Film festival catalog by serena zhang

CATALOG

“What you came to find is not there, what was yours is gone...” – Cinema Paradiso

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

THE DIRECTOR Biography

Filmography

Interview

FESTIVAL FILMS CINEMA PARADISO

MALÈNA

THE LEGEND OF 1900

BAARÌA

EVERYBODY’S FINE

SCHEDULE

LOCATION Bagheria

MAP

Special event – Feasts and Traditions

Hotels and Restaurants

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL Festival Filmography

The Addio, yesterday Festival looks back at the films of Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore made over the past twenty-five years. For the first time, Tornatore’s major works will be

CINEMA PARADISO

presented in his hometown of Bagheria, in the province of Palermo, Sicily. Filmgoers will have the opportunity to share in the lives of Tornatore’s characters as they return to their

MALÈNA

pasts, seeking something they have lost but cannot recapture.

THE LEGEND OF 1900

The festival will be held March 12 through 19, 2012 to coincide with the feast day of St.

BAARÌA EVERYBODY’S FINE

Joseph, the most important holiday in BAGHERIA. Tornatore has a deep love of his hometown and has drawn inspiration from it for many of his films, where the town is not only an environmental backdrop, but also infuses the films with a fresh and natural style. The visitors can not only enjoy the festival in Bagheria, but also will have a wonderful time with the natural beauty in Sicily. The festival sponsored by Italian Cultural Institute of San Francisco.

FILM FESTIVAL | 02

THE DIRECTOR GIUSEPPE TORNATORE

“His films can be categorized as ‘nostalgic,’ because as well as being retrospective in temporal and thematic terms, the affective impact of his work is also reminiscent of Classical Hollywood Cinema at its most melodramatic, a quality which occasionally borders on the sentimentality of the silent era.” – William Hope GIUSEPPE TORNATORE, an Italian director, is character-

ance, to cut and reshape the material. The new version

ized by high production values, a visual style that com-

debuted at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival where it was

bines the experimental with the aesthetically polished,

met with high praise and picked up a Special Jury Prize.

and by his films’ intimately subjective, lyrical, and often

A sentimental but powerful paean to the power of the

emotionally compelling narratives. He was born on May

movies set in Tornatore’s hometown, Cinema Paradiso

27, 1956 in Bagheria near Palermo, Sicily. Sicilian-born

depicted the odd friendship between a movie-loving

Giuseppe Tornatore proved a prodigy of sorts, begin-

boy and the projectionist at the local theater. Audiences

ning his career as a prize-winning still photographer.

around the world responded positively, particularly to its

While in his mid-teens, he began directing, first for the

tour de force final sequence of censored clips, and the

stage and then by making the short film Il Carretto/The

film went on to win numerous awards and prizes includ-

Wagon. Eventually Tornatore caught the attention of RAI

ing the 1989 Academy Award as Best Foreign-Language

television and was hired to hem documentaries and TV

Film. Stanno Tutti Bene/Everybody’s Fine (1990) proved

movies. In 1982, he garnered attention for his documen-

a slightly disappointing follow-up, however. Trafficking

tary Ethnic Minorities in Sicily, which picked up a prize at

in the director’s now trademarked sentimental style, the

the Salerno Film Festival. He shifted to fictional features

movie revolved around an aging widower (well played by

co-writing the script to 1983’s Centro Giorni a Palermo/A

Marcello Mastroianni) who decides to visit his children

Hundred Days in Palermo. Three years later, he debuted

and learns that each has been lying to him about their

his first full-length feature as director, Il Camorrista/The

lives. While the intriguing premise of depicting a par-

Professor/The Cammora Murder (1986), a drama about a

ent’s aspirations for his children offered great potential,

journalist who runs afoul of gangsters.

Tornatore tended to dilute its power by focusing more

As he began to earn notoriety, Tornatore caught the attention of producer Franco Castaldi who nurtured what

on the landscapes of his travels and Everybody’s Fine was deemed a failure.

became the director’s breakthrough film. When Nuevo

After contributing a segment to the anthology film La

Cinema Paradiso opened in Rome in 1988, it met with

Domenica Specialmente/Especially on Sunday (1991),

a less than stellar reception. The director, who favors

the filmmaker returned to his native area to teach aes-

long takes, worked under Castaldi’s prodding and guid-

thetics at the University of Palermo. Resuming his film

THE DIRECTOR | 06

Filmography

L’ultimo gattopardo:

The Star Maker (1995)

Ritratto di Goffredo Lombardo (2010)

Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)

Baarìa (2009)

A Pure Formality (1994)

The Unknown Woman (2006)

Especially on Sunday (1991)

Malèna (2000)

Everybody’s Fine (1990)

The Legend of 1900 (1998)

Cinema Paradiso (1988)

Ritratti d’autore (1996)

Il camorrista (1986)

career in 1994, Tornatore wrote, directed and edited the

the ship on which he was born, The Legend of 1900/

fascinating, if eccentric, thriller Una Pura Formalita/A

La Leggenda del Pianista sull’Oceano/The Legend of

Pure Formality. Dropping his usual sentimentality, he

the Pianist on the Ocean (1998) marked Tornatore’s first

instead focused on a cat-and-mouse game of interroga-

English language film. Lushly scored by Morricone and

tion between a police inspector (Roman Polanski) and

starring Tim Roth as the adult musician, it debuted in

a suspected murderer (Gerard Depardieu). While the

Italy with a running time of nearly three hours. Critics

setting was mostly held to a poorly lit room in the local

hailed several of the set pieces (most notably a piano

police station, the director managed to make the pro-

duel between Roth’s character and Jelly Roll Morton,

ceedings interesting not only through his expert editing

played by Clarence Williams III) but felt the overall nar-

and fluid camera movement but also by eliciting strong

rative was too slight to handle the epic-like treatment

performances from his two leads.

afforded. Even in its US debut in 1999, with nearly an

Slipping back into his usual style, Tornatore next fashioned L’Uomo delle Stelle/The Star Maker (1995), what

hour cut and a new title (The Legend of 1900), many still felt the simple story was overblown.

many see as a companion piece to Cinema Paradiso. Returning to the Sicily of the 1950s, the titular character is a con man who preys on the hopes and dreams of villagers by pretending to be a talent scout. Complications ensue when an aspiring actress stows away in his van and the pair embark on a romance. Ravishingly photographed by Dante Spinotti and featuring a lovely score by Ennio Morricone, it earned a 1995 Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. For his next major film, Tornatore turned to a one man stage monologue for inspiration. A modern fable about a musical prodigy who spends his entire life on board

THE DIRECTOR | 07

INTERVIEW WITH GIUSEPPE TORNATORE

By Amaury Pérez, 01 / 12 / 2010

Amaury Pérez: Welcome to the TV program Contracor-

GT: The first time the film came to light it was a disaster.

riente. We are in the ICAIC study, in Prado and Trocadero

It did not like anyone. The film lasted long. They said that

streets, in the heart of Havana City, and great Italian

the lack of success was because it was too long. I was just

filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore accompanies us with an

pleased, actually, because I believed much in that film.

overwhelming kindness. Good night, thanks for coming to Cuba.

I was convinced that the length was the problem to some extent, and I cut an entire chapter, a great cut. When the

I had the opportunity to watch Baaria at the premiere in

protagonist, already grown, returns to the country and

Havana. Without free flattery, I confess that I left the the-

found the girl, all this sentimental brackets was deleted.

atre in shock. Aren’t you afraid that the profession kills the innocent child and the young of your early films?

The film had a huge success of criticism, the public and especially the market. It was bought by many countries,

Giuseppe Tornatore: No, I am well aware that sometimes

and from that moment on the film became a huge success

giving much importance to the profession, technique,

that never ends since 20 years ago, and every time I go to

can empty the content of the story. I have always tried to

a country, to submit any of my films, the fourth question

exorcise the risk because my guide and my background

of the journalist is Cinema Paradiso. Then, thanks to the

in my work are the people,  their feelings, and their desti-

U.S. producer and distributor of the film, we made a DVD

nies. I always try to safeguard the emotions authenticity

with the original version.

in my actors, my characters, my stories, making the best of techniques, but preventing they prevail, which would be an unforgivable mistake.

AP: You have worked with great actors: Marcello Mastroianni, Gerard Depardieu, Roman Polanski...a huge list, but with newcomers like Monica Bellucci and Ksenia Rappo-

AP: I feel a beautiful relationship among Cinema Parad-

port. How do you handle the fact that actors often speak

iso, Malena and Baaria. For example, I remember that the

different  languages?

character of Cinema Paradiso says “this place is mine,” and then in Malena it is said “change dollars.” Do you accept among these three films there is a relationship?

GT: Working with actors is what I love the most in my profession. I love them a lot and try to protect them, because I can make a mistake in my films: as to the

GT: That’s right. I have not thought of it in Malena, but I

clothing or the scenery, or lights, but if my actors are in

must confess that Cinema Paradiso and Baaria are totally

perfect harmony with the character I have written, the film

connected. There are two stories are linked each other.

can be saved.

AP: When I watched the copy of Cinema Paradiso for

I can make the best photography of the world, the most

first time, I realized that there were 54 more minutes. You

beautiful, but if my actors do not know how to restore the

said in an interview that producer Franco Cristaldi had

essence of my characters, everything falls in deaf ears. So

requested a shorter version, and there is even a female

I try to find actors who better fit my characters. If a char-

character that  disappeared off the best known version of

acter leads me to a great actor, I look for him or her. But

this film. What is that?

if the character has the characteristics of the unknown,

THE DIRECTOR | 09

“I can make the best photography of the world, the most beautiful, but if my actors do not know how to restore the essence of my characters, everything falls in deaf ears.” – Giuseppe Tornatore such as in La sconosciuta, I can go out and look around

We have both a high affinity. I love music very much, but

the world to find  that person that convinces me. One of

I can not write it or read it. To make myself understood, I

the most interesting aspects of a film is the pursuit of the

must resort to long puns, allegories he manages to collect

actor, fair face, fair voice, and a look that should restore

and transfer into music. We have worked hard.

the true essence of the character.   AP: Do you always do the casting?   GT: Always.  AP: There is a subject that can not be disregarded, the subject of Tornatore Morricone. Can you conceive your movies without Ennio Morricone’s music?

Our collaboration has been very complex in each of films because we do not feel pleased with ease. We always try to find the best solution and we never give anything for granted. We started working on the musical score for the film long before shooting begins.   AP: The other day at the Riviera movie theatre, when we met, I asked you for your project Leningrad. There has

GT: If I had to mention the thought of Ennio Morricone,

been speculation in the Spanish press that you have not

my answer is yes. You can imagine my movies without

started to shoot it because you are waiting for Nicole

the Morricone’s music. He has a very disappointed vision

Kidman. Is it true?

of the relationship between image and music related to image.   However, I am pretty much convinced of what he does, and how important is the code that allows you to find an effective and harmonious relation with the film soundtrack. Having said all this, the relationship with Ennio is quite important.

GT: I have worked and I’m still working on a script that started in 2004. I have never stated that I had thought of Nicole Kidman, she was the one who talked to the journalists. The film has not been done for other reasons. At that time (2004), I had thought of her and Nicole was very excited about the project. In the future, perhaps I do it with Nicole, or just another actress.

THE DIRECTOR | 10

CINEMA PARADISO (1988)

MARCH 12, 2012 2PM – 4PM

AWARDS OSCAR, 1990, Best Foreign Language Film SILVER CONDOR, 1991, Best Foreign Film AWARD OF THE JAPANESE ACADEMY, 1991, Best Foreign Film CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, 1989, Grand Prize of the Jury GOLDEN GLOBES, 1991, Best Foreign Language Film

CAST

Marco Leonardi

...

Salvatore ‘Totò’ Di Vita - Teenager

Jacques Perrin

...

Salvatore ‘Totò’ Di Vita - Adult

Philippe Noiret

...

Alfredo

Antonella Attili

...

Maria Di Vita - Younger

Enzo Cannavale

...

Spaccafico

Isa Danieli

...

Anna

Leo Gullotta

...

Usher

Pupella Maggio

...

Maria Di Vita - Older

Agnese Nano

...

Elena Mendola

Leopoldo Trieste

...

Father Adelfio

Salvatore Cascio

...

Salvatore ‘Totò’ Di Vita - Child

Tano Cimarosa

...

Blacksmith

Nicola Di Pinto

...

Village Idiot

Roberta Lena

...

Lia

Nino Terzo

...

Peppino’s Father

CINEMA PARADISO | 13

SYNOPSIS During the 1980s in Rome, Italy, famous Italian film director Salvatore Di Vita (Jacques Perrin) returns home late one evening, where his girlfriend sleepily tells him that his mother called to tell him that someone named Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) has died. It is made clear that Salvatore tends to shy away from committed relationships and that he has not been back to his home village of Giancaldo, Sicily in 30 years. As she asks him who Alfredo is, Salvatore flashes back to his childhood. The bulk of the film takes place in this flashback, which takes place shortly after World War II in the late 1940s. We meet Salvatore, the mischievous, highly intelligent son of a war widow. Six-year-old Salvatore, nicknamed Toto, discovers his love for films early and spends every free moment at the local moviehouse–Cinema Paradiso, where he develops a friendship with the fatherly projectionist, Alfredo, who takes a shine to the young boy and often lets him watch movies in the projection booth. In the several scenes of the movies being shown, there is frequent booing from the audience, during the “censored” sections. The films suddenly jump, missing a critical kiss or embrace. The local priest has ordered that these sections be cut out. They lie on Alfredo’s floor. At first, Alfredo had seen Toto as a pest, but eventually he teaches Salvatore how to operate the film projector. The montage ends as the moviehouse catches fire–film in those days was made of highly flammable nitrocellulose. Salvatore saves Alfredo’s life, but not before the film reels explode in Alfredo’s face, leaving him permanently blind. The Cinema Paradiso is rebuilt by a citizen of the town, Ciccio, who invests his football lottery winnings in it. Salvatore, though still a child, is hired to be the new projectionist, as he is the only one in town who can run the machines. The film abruptly jumps forward a decade or so. Salvatore, now in high school, is still the projectionist at the Cinema Paradiso. His relationship with the blind Alfredo has

only strengthened, and Salvatore often looks to him for advice–advice that Alfredo often dispenses by quoting classic films. We also see that Salvatore has started experimenting with filmmaking using a home movie camera, and has met, and captured on film, a new girl, Elena, daughter of a wealthy banker. We watch Salvatore woo–and win–Elena’s heart, only to lose her due to her father’s disapproval. As Elena and her family move away, Salvatore leaves town to serve his compulsory military service. His attempts to write her and keep in touch are fruitless; his letters are always returned as undeliverable. Upon his return from the military, Alfredo urges Salvatore to move away permanently, counseling him that the town is too small to enable Salvatore to ever find his dreams. Moreover, the old man tells him that once he leaves, he must pursue his destiny wholeheartedly and never look back and never return–never returning to visit, never to give in to nostalgia, never to write or think about them. Back in the present, we understand that Salvatore has obeyed Alfredo but is now returning home for the first time since he left to attend the funeral. Though his hometown has changed greatly, he now understands why Alfredo thought it was so important that he leave. Alfredo’s widow tells him that the old man followed Salvatore’s successes with pride and has left him something–an unlabeled reel of film and the old stool that Salvatore once stood on to be able to operate the projector. Salvatore comes to know during his short stay, that Cinema Paradiso is being demolished to give way to city parking lots. As he looks at the proceedings, he recognizes many of the people who he had seen in the younger days as a projectionist at the Cinema. Salvatore returns to Rome. At this point in the 123-minute release, he watches Alfredo’s reel and discovers that it is a very special montage. It is of all the kiss scenes that the priest ordered to be cut out of the reels. Alfredo has spliced all the sequences together to form a single film. It finally seems that Salvatore has made peace with his past.

“Living here day by day, you think it’s the center of the world. You believe nothing will ever change. Then you leave: a year, two years. When you come back, everything’s changed. The thread’s broken. What you came to find isn’t there. What was yours is gone. ” – Cinema Paradiso

CINEMA PARADISO | 16

CINEMA PARADISO | 17

“There is no future, there’s only the past. Even meeting last night was nothing but a dream, a beautiful dream.” – Cinema Paradiso

REVIEW By Roger Ebert / March 16, 1990 Chicago, Sun–Times

Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso, takes place in Sicily in the final years before television. It has two chief characters: old Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), who rules the projection booth, and young Salvatore (Salvatore Cascio), who makes the booth his home away from an indifferent home. There is a village priest in Cinema Paradiso who is the

launched in the darkness of the theater, friendships

local cinema’s most faithful client. He turns up every

are sealed, wine is drunk, cigarettes smoked, babies

week like clockwork, to censor the films. As the old

nursed, feet stomped, victories cheered, sissies whis-

projectionist shows the movies to his audience of one,

tled at, and god only knows how this crowd would react

the priest sits with his hand poised over a bell, the kind

if they were ever permitted to see a kiss.

that altar boys use. At every sign of carnal excess – which to the priest means a kiss – the bell rings, the movie stops and the projectionist snips the offending footage out of the film. Up in the projection booth, tossed in a corner, the lifeless strips of celluloid pile up into an anthology of osculation, an anthology that no one will ever see, not in this village, anyway.

nent film director (Jacques Perrin) learning in Rome that old Alfredo is dead and making a sentimental journey back to his hometown. Then we see the story of the director’s childhood and his teenage years, where he is played by Marco Leonardi. The earliest parts of the movie are the most magical. Then things grow predict-

As the patrons line up faithfully, night after night, for

able: There are not many rites of passage for an adoles-

their diet of films without kisses, the boy watches in

cent that are not predictable and not so many original

wonder as Alfredo wrestles with the balky machine that

ways to show the death of a movie theater, either.

throws the dream-images on the screen. At first Alfredo tries to chase Salvatore away, but eventually he accepts his presence in the booth and thinks of him almost as his child. Salvatore certainly considers the old man his father, and (this is the whole point) the movies as his mother. I wonder if a theater has ever existed that showed such a variety of films as the Cinema Paradiso does in this movie. Tornatore tells us in an autobiographical note that the theater in his hometown, when he was growing up, showed everything from Kurosawa to the Hercules movies, and in Cinema Paradiso we catch glimpses of Charlie Chaplin, John Wayne and of course countless Hollywood melodramas in which men and women look smolderingly at one another, come closer, seem about to kiss, and then (with the jerk of a jump-cut) are standing apart, exchanging a look of deep significance.

Tornatore’s movie is a reminder of the scenes in Truffaut’s Day for Night, where the young boy steals a poster of Citizen Kane. We understand that the power of the screen can compensate for a deprived life and that young Salvatore is not apprenticing himself to a projectionist, but to the movies. Anyone who loves movies is likely to love Cinema Paradiso, and there is one scene where the projectionist finds that he can reflect the movie out of the window in his booth and out across the town square so that the images can float on a wall, there in the night above the heads of the people. I saw a similar thing happen one night in Venice in 1972 when they showed Chaplin’s City Lights in the Piazza San Marco to more than 10,000 people, and it was then I realized the same thing this movie argues: Yes, it is tragic that the big screen has been replaced by the little one. But the real shame is that the big screens did

We become familiar with some of the regular customers

not grow even bigger, grow so vast they were finally on

at the theater. They are a noisy lot–rude critics, who

the same scale as the movies they were reflecting.

shout suggestions at the screen and are scornful of heroes who do not take their advice. Romances are

CINEMA PARADISO | 20

The story is told as a flashback; it begins with a promi-

MALÈNA (2000)

MARCH 13, 2012 2PM – 4PM

AWARDS

OSCAR, 2001, Best Cinematography, Best Music, Original Score BAFTA FILM AWARD, 2001, Best Film not in the English Language GOLDEN BERLIN BEAR, 2001, Best Cinematography GOLDEN SWANN, 2001, Best Costume Design GOLDEN GLOBE, 2001, Best Foreign Language Film

CAST

Monica Bellucci

...

Malèna Scordia

Giuseppe Sulfaro

...

Renato Amoroso

Luciano Federico

...

Renato’s Father

Matilde Piana

...

Renato’s Mother

Pietro Notarianni

...

Professor Bonsignore

Gaetano Aronica

...

Nino Scordia

Gilberto Idonea

...

Avvocato Centorbi (as Gilberto Idone)

Angelo Pellegrino

...

Segretario politico

Gabriella Di Luzio

...

Mantenuta del Barone

Pippo Provvidenti

...

Dott. Cusimano

Maria Terranova

...

Moglie Dott. Cusimano

Marcello Catalano

...

Lieutenant Cadel

Elisa Morucci

...

Lupetta

MALÈNA | 23

SYNOPSIS

The film is set in Sicily in 1940 during World War II just as Italy enters the war. Malena’s husband, Nino Scordia, leaves to serve in the military. She learns that her husband has been killed. Malena tries to cope with her loss, as the town she has moved to tries to deal with this beautiful woman who gets the attention of all the local men, including the 12-year-old Renato. However, in spite of the gossip, she continues to be faithful to her husband. Renato becomes obsessed with Malena and starts fantasizing about her. She visits her father, an almost deaf professor of Latin, regularly and helps him with his chores. When a slanderous letter reaches his hands, their relationship suffers a catastrophic blow. In the meanwhile, the war worsens. The village is bombed and Malena’s father is killed. She eventually has no money. The wife of the local dentist takes her to court, but Malena is acquitted. The only man Malena does have an innocent romance with, an army officer, is sent away. Malena’s poverty finally forces her to become a prostitute. When the German army comes to town, Malena gives herself to Germans as well. Renato sees her in the company of two German officers and faints. His mother and the older ladies think that he has been possessed and take him to church for an exorcism. His father however takes him to a brothel; Renato has sex with one of the prostitutes while fantasizing that she is Malena. When the war ends, the women gather and publicly beat and humiliate Malena, who leaves for Messina. A few days later, Nino Scordia returns, to the shock of all the residents. He finds his house occupied by people displaced by the war. Renato tells him through an anonymous letter about Malena’s whereabouts. Nino goes to Messina to find her. A year later, they return. The villagers, especially the women, astonished at her courage, begin to talk to “Signora Scordia” with respect. Though still beautiful, they think of her as no threat claiming that she had wrinkles near her eyes and put on some weight. In the last scene near the beach, Renato helps her pick up some oranges that had dropped from her shopping bag. Afterwards he wishes her “Buona fortuna, Signora Malena” (good luck, Mrs. Malena) and rides off on his bicycle, looking back at her for a final time, as she walks away. As this final scene fades out, an adult Renato’s voice-over reflects that he has not forgotten Malena, even after the passage of so many years. He says, “Of all the girls who asked me to remember them, the only one I remembered is the one who did not ask.”

“Of all the girls who asked me to remember them, the only one I remembered is the one who did not ask.” – Malèna

MALÈNA | 25

MONICA BELLUCCI Interviewed by James Mottram, BBC Film 4 April, 2010 JM: Do you think Malena is about jealousy? MB: Yes, but also envy. Envy is human nature. Everything in this film is not just a portrait of a Sicilian village during

Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel. I’m a lucky person because I’ve been loved a lot. I have a great family.

the 1940s or a portrait of beauty, but I think it’s a por-

JM: What was the challenge in making Malena for you,

trait of envy and how envy can destroy relations between

bearing in mind you have few words in the film?

human beings. In this case, it was beauty, but it could’ve been anything else. To be beautiful was just a metaphor. JM: Has beauty ever been a handicap for you? MB: It is a handicap if you’re stupid, but not if you are intelligent and know how to use your beauty. I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I’m beautiful. I know many beautiful people and their lives are just

MB: The idea of the film was a challenge. I wanted to see if I could make this part exist just by a body. It was possible to do it. There’s so many things that come out of Malena. I learned how a body could speak. Acting is not words. Holly Hunter didn’t speak in The Piano, and she won an Oscar. It’s the film that Guiseppe Tornatore wanted to direct. You just contribute the performance.

so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves.

MALÈNA | 27

REVIEW By Roger Ebert / March 16, 1990 Chicago, Sun–Times

Giuseppe Tornatore’s Malena tells the story of a woman whose life is destroyed because she has the misfortune to be beautiful and have a great butt. The film torturously tries to transform this theme in scenes of comedy, nostalgia and bittersweet regret, but somehow we doubt its sincerity, maybe because the camera lingers so lovingly on the callipygian charms of the actress Monica Bellucci. There is noting quite so awkward as a film that is one

job because of the unjustified scandal and eventually is

thing while it pretends to be another.  The setup scenes

reduced by wartime poverty to dating German soldiers.

are like low-rent Fellini. In a Italian town in 1940, a

This descent in the world requires her to spend a great

group of adolescent boys waits for the beautiful Malena

deal of time half-dressed before Tornatore’s apprecia-

to pass by. She is all they can imagine a woman could

tive camera. She continues to shine brightly in Renato’s

be, arousing their imaginations, and more, with her

eyes, however, even after his field of knowledge is broad-

languorous swaying passage. Malena, who is a school-

ened when his father takes him to a bordello for the old

teacher and of at least average intelligence, must be

I give you the boy give me back the man” routine. Felli-

aware of her effect on the collective local male libido,

ni’s films often involve adolescents inflamed by women

but seems blissfully oblivious; her role is not so much

who embody their carnal desires. (See “Amarcord”

dramatic as pictorial.

and “8 1/2.” Please.) But Fellini sees the humor that

The story is told by Renato (Giuseppe Sulfaro), who as the movie opens is admitted to the local fraternity of girl-watchers. They use Malena as subject matter for their autoerotic pastimes, but for Renato, she is more like a dream, like a heroine, like a woman he wants to protect from herself--with his bare hands, hopefully.  The story involves Malena’s bad luck after her husband is called up by the army and her good name is sullied by local gossip. She must abandon her teaching

MALÈNA | 28

underlies sexual obsession, except in the eyes of the participants. Malena is a simpler story, in which a young man grows up transfixed by a woman and essentially marries himself to the idea of her. It doesn’t help that the movie’s action grows steadily gloomier, leading to a public humiliation that seems wildly out of scale with what has gone before and to an ending that is intended to move us much more deeply, alas, than it can.

“Signora Malena, a more capable person than me... wrote that the only true love is unrequited love. Now I understand why. It’s been so long since you last came out of your house. But the longer we are apart, the stronger my love becomes.” – Malèna

MALÈNA | 29

GIUSEPPE SULFARO Interviewed by Kid In The Front Row. BBC Film 8 June, 2010

KITFR: When did you first know you wanted to be an actor? GS: It all started when my aunt read in a newspaper that Tornatore was looking for the protagonist of his new movie with Monica Bellucci. My aunt has always been convinced since I was a child that I had very expressive eyes, so I took pictures and sent them to the production, and from there began the road that allowed me to discover this world, which was completely unknown but fantastic at the same time. Tor-

GS: It was the best year of my life, I was away from home for about one year, I followed my father as I was underage, I did not go to school but when I went to the production, I kept in touch with my teachers, so I could integrate school. Filming began in September. I was the youngest and most spoiled, even though my father was very hard with me, but he understood the time and sometimes turned a blind eye and let me do what I liked.

natore began to select 2500 photos of kids from here and

KITFR: Giuseppe Tornatore is such an amazing writer and

summoned 90. These 90 kids he met for an interview, where

director. What is his directing style like? And how would he

he liked to tease my adolescence! The first was followed

direct you?

by another two or three, the second meeting was a test on hand, from the 90 kids we were then 40. In the next audition an actress took the place of what would be Monica Bellucci. From 40 actors we were down to 9, then another meeting with Tornatore, who chose three finalists, then a video with the 3 finalists was sent to Miramax. Miramax was also thrilled with me, so from that day, I was catapulted into the world of cinema for a year.

GS: Initially, before six months of shooting, me and Tornatore talked about much of the script in general and, once we started filming every night we met and talked of the work to be done the next day. Sometimes Monica attended, this was so Monica and I gained great confidence that would help us in the “hottest” scenes, other times I let the scenes play at my leisure and if there was something he did not like we would talk about it and try to reach an agreement. I was very

KITFR: In Malena. It’s amazing that your performance was so

young and had my first experience at the cinema, he was very

perfect, considering you were only 14. What was the experi-

patient with me, as I was with him, since he is very meticu-

ence like for you?

lous and precise, sometimes too much. Tornatore carefully thought how to complete the whole film, as the attention to

MALÈNA | 30

detail in dubbing and editing... sometimes the perfectionism

don’t get to see in other countries. What have you been

borders on madness!

working on?

KITFR: I’m trying to think of what it would be like to be 14

GS: A couple of years ago I was in a film by Krzysztof Zanussi

and working with Monica Bellucci. Was it exciting? Scary?

The Black Sun nothing special, but always a great experi-

With Monica I had a great relationship from the beginning. We talked about everything, obviously being 14 years old, after a couple of days you will begin meetings with Monica Bellucci to fall in love; this she understood and maintained this relationship of complicity to facilitate the work later. Well

ence. Then I was in Greece to shoot a film in original Greek, which was a good challenge; I was there for three months learning Greek just for the script. The film screenplay was nice, but technically quite poor even though the budget was not so strangely low ... but always an experience.

I was glad of this, Monica greeted me every morning with a

I recently worked in Italy for a fiction with Thérence Hill,

little kiss on the lips, and it made me feel like her husband

do not know if you know it, the new series will resume in

Vincent Cassel [Giuseppe smiles]. The film was turning into

December for another year.

reality – a reality that I knew would fade when the film was released. This was good and made me feel safer at work, sometimes I feel Monica and I remember with great joy and satisfaction the moments spent with her. KITFR: What to say more?!?! I was 14 when they called me to make the film and I had never seen a live naked woman, the first was Monica, now you can understand my teenage years. [the memory makes Giuseppe smile] it was a special and wonderful experience. Recently you have been doing TV work, which most of us

KITFR: Do you think you will always work in Italy, or would you like to work elsewhere? GS: If I had to leave Italy and learn another language, after acting in Greek it does not scare me or anything ... almost. KITFR: What Film Director would you most like to work with? GS: To be honest I do not have a favorite director to work with, the important thing is to work... but if I have to say a few names there are many like Pupi Avati, Ettore Scola, Giovanni Veronesi, Gabriele Muccino, Neri Parenti.

MALÈNA | 31

THE LEGEND OF 1900 (1998)

MARCH 14, 2012 2PM – 4PM

AWARDS

EUROPEAN FILM AWARD, 1999, Best Cinematographer GOLDEN GLOBE, 2000, Best Original Score – Motion Picture GUILD FILM AWARD – SILVER, 2000, Foreign Film SILVER RIBBON, 1999, Best Costume Design, Best Director, Best Producer GOLDEN SATELLITE AWARD, 2001, Best Art Direction, Production Design

CAST

Tim Roth

...

Danny Boodmann T.D. Lemon Nineteen Hundred

Pruitt Taylor Vince

...

Max Tooney

Bill Nunn

...

Danny Boodmann

Clarence Williams III ...

Jelly Roll Morton

Mélanie Thierry

...

The Girl

Gabriele Lavia

...

Farmer

Peter Vaughan

...

‘Pops’, the Shopkeeper

Niall O’Brien

...

Harbor Master

Alberto Vazquez

...

Mexican Stoker

Luigi De Luca

...

Neapolitan Stoker

Femi Elufowojo

...

Black Stoker (as Femi Elufowoja Jr.)

Nigel Fan

...

Chinese Stoker

Roger Monk

...

Irish Stoker

Leonid Zaslavski

...

Polish Stoker

Bernard Padden

...

Boatswain

THE LEGEND OF 1900 | 33

SYNOPSIS

Shortly after the Second World War, Max, a transplanted American, visits an English pawn shop to sell his trumpet. The shopkeeper recognizes the tune Max plays as one on a wax master of an unreleased recording, discovered and restored from shards found in a piano salvaged from a cruise ship turned hospital ship, now slated for demolition. This chance discovery prompts a story from Max, which he relates both to the shopkeeper and later to the official responsible for the doomed vessel, for Max is a born storyteller. Though now down on his luck and disillusioned by his wartime experiences, the New Orleans-born Max was once an enthusiastic and gifted young jazz musician, whose longest gig was several years with the house band aboard the Virginian, a posh cruise ship. While gaining his sea legs, he was befriended by another young man, the pianist in the same band, whose long unlikely name was Danny Boodman T.D. Lemons 1900, though everyone just called him 1900, the year of his birth. Abandoned in first class by his immigrant parents, 1900 was found and adopted by Danny, a stoker, and raised in the engine rooms, learning to read by reading horseracing reports to his adoptive dad. After Danny’s death in an accident, 1900 remained on the ship. Increasingly lured by the sound of the piano in the first-class ballroom, he eventually became a gifted pianist, a great jazz improvisationist, a composer of rich modern music inspired by his intense observation of the life around him, the stories passengers on all levels of the ship trusted him enough to tell. He also grew up to be a charming, iconoclastic young man, at once shrewd and oddly innocent. His talent earned him such accolades that he was challenged by, and bested Jelly Roll Morton in an intense piano duel that had poor Max chewing paper on the sofa in agonies of suspense. And yet for all the richness and variety of his musical expression, he never left the ship, except almost, once, in the aftermath of his infatuation with a beautiful young woman immigrant who inspired the music committed to the master Max discovers in the pawnshop. Max realizes that 1900 must still be on the ship, and determines to find him, and to find out once and for all why he has so consistently refused to leave.

“Winter comes, you wish it was summer. Summer comes, you live in dread of winter. That’s why we never tire of travel.” – The Legend of 1900

THE LEGEND OF 1900 | 34

ACTORS DISCUSS By Ellen A. Kim, Hollywood.com Staff Wednesday, August 29, 2001

The fable went like this: A baby is born and abandoned

After reading the rough translation of Baricco’s mono-

aboard an ocean liner. Named for the year in which he was

logue, Roth signed on, eager to play a different type of

born, 1900 grows up on the ship, displays an extraordinary

character. “[He] had a purity and angelic quality and was

gift for music and becomes a legendary pianist, entertaining

very naïve,” Roth said. “I liked that.” It also gave Roth the

throes of passengers at a time.

chance to reteam with Clarence Williams III, his co-star in

But he has no proof of his existence; he belongs nowhere. His world is the ship, and he never sets foot on land. The tale, written as a dramatic monologue by Italian novelist

1997’s “Hoodlum.” Williams plays the only real-life character in the film, jazz pianist Jelly Roll Morton. Hearing of 1900’s brilliance, Morton boards the ship, and the two face off in a tense piano duel. But the actors’ previous acquaintance made filming easier. “We can work as actors as shorthand,” Williams said of Roth.

Alessandro Baricco, found itself in the hands of Giuseppe Tornatore, director of the Oscar-winning Cinema Paradiso. Tornatore expanded the story into an epic-size feature, and the result is The Legend of 1900. Tim Roth, often seen in gritty, violent roles in films such as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Rob Roy, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, takes a surprising turn as the gentle, innocent title character.

“I was getting a bit bored with myself and have been for some time, I think it happens to actors after a while, so I was looking for something different.” – Tim Roth

THE LEGEND OF 1900 | 36

“We do have long discussions, but it’s not about the performance. We have long discussions about that restaurant across the street ... or what we’re gonna eat that day. But when we walk onto that soundstage, he’s already prepared, I’m already prepared, and we put it together.” – Clarence Williams

Surrounded by jazz musicians in his youth, Williams said Jelly Roll’s fictional bit can be easily infused with the reality of the times. “This was something that he could do better than anybody on the planet in his mind,” Williams said. “And coming out of a very, very segregated situation at that time in our country, and having to put up with less-than-stellar behavior by his fellow citizens. ... But he had this jewel. This was his. This separated him from the herd. ... You wanna come into my place? I can’t go into your place, but you come into my place and I’m king, and I mean it. And I will prove it

But he has no proof of his existence; The challenge for Vince, as well as the others, included acting with instruments none of them knew how to play. Roth says he left the technique up to the magic of special effects and focused on his character separate from the piano.

night after night after night, by being better than anybody who would sit on that piano bench.” The film’s unique

“I had to get the man right,” Roth said. “So you work on

circumstances are told through the eyes of Max, a trumpet

that, his place in that world; and then the piano is something

player and 1900’s best friend. For the role, Tornatore chose

that’s an extension of him. He plays in the way that he thinks.”

Pruitt Taylor Vince, star of 1995’s Heavy and a veteran of small

So is the quiet, genteel dreamer Roth’s new character type?

roles in Dr. Doolittle, Beautiful Girls and the television drama

Roth, who plays a “clairvoyant hypnotist” in his next project,

Murder One, for which he won an Emmy.

says he won’t rule out revisiting his villainous side, but he

“I thought it was just the most beautiful thing I’d ever read, And the fact that it was Giuseppe Tornatore and Tim Roth. So, at first I was so blown away by the idea of this man handing me the role of the storyteller in this giant epic of his. After I got over that,

now looks at his future choices with more caution. “I’m a bit more wary of the gun thing, especially living in America in general,” Roth said. “So, I will take that very seriously. I don’t want to do the childish route for that, except if it was a big old shoot-’em-up Western type of thing, which is quite clearly for fun. But I’ve got to be very careful about that kind of stuff now.”

I had to face playing it.” – Pruitt Taylor Vince

THE LEGEND OF 1900 | 37

THE LEGEND OF 1900 | 38

REVIEW By Roger Ebert / March 16, 1990 Chicago, Sun–Times

Because life is at such hazard, we value those who lead their lives all in one place, doing one thing. Such continuity is reassuring. We are buffeted by the winds of fate, but the Trappist tills his field and the blacksmith stands beneath his tree. There is a certain charm in the notion of a man who is born on board an ocean liner and never gets off. He does not move, yet is never still.    The man’s full name is Danny Boodmann T.D. Lemon

himself – that he is defending not his ability as a pianist

1900. That is because as a squawling infant he was

but his decision to stay on the ship: See, he seems to

discovered on the luxury liner Virginian by a man named

be saying, I never went to New Orleans and yet look at

Boodmann, in a lemon box, in the year 1900. He is reared

my fingers fly.  Decades come and go. Fashions change.

in the engine room, his cradle swaying as the ship rolls,

1900 remains steadfast even during the war. Then one

and as an adult plays piano in the ship’s lounge. And

day something happens to stir him to his fundament. A

what piano! So great is his fame that even the great

woman comes on board. The Girl, for so she is called,

Jelly Roll Morton comes on board for a duel.  1900 is

is played by Melanie Thierry as an angelic vision who

played as an adult by Tim Roth, he of the sad eyes and

never pauses on the deck unless she is perfectly framed

rueful grin. Night after night he sits at his keyboard, as

by a porthole directly in the sight line of the moody

crews change and ports slip behind. His best friend is

pianist. It is true love. It must be: It gets him halfway

Max (Pruitt Taylor Vince), a trumpet player in the ship’s

down the gangplank.  There is a mystery to an ocean

orchestra, and his story is told through Max’s eyes.

liner. It is vast, yet self-contained. It has secrets, but

It begins almost at the end, when Max finds an old

they can be discovered. Somewhere even today, hidden

wax recording in an antiques shop, and recognizes it

on the Norway, which used to be the France, is a private

as 1900’s love melody to the only woman who almost

first-class courtyard. You can find it. 1900 is the secret

got him to leave the ship.  The movie was directed by

of the Virginian, whose shadows and secret passages

Giuseppe Tornatore, whose Cinema Paradiso was much

he haunts like the hunchback of Notre Dame or the

beloved in 1988. Like a lot of European directors, he

phantom of the opera.  His story was originally written

despairs of ever finding large U.S. audiences with subti-

not as a screenplay or a novel, but as a monologue,

tles, and shot this movie in English. The Legend of 1900

by Alessandro Baricco. The film has inevitably been

nevertheless seems mournfully, romantically Italian, and

compared to Titanic, but has more in common with the

could be an opera. There is something heroic about a

little-known French film A Chambermaid on the Titanic

man whose whole life is ruled by the fixed idea that

(1997), about a man who wins a free ticket on the Titanic.

he must not step foot on dry land.  There is also some-

The night before sailing, he is seduced by a woman who

thing pigheaded and a little goofy. That side of 1900

says she works on the ship. Does she? Or does she only

seems to lurk just out of sight in scenes like the one

want to steal his ticket? The monologue he makes of his

where he and Jelly Roll pound out tunes in what seems

experience grows in popularity until he has to perform

more like a test of speed and volume than musicianship.

it professionally.

We sense, as 1900 plays, that he loves music less than

THE LEGEND OF 1900 | 39

BAARÌA (2009)

MARCH 15, 2012 2PM – 4PM

AWARDS

DAVID DI DONATELLO AWARDS, 2010, Best Director EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS, 2010, Best Film FLAIANO FILM FESTIVAL, 2010, Best Cinematography, Best Editing GOLDEN GLOBE, 2010, Best Foreign Language Film VENICE FILM FESTIVAL, 2001, Best Director

CAST

Francesco Scianna

...

Peppino Torrenuova

Margareth Madè

...

Mannina

Raoul Bova

...

Roman journalist

Giorgio Faletti

...

Corteccia

Leo Gullotta

...

Liborio

Nicole Grimaudo

...

Sarina as a girl

Gabriele Lavia

...

Teacher

Ángela Molina

...

Sarina

Enrico Lo Verso

...

Minicu

Nino Frassica

...

Giacomo Bartolotta

Luigi Lo Cascio

...

Beggard’s son

Aldo

...

Speculator (as Aldo Baglio)

Beppe Fiorello

...

Dollar selle

Ficarra

...

Nino (as Salvatore Ficarra)

Donatella Finocchia ...

Haberdasher

BAARÌA | 41

SYNOPSIS

The film recounts life in the Sicilian town of BaarĂŹa, from the 1920s to the 1980s, through the eyes of lovers Peppino (Francesco Scianna) and Mannina (Margareth MadĂ¨). A Sicilian family depicted across three generations: from Cicco to his son Peppino to his grandson Pietro. Touching lightly upon the private lives of these characters and their families, the film evokes the loves, dreams and disappointments of an entire community in the province of Palermo over five decades: during the Fascist period, Cicco is a humble shepherd who, however, finds time to pursue his passion: books, epic poems, the great popular romance novels. In the days when people go hungry and during World War II, his son Peppino witnesses injustice by mafiosi and landowners, and becomes a communist. After the war, he encounters the woman of his life. Her family opposes the relationship because of his political ideas, but the two insist and get married, and have children. Subplots include one about a boy running an errand, a living fly locked inside a top, three rocks people try to hit in one throw, a man mutilating himself to avoid having to fight in the war, looting while the US conquers Sicily, making clothing from a US parachute, and Peppinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daughter calling her father a fascist for not allowing her to wear a mini-skirt. Running through the film however is the main subplot concerning the history of the Italian left, especially the Communist Party of which Peppino is a life long member. It charts his fight against injustice and eventual disillusionment in the face of corruption and compromise by his fellow politicians.

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL KICKS OFF WITH BAARIA By Geoffrey MacNab Thursday, 3 September 2009 VENICE: The Venice film festival kicked off on Wednesday with Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore’s Baaria, a sentimental journey to his Sicilian hometown in an epic covering three generations. “Sounds, people, frustrations, dreams, happiness, challenges—I thought all of these themes could be turned into a movie,” Tornatore told a news conference after the press screening at the 66th Mostra in the lagoon city. He said turning 60 had finally pushed him to complete a long-planned project, which spans the Fascist period, World War II, the rise of the Italian Communist Party and the first decades of the post-war era. Ennio Morricone, who scored the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, wrote the soundtrack for Baaria more than 20 years after that of Cinema Paradiso, which won the Oscar for best foreign film in 1989. Noting that he spent the first 27 years of his life in Sicily, Tornatore said, “That’s how I see things. It’s my take on life.” Describing the film as “allegorical,” the director said, “All those who were born in a small town will find similarities.... We should recover our sense of duty, the ability to teach our children how important it is to forge a relationship with the rest of the community.” Since both leads are Sicilians—Francesco Scianna was born in Bagheria (nicknamed Baaria) itself—they are native speakers of the island’s dialect. With a cast of many homegrown stars, including Monica Belluci who offers a cameo appearance as a prostitute, Italians will feast on a red carpet bonanza at the gala opening on Wednesday evening.

BAARÌA | 42

BAARÌA | 43

BAARÌA | 44

REVIEW By Roger Ebert / March 16, 1990 Chicago, Sun–Times

Guiseppe Tornatore’s latest is a true magnum opus. Set over the course of one hundred years in the Torrenuova family, at times, it feels a curious hybrid of D.H. Lawrence and Steven Spielberg shot through a Marxist prism. It achieves moments of exquisite cinema aided by gorgeous cinematography and great performances. You sense this is Tornatore’s most personal work. He

disheartened by Communism. It unsettles his nerve but

weaves a sprawling tapestry to create a working class

not his convictions. He knows the working classes and

epic paying tribute not only to his old neighbourhood

poverty stricken residents need protecting and repre-

Bagheria (Baarìa is the slang term), but the Sicilian

senting. He’s their man.

national character. He’s proven to be a highly influential film-maker since the late 1980s with his focus on romanticised depictions of his country’s culture and way of life. What makes Tornatore’s film riveting is its dreamlike retelling of a country going from feudalism to modern politicisation wrapped around a good old-fashioned family saga.The performances are as perfect as they are stereotyped with the focus mainly on Peppino Torrenuova (Francesco Scianna), who goes from goat herder to member of the Italian parliament. We get to experience life under fascism, during wartime and the post-

The great surprise twist is kept for the end when a young Peppino wakes up in modern day Palermo and walks around Baarìa. While it isn’t entirely logical since what went before, it is audacious and certainly within the spirit of the film. It’s a little bit like the stunt pulled by Paul Thomas Anderson at the end of There Will Be Blood. Radical perhaps, but it works. At the end of the film, Peppino’s son asks his father, “Why do people think we’re hotheaded?” Peppino replies, “Maybe because we are. Or we try to embrace the world but our arms are too short.”

war building of a new society. It’s not all politics. There’s

Opening and closing with a young boy running through

the romance between Peppino and his gorgeous wife

the streets as the camera glides and tracks, the sense

Mannina played by Sicilian model Margareth Madè and

of exhilaration and life is superbly captured. Baarìa is a

their daily struggles.

cine-love letter to a neighbourhood and homeland. It

Peppino spends all his time dreaming of a make believe

might be one of the prettiest ever composed.

utopian Russia, however, returns disillusioned but not

BAARÌA | 45

EVERYBODY’S FINE (1990)

MARCH 16, 2012 2PM – 4PM

AWARDS

PRIZE OF THE ECUMENICAL JURY, 1990, Best Director DAVID DI DONATELLO AWARDS, 1991, Best Music (Migliore Musicista) SILVER RIBBON, 1991, Best Original Story (Migliore Soggetto Originale)

CAST

Marcello Mastroianni

...

Matteo Scuro

Michèle Morgan

...

Woman in train

Valeria Cavalli

...

Tosca

Marino Cenna

...

Canio

Norma Martelli

...

Norma

Roberto Nobile

...

Guglielmo

Salvatore Cascio

...

Alvaro enfant

Leo Gullotta

...

Uomo armato sul tetto

Antonella Attili

...

Matteo’s Mother

Ennio Morricone

...

Conductor

Fabio Iellini

...

Antonello

EVERYBODY’S FINE | 47

SYNOPSIS

Matteo Scuro, a retired Sicilian bureaucrat and opera buff, has been stood up by his five adult children during the summer vacation, all of whom live in various cities on the Italian mainland with what he believes are responsible jobs. Despite their not visiting and the neighbours’ criticisms, he remains optimistic, considering that his children could not come because they are too busy. His children are named after popular opera characters, Tosca for Puccini’s Tosca, Canio for Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, Norma for Bellini’s Norma, Guglielmo for Rossini’s Guglielmo Tell and Alvaro for Verdi’s La forza del destino. He decides to surprise each of them with a visit, traveling by train, and finds none of them as he imagined, with each of his children seeming to reflect the opera character after whom they were named. Matteo’s train journeys take him to Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan and Turin to search for each of his children; he even spends one night on the streets among the homeless. Before his arrival at each of their homes, each of his grown children scramble to put on a facade to cover up their personal failings: One daughter’s ex-husband temporarily moves back in with her and their child. A son who lost his University professorship temporarily moves back into his old office. Another daughter hides the fact that she works as a lingerie model, etc. Finally after visiting all his children, Scuro returns to Sicily, visits his wife’s grave, and reports to her with irony that their children are all fine.

“The story of Matteo’s quest is simply told, but within it Tornatore creates an affecting vision of societal change and a web of complex emotions and connections among his characters.” – Joe Brown

EVERYBODY’S FINE | 49

REVIEW By Joe Brown Washington March 16, 1990 Post Staff Writer

Following the international success of Cinema Paradiso, Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore comes back with Everybody’s Fine, another bittersweet charmer. As lyrical as Cinema Paradiso, and also concerned with

time, on a trip that takes him to Naples, Rome, Flor-

aging, memory and irrevocable change, it’s a delicate,

ence, Milan, Turin . . .

moving film (quite literally moving – it was filmed at 75 urban and rural Italian locations, which is reason enough for seeing it). And in addition to an abundance of laughter, tears and memorable images, it leaves the viewer haunted by questions: Why must our families shatter and scatter? How is it possible, when city dwellers live so closely together, with so much to busy them, for people to die of loneliness?

and alienation of modern Italy – of any modern city. With wonder and sadness Matteo watches city workers sweep up the corpses of hundreds of birds who have dashed themselves in apparent confusion to the pavement; traffic is brought to a standstill and a host of commuters silently witness an elk standing defiantly in the freeway; elderly pensioners waltz around an eerie

The scent of lemon trees wafting from the country tells

twilight ballroom. In a moviemaking marvel of tech-

peppy grandpa Matteo Scuro that Sicilian summer is

nique and control, large crowds of urban extras freeze

near. Matteo’s fondest wish is to have his brood around

in place whenever Matteo calls his son Alvaro, only to

his dinner table again, like in the old days, and he tells

reach his answering machine.

his unseen wife about a surprise he has planned for their five children – he has rented five seaside bungalows for a family vacation.

The story of Matteo’s quest is simply told, but within it Tornatore creates an affecting vision of societal change and a web of complex emotions and connec-

But the now-grown children (he named them for opera

tions among his characters. Matteo brought his kids

characters) are involved in their own lives and can’t

up to “be somebody”; now, to protect him and avoid

spare the time to return to Sicily. So Matteo (adorably

disappointing his high hopes, they play “happy family”

played by white-haired Marcello Mastroianni in thick

for him, fooling him about what their lives have come

glasses that make his eyes look huge as a cartoon

to. You’ll want to phone home as soon as Tornatore’s

mouse’s) decides to visit them. By surprise. Bidding his

autumnal adagio ends.

wife farewell, provincial Matteo leaves Sicily for the first

EVERYBODY’S FINE | 50

Quietly stunning images evoke the beauty and chaos

SCHEDULE

CINEMA PARADISO

March 12, 2012

2pm – 4pm

A famous film director returns home to a Sicilian village for the first time after almost 30 years. He reminisces about his childhood at the Cinema Paradiso where Alfredo, the projectionist, first brought about his love of films. He is also reminded of his lost teenage love, Elena, who he had to leave before he left for Rome.