New Italian Cinema--San Francisco Nov. 14-21, 2010

[Chris Knipp]

NEW ITALIAN CINEMA 2010

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7725/raiseyourhead.jpg

San Francisco Nov. 14-21, 2010

Nine new films in another mini-festival sponsored by the San Francisco Film Society and again shown at the Landmark Embarcadero Cinema, with extras by featured director Ferzan Ozpotek. I'll be reviewing five or six in a Festival Coverage thread that starts here. (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25339#post25339)

The new films are as follows. Titles that are reviewed have active links to the Festival Coverage section:


Loose Cannons
(Mine vaganti, Ferzan Özpetek 2010)
OPENING NIGHT FILM Ozpetek’s latest dissection of family, love and personal liberation gently satirizes a large bourgeois household while creating a memorable panoply of characters.
Sunday, November 14, 6:15 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

A Perfect Day
(Un giorno perfetto, Ferzan Özpetek 2008)
Sunday, November 14, 6:15 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema
In this tense drama, Özpetek presents an engaging cross-section of Roman society, portraying two families from different classes over a shattering 24-hour period.

Facing Windows
(La finestra di fronte, Ferzan Özpetek 2003)
This award-winning drama tells the story of Giovanna, a woman unhappy in her marriage and job who fantasizes about the man living in the building across from her.

Steam: The Turkish Bath
(Hamam, Ferzan Özpetek 1997)
Ozpetek’s rich and poignant debut feature depicts the self-discovery of a married Italian businessman who inherits a Turkish hamam.

Ten Winters (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25341#post25341)
(Dieci inverni, Valerio Mieli 2009)
Over the course of a decade, a man and a woman remain in contact but never have the chance to fall in love.
Tuesday, November 16, 6:00 pm & Saturday, November 20, 9:15 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

I Am Glad You Are Here (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25343#post25343)
(Meno male che ci sei, Luis Prieto 2009)
Luis Prieto’s surprising and touching drama takes a turn when a young woman befriends her recently deceased father’s former mistress.
Tuesday, November 16, 8:45 pm & Saturday, November 20, 3:45 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

Clash of Civilization over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio
(Scontro di civiltà per un ascensore a Piazza Vittorio, Isotta Toso 2010)
In an apartment building in Rome, a surly young man named Lorenzo is involved in a crime, and the residents must piece together what happened in this wide-ranging study of clashing cultures.
Wednesday, November 17, 6:00 pm & Sunday, November 21, 12:15 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

Raise Your Head (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25345#post25345)
(Alza la testa, Alessandro Angelini 2009)
Antonio is a shipyard worker training his beloved teenaged son Lorenzo in boxing. When an accident befalls the boy, Antonio is forced to confront his harsh nature and various prejudices.
Wednesday, November 17, 8:45 pm & Friday, November 19, 6:30 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

18 Years Later
(18 anni dopo, Edoardo Leo 2010)
In this winning road movie, two estranged brothers traveling in a classically restored Morgan convertible are obliged to deliver their father’s ashes to his hometown in Calabria.
Thursday, November 18, 6:00 pm & Sunday, November 21, 3:00 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

Weddings and Other Disasters (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25351#post25351)
(Matrimoni e altri disastri, Nina di Majo 2010)
A middle-aged single woman gets caught up in her younger sister’s impending nuptials in this delightful romantic comedy.
Thursday, November 18, 8:45 pm & Saturday, November 20, 6:30 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

The Double Hour (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25360#post25360)
(La doppia ora, Giuseppe Capotondi 2009)
A hotel maid working in Turin finds herself involved in a series of increasingly strange events in this dreamlike thriller from director Giuseppe Capotondi.
Friday, November 19, 9:00 pm
Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema

The First Beautiful Thing (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25353#post25353)
(La prima cosa bella, Paolo Virzì 2010)
CLOSING NIGHT FILM What does it mean to have a beautiful, frivolous and embarrassing mother? This is the problem confronting Bruno, the protagonist of Paolo Virzì’s moving new film.
Sunday, November 21, 6:00 & 9:15 pm

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/271/newitaliancinema.jpg

[Chris Knipp]

Valerio Mieli: TEN WINTERS (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25341#post25341)

Click above for the Festival Coverage review.


University students Silvestro and Camilla are attracted but in the chill of Moscow and the sublime melancholy of Venice out of season things keep getting in the way. A story of delayed romance, and growing up.

New Italian Cinema series of the San Francisco Film Society. Tuesday, November 16,2010 at 6:00 pm & Saturday, November 20, 2010 at9:15 pm at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema, San Francisco. The film debuted at Venice in 2009 and is being shown at a number of current US festivals and Italian film series.

[Chris Knipp]

Luis Prieto: I AM GLAD YOU ARE HERE (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25343#post25343)

In this sophomore effort by Spanish-born director Luis Prieto set in Rome, a 170year-old girl, suddenly an orphan due to a tragic accident, decides to bond with her late father's former mistress. Heartache and awakenings follow. Adapted by a woman from a novel by a woman, this is an Italian Nora Ephron story for young adults with Hallmark moments. It's easy to watch -- everybody is charming and good-looking -- but that such lightweight material is included in a film society's New Italian Cinema series (and not just of one city's film society) is an indication that the Italian film industry , Gomorrah and Il Divo not withstanding, is not in the best of shape.

Seen and reviewed as part of the San Francisco Film Society's New Italian Cinema series presented Tuesday, November 16, 8:45 pm & Saturday, November 20, 3:45 pm at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema in San Francisco.

[Chris Knipp]

Alessandro Angelini: RAISE YOUR HEAD (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25345#post25345)

An emotional father-and-son boxing story with the excellent Sergio Castellitto and promising newcomer Gabriele Campanelli goes terribly wrong midway when a tragic accident sends the plot into a spin of irrelevant new characters and wacko subplots. The second half is tedious and hard to watch. Castellitto won the Best Acting prize for his performance at the Rom Film Festival though, as did the star of Angelini's first film.

[Chris Knipp]

Nina Di Majo: WEDDINGS AND OTHER DISASTERS (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25351#post25351)

A Nora Ephron-style (but really styleless) light comedy about a pre-wedding flirtation, with Martherita Buy in the Meg Ryan role of the aging single "girl." Set in a glossy, touristic version of Florence, the mildly entertaining Weddings and Other Disasters will make you want to pinch yourself to see if this is really an Italian movie. And that's not a good thing.

Part of the San Francisco Film Society's New Italian Cinema series, shownon Thursday, November 18,2010 at 8:45 pm and Saturday, November 20, 6:30 pm at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema.

Click on the title above for the Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Paolo Virzi: THE FIRST BEAUTIFUL THING (2010) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25353#post25353)

A depressed and drug-benumbed literature teacher goes back to visit his dying mother and we and the film are overwhelmed by turbulent flashbacks to his childhood and youth. There is too much going on, despite the good acting and good cinematography, but somebody thought it was a success because this is to be Italy's Oscar entry for this year's Best Foreign Film award.

Closing Night film of the San Francisco Film Society's New Italian Cinema series shown Sunday, November 21, 2010 at 6:00 and 9:15 pm at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema.

Click on the title above for Filmleaf's Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Giuseppe Capotondi: THE DOUBLE HOUR (2009) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25360#post25360)

Italian video director Capotoldi’s first feature of a love story interrupted by a burglary is a successful blend of romance, horror and mystery. Filippo Timi and Ksenia Rappoport are stars with promise.

The Double Hour/La doppia ora, 102 min, a film in Italian, was shown and reviewed as part of the San Francisco Film Society's New Italian Cinema Series, screened Friday, November 19, 9:00 pm at Landmark's Embarcadero Center Cinema, San Francisco. It has also been shown in Italian series in NYC and Seattle and previewed in Santa Monica. There is interest in buying the rights to a US remake.

Click on the title and director above for the Festival Coverage review.

[Chris Knipp]

Ferzan Özpetek: STEAM: THE TURKISH BATH (1997) (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25368#post25368)


Özpetek's atmospheric first feature as an independent director, an Italian production with Italian main characters but set mostly in Turkey, introduces a primary theme of his, the family outside the family... It remains to be said that while all this is very well, Özpetek's rise to some prominence as a director in Italy comes at a time when Italian cinema is at a pretty low ebb, and his fluidity in ensemble work with actors doesn't quite make up for a weakness for arbitrary and unconvincing plot devices...

The two outstanding selections of the 2010 San Francisco New Italian Cinema series were two first films, Valerio Mieli's elegant, low-keyed almost-love story Ten Winters and Giuseppe Capotondi's excellent psychological thriller, The Double Hour.

[Chris Knipp]

ALPHABETICAL LINKED INDEX TO THE N.I.C. FESTIVAL COVERAGE REVIEWS:


Double Hour, The (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25360#post25360)
(La doppia ora, Giuseppe Capotondi 2009)
A hotel maid working in Turin finds herself involved in a series of increasingly strange events in this dreamlike thriller from director Giuseppe Capotondi.

First Beautiful Thing, tHE (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25353#post25353)
(La prima cosa bella, Paolo Virzì 2010)
A substance-abusing teacher returns home to be with his dying mother -- and many flashbacks to his childhood and youth follow -- in this Italian entry into the Best Foreign Oscar competition for 2010. Also part of the San Francisco New Italian Cinema series.

I Am Glad You Are Here (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25343#post25343)
(Meno male che ci sei, Luis Prieto 2009)
A 17-year-old girl in Rome loses both parents and bonds with her father’s former mistress. Part of the New Italian Cinema series of the San Francisco Film Society.

Raise Your Head (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25345#post25345)
(Alza la testa, Alessandro Angelini 2009)
Emotional drama starring Sergio Castellitto about a father who coaches his son as a boxer goes astray in the second half. A film in the New Italian Cinema series of the San Francisco Film Society.

Steam: The Turkish Bath (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25368#post25368)
(Hamam, Ferzan Özpetek 1997)
Ozpetek’s debut feature depicts the self-discovery of a married Italian businessman who inherits a Turkish hamam.

Ten Winters (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25341#post25341)
(Dieci inverni, Valerio Mieli 2009)
Two young students in Venice take ten years to fall in love. Part of the San Francisco New Italian Cinema series 2010.

Weddings and Other Disasters (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2960-New-Italian-Cinema-San-Francisco-Nov-14-21-2010&p=25351#post25351)
(Matrimoni e altri disastri, Nina di Majo 2010)
A single, independent woman finds herself organizing her sister’s wedding with the help of her future brother-in-law. Part of the San Francisco New Italian Cinema series.