May6.50pm Our Land (La terra)Friday 25 May6.15pm The Family Friend (LÕamico di famiglia) Saturday 26 May1.30pm Along the Ridge (Anche libero va bene) 5.00pmThe Family Friend (LÕamico di famiglia) 6.00pmBut When Do the Girls Show Up? (Ma quando arrivano le raggazze?)9.00pmThe True Legend of Tony Vilar (La vera leggenda di Tony Vilar) Sunday 27 May12.00pm My Voyage to Italy (Il mio viaggio in Italia)12.30pmAs the Shadow (Come lÕombre) 5.00pmBut Forever in My Mind (Come te nessuno mai)6.30pmThe Golden Door (Nuovomondo)6.45pmThe Family Friend (LÕamico di famiglia) BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL All screenings are at the IFI, 6 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Tickets from www.irishfilm.ie or 01 679 3477or in person at the IFI. BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 1BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 2
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The skewed emotions and cool images of The Consequences of Lovealready announced Paolo Sorrentino as a director who dares to be different. Indeed, this striking follow-up positively baits the audience by making the central character a loathsome 70-year-old small-time money-lender who puts the squeeze on his unfortunate clients while claiming heÕs got their best interests at heart.Giacomo RizzoÕs Don Geremia de Geremei is a piece of work all right, but as he skitters around with one arm in a cast and an ever-dangling plastic bag, heÕs also one of the yearÕs most memorable screen characters, totally assured in his worldview that lifeÕs cruel and only the greedy prosper. Until, that is, he meets his match in the statuesque Rosalba (Laura Chiatti), whose father has been reduced to seeking GeremeiÕs services to pay for her wedding. For the price of a sexual favour, she beats down the interest rate on the loan to a fraction of the quoted 100 percent, and she may not be finished yet. ItÕs hard not to squirm when watching the elderly lecher fall on youthful flesh, but SorrentinoÕs prepared to hold the viewer at a distance so we can form our own moral assessment of the protagonistÕs self-serving imperatives. Moreover, heÕs got the visual language to put GeremeiÕs perceptions in context, whether itÕs poring over Fellini-esque grotesquerie, or recalling early Dario Argento in the strangely unsettling architectural exteriors. Cut together to keep us in constant surprise, this is maverick movie-making to be sure. Treasure it while you can.ÑTrevor Johnston. ITALY, 2006. SUBTITLED. COLOUR. ANAMORPHIC. DOLBY DIGITAL STEREO. 105 MIN. The Family Friend(LÕamico di famiglia) Director: Paolo SorrentinoMay 25-31A compulsively watchable combination of lopsided Italian comedy and Southern film noir, La terrais the most energetic and appealing of director-actor Sergio RubiniÕs eight movies to date. Fabrizio Bentivoglio heads a bold cast as an exiled son who returns to his native Puglia and finds himself thrust into the role of capo famiglia.Though the mafia is not involved here, the clever screenplay by Rubini and his co-writers has a lot of other things to say about the violence that ails the South. Luigi Di Santo (Bentivoglio) has lived in Milan since, as a teenager, he accidentally killed his father. As the curtain rises, he steps off a train in the deserted, sun-bleached town where he grew up. He intends to spend only a few days to sign some papers so he and his three brothers can sell the farmland they inherited. But the town immediately draws him into its intrigues. His wacky businessman brother Michele (Emilio Solfrizzi) is fixated on running for political office, though heÕs up to his ears in debt to local money-lender Tonino (Rubini). The violent Tonino is also linked to LuigiÕs hot-headed half- brother Aldo (Massimo Venturiello), whoÕs in love with ToninoÕs Romanian mistress Tania (Alisa Bystrova). When Tonino is shot during an eerie night-time religious procession, both brothers fall under suspicion.As a director, Rubini, who started in 1990 with the notable The Station, takes a giant leapforward compared with undistinguished recent efforts and puts his finger on the crass foolishness of contemporary Italy. ITALY, 2006. SUBTITLED. COLOUR. DOLBY DIGITAL STEREO. 112 MIN. Our Land(La terra)Director: Sergio Rubini May 24 (6.50)BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 3BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 4
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An important figure in Italian cinema since the 1970s, writer-producer-director Pupi Avati has made horror movies, historical dramas and comedies. Despite their range, his films are highly distinctive and personal, with autobiographical elements unobtrusively woven into the narratives. The deceitfulness of human nature, the unpredictability of relations between men and women, and a fascination with the mysterious and the fantastic are concerns that define what Italian critics have dubbed the ÔAvati genreÕ. But When Do the Girls Show Up?is a semi-autobiographical tale about the soaring dramas andbitter rivalries of youth and what happens when boyhood bonds are tested in adult life. Musicians Gianca (Paolo Briguglia) and Nick (Claudio Santamaria) meet on a train bound for the Umbria Jazz Festival. Though GiancaÕs years of musical training contrast sharply with NickÕs untutored talent, the two become friends on their return to Bologna. They form a band, but NickÕs natural talent catapults him into a successful career while Gianca is forced to pursue other avenues. Years later, the menÕs friendship is put to the test when Nick returns to Bologna for a concert. The relationship between the two men is complicated by NickÕs involvement with GiancaÕs girlfriend, whose own ambiguous attitude sums up the complex web of loyalties, betrayals and other feelings that Avati explores with humour and sensitivity. The film builds to a wonderful climax at NickÕs concert, which brings the three characters together again to face the music as Nick plays a song Gianca wrote years ago in a spirit of friendship. Director Pupi Avati will introduce this film and participate in a post-screening discussion. ITALY, 2005. SUBTITLED. COLOUR. ANAMORPHIC. DOLBY STEREO SR. 106 MIN. But When Do the Girls Show Up? (Ma quando arrivano le ragazze?) Director: Pupi Avati May 26 (6.00)Tommi (Alessandro Morace) is an 11-year-old who lives with his sister Viola (Marta Nobili) and father Renato (writer-director Kim Rossi Stuart). It is a family that is struggling to stay afloat, with the father trying to work (as a cinematographer) and look after his kids, while at the same time trying to cope with debts. The childrenÕs mother is an occasional, disturbing presence. Unreliable and fickle, she returns to the household for brief periods and then abandons her family for other relationships. All of this we see through the eyes of Tommi, who wants his family to be back together and has a growing, slightly envious relationship with a boy who has just moved into the same apartment block and who comes from a much more stable and affluent family. Using this situation as the basis for the drama, well-known actor (he starred in the recent Romanzo criminaleand The Keys to the House) and now impressive debut director Kim Rossi Stuart fashions an honest, deeply affecting and heartfelt story. There are no easy answers in this all too believable scenario, and Along the Ridgeis way beyond soap opera because of itsintelligence, its use of the urban landscapes of Rome and the astonishing quality of the performances, especially that of Alessandro Morace, who plays Tommi in a completely natural and sensitive way.Ñ Adrian Wootton. ITALY, 2006. SUBTITLED. COLOUR. DOLBY DIGITAL STEREO. 108 MIN. Along the Ridge (Anche libero va bene) Director: Kim Rossi Stuart May 26 (1.30)BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 5BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 6
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Apart from being a great film-maker, Martin Scorsese is also a highly respected teacher and cinema historian who is a leader in the campaign for film preservation. One of his many current projects is a full restoration of Sergio LeoneÕs Once Upon a Time in the West , a labour of lovewhich can be seen as an extension of this wonderful 2001 documentary tribute to Italian cinema. Standing on the roof of his childhood home in New York, Scorsese recounts how he saw many Italian films as a boy on his parentsÕ small black-and-white TV and was fascinated by the magic and emotion of these classics. He talks about the Italian historical epics such as Cabiria(1914),The Iron Crown(1941) and Fabiola(1949), noting that their texture and detail made them much more convincing than their Hollywood counterparts. Scorsese then moves on to concentrate on the key post-war movement known as Italian neo-realism. After providing excellent introductions to key directors such as Luchino Visconti, Vittoria De Sica and Roberto Rossellini, Scorsese serves up detailed commentaries on their major works. He is particularly strong in his defence of neo-realism as a philosophical art movement that was an entirely appropriate response to the damage the Second World War did to Italy. ThereÕs also a brilliant tribute to Federico Fellini ( I vitelloniinspired Mean Streets; 81/2is one of ScorseseÕs favourite films) and an invaluable appreciation of AntonioniÕs modernist masterpieces of the 1960s. Like the work it celebrates, ScorseseÕs own epic film is touched by greatness. U.S.A.-ITALY, 2001. COLOUR. DOLBY STEREO. 246 MIN. My Voyage to Italy (Il mio viaggio in Italia) Director: Martin ScorseseMay 27 (12.00)Shown at the Rome and Tribeca film festivals, director Giuseppe GagliardiÕs first feature is an amusing yet thoughtful ÔmocumentaryÕ about legendary singer Tony Vilar. Antonio Ragusa left Calabria in southern Italy for Argentina in 1952 at the age of 14. A chance performance in a local bar in Buenos Aires led to a meteoric rise to fame and an undisputed status as South AmericaÕs leading crooner. Ragusa adopted the stage name Tony Vilar and gained worldwide fame with the song ÔCuando calienta el solÕ before mysteriously vanishing from the public eye. GagliardiÕs film stars Peppe Voltarelli, front-man of the cult Italian band Il Parto delle Nuvole Pesanti, who composed the filmÕs original music and co-wrote the script with Gagliardi. PeppeÕs character in the film has been brought up on stories of his mythical distant cousin and sets out to trace Vilar and discover the reason for his disappearance. His journey takes him to Italian communities from Buenos Aires to New York, as he gradually closes in on Vilar and the secret that abruptly changed his life. The fate of the emigrant Italian community in Germany was the subject of Gagliardi and VoltarelliÕs 2003 documentary Doichlanda. In the new film they blend the true story of Vilar with PeppeÕs fictional investigation to explore the Italian communities of the New World, who maintain the values and images of the Old Country handed down by their parents and grandparents. Gagliardi includes elements of the road-movie, musical and documentary genres to create a humorous and thought-provoking exploration of Italian identity and the nature of success. Director Giuseppe Gagliardi and producer Sarah Pennachi will introduce this film and participate in a post-screening discussion. ITALY. 2006. SUBTITLED. COLOUR. DOLBY DIGITAL STEREO. 92 MIN. The True Legend of Tony Vilar (La vera leggenda di Tony Vilar) Director: Giuseppe GagliardiMay 26 (9.00)BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 9BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 10
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PRE-FESTIVAL ITALIAN FILMS SHOWING AT THE IFI FESTIVAL ON TOUR ITALIAN FILMS SHOWING IN THE EYE CINEMA GALWAY ÔVitelloniÕ literally means Ôovergrown calvesÕ,a typical Fellini coinage to describe a group of petit bourgeois, stay-at-home young men in a provincial seaside town.They think theyÕre something,and the film manages to be both pitiless and sympathetic in showing that theyÕre not.Leopoldo (Leopoldo Trieste) thinks heÕs a writer but spends his time eyeing the girl next door.Alberto (Alberto Sordi) struts about,unable to see that heÕs utterly dependent on his mother and sister.Franco (Franco Fabrizi) has to get married but just canÕt stop womanising.The Spivs(I vitelloni)Director: Federico FelliniMay 13 (1.30)ITALY-FRANCE,1953.SUBTITLED. BLACK AND WHITE.103 MIN. As a film about a famous director(Guido,played by Fellini regular Marcello Mastroianni) struggling to make a new opus,8 1/2certainly invitesa personal reading.Its title refers to the number of films Fellini had directed up to then;Guido is,like Fellini,a film director of international repute.Yet 8 1/2can be taken as a metaphor of much wider significance. It recreates,with all the frustrations and vicissitudes,the experience of trying to come to terms with the world,to make sense of it. 81/2(Otto E Mezzo)Director: Federico FelliniMay 13 (1.00)ITALY,1963.SUBTITLED. BLACK AND WHITE.139 MIN. Prince Salina (a towering performanceby Burt Lancaster) is coming to recognise that his society must adapt in order to survive.He collaborates in an arranged marriage between his opportunistic nephew (Alain Delon) and the low-born daughter (Claudia Cardinale) of a wealthy trader who is a symbol of the new social order. Everything comes together in one of the most remarkable set-pieces in all cinema:an extended ball sequence during which the PrinceÕs acknowledgement of the new order is confirmed by the waltz he shares with his nephewÕs fianc”e. The Leopard (Il gattopardo) Director: Luchino Visconti May 19, 20 (1.30)Three Days of Anarchy (Tre giorni di anarchia) Director: Vito Zagarrio Wednesday 30 May 7:30 pm ITALY,1963.SUBTITLED. COLOUR.ANAMORPHIC.187 MIN. BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 13BUITONIITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 14An imaginative, intelligent and attractive Italian film precisely when the country needs it, Emanuele CrialeseÕs Golden Doorrepresents a solid piece of cinema that neither panders nor preaches. Moving from rural Sicily to third-class steerage to Ellis Island, this tripartite tale of a familyÕs journey from the Old World to the New propels them from a superstitious past into a colder-eyed modernity. The opening moments reaffirm CrialeseÕs affinity for landscape (he made Respiro). A barefoot Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato) and his older son Angelo (Francesco Casisa) scramble up a rocky mountainside with stones in their mouths as proof of their devotion to the wooden cross at the top. Set against this unforgiving topography, the two seem part of a primitive world where superstition controls daily actions. Against his motherÕs wishes, Salvatore decides they must emigrate to America. Crialese details their first journey from village to city, which entails a monumental leap from the familiar, earthy world they know. Incongruously standing among them at the docks is Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg), dressed in bourgeois clothes and speaking English. Crialese leaves her background a mystery but makes it clear that sheÕs willing to use her feminine charms to get on that ship and get to America.For the immigrants, America was a land of miracles, and since Crialese stops the drama literallyat the exit portals of Ellis Island, disillusionment never takes hold. Claire DenisÕ regular cinematographer Agn‘s Godard does her usual splendid work in capturing the visual riches, from Sicilian landscapes to the corral-like bins of Ellis Island.ÑJay Weissberg. ITALY-FRANCE, 2006. SUBTITLED. COLOUR. ANAMORPHIC. DOLBY DIGITAL STEREO. 117 MIN. The Golden Door (Nuovomondo)Director: Emanuele CrialeseMay 27 (6.30)July 1943.Fascism has collapsed, and a little Sicilian village celebrates, as young Giuseppe decides what to do with himself. The True Legend of Tony Vilar (La vera leggenda di Tony Vilar) Director: Giuseppe Gagliardi Tuesday 29 May 7:30 pm Local musician Peppe heads of in search of a famous Italian crooner who shot to fame in South America, and then disappeared.La Dolce Vita Director: Federico FelliniMonday 28 May 7:30 pm A young journalist ignores hisadoring girlfriend to pursue his preoccupation with celebrities. EYE Cinema, Wellpark, Galway. Tel: 091 780 078 www.eyecinema.ie
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BUITONI ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL 24th – 27th May 2007Thurs 24 May La Terra (Our Land)25-31 MayLÕamico di famiglia (The Family Friend) Sat 26 MayAnche libero va bene (Along the Ridge) Ma quando arrivano le raggazze? (But When Do the Girls Show Up?) La vera leggenda di Tony Vilar (The True Legend of Tony Vilar) Sun 27 MayIl mio viaggio in Italia (My Voyage to Italy) Come lÕombre (As the Shadow) Come te nessuno mai (But Forever in My Mind) Nuovomondo (The Golden Door) www.buitoni.ie www.irishfilm.ie Tickets available at Irish Film Institute ,6 Eustace Street,Temple Bar,Dublin 2. Box Office01 679 3477 www.irishfilm.ie
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