"Il Compleanno" -- film festival recommendation (Atlanta)

In writing these reviews about Atlanta's Italian Film Festival, I forgot to mention that I never write about film and have never worked as a film critic.

Probably painfully obvious, but I mention it because all I'm saying is, I liked these films. And mainly what I want everyone to do is watch Italian films, and maybe these reviews will help get you started or fill you in on the latest releases.

So, the last film I want to mention is "Il Compleanno," which was translated as "David's Birthday."

I liked this film a lot! The cinematography, the music, the characters, the plot -- they all pulled me in right away. These old friends are going to the Italian seaside for the summer, oh how nice, here's your sunny Italian countryside, but wait! You know things are about to go awry.

And much of the trouble, though not all, is spurred by the reappearance of David, the son of one of the couples, who arrives from America.

He's young, he's a fashion model and he appeals to both women and men.

And that's one of the key themes of the film. I should mention at this point that there are those so-called "adult situations" in this film, but in spades. I mean, alla grande. If you're not ready for this, you may want to stay away.

But the way the characters fall apart at the end of the film is so delicious. Particularly the psychoanalyst played by Massimo Poggio. The film also features Alessandro Gassman, a well-known actor in Italy.

All these shrinks want to make it look like they have it all together. Ha ha ha this guy not so much! This guy absolutely and totally self-destructs. And it's fun to watch! In fact, in some scenes the audience actually laughed even though the action was not intended to be funny.

So enjoy "Il Compleanno." I did!

Italian Film Festival film reviews continued....

Ok, continuing with reviews of some of the films shown at Atlanta's 4th Annual Italian Film Festival, which wrapped up last week.

"Il papà di Giovanna" ("Giovanna's Father") is next up, and it received the highest rating of any of the films shown, with a score of 9.388, according to the film festival organizers.

It stars Silvio Orlando, a veteran Italian actor who plays a schoolteacher living in Bologna before World War II (the film continues through the war, though the family is forced to leave the city).

His daughter, Giovanna, is considered delicate, special, different, sensitive -- all the words people use to describe someone who may or may not have mental problems.

Silvio Orlando's character, Michele Casali, dotes on his daughter in a vain effort to shore up her confidence. Right from the start, the relationship is moving -- his doomed efforts to save this girl really get to you.

Again I won't say anything more about the plot -- no spoiler alert here! (THOUGH, if you understand Italian very well and you don't want to know too much, you may want to only watch the beginning of the trailer).

But let me add a few other key details. The movie is the work of famed Italian director Pupi Avati, whose other films include one of my favorites, "Il testimone dello sposo" (1998), which in English was called "The Best Man."

I definitely recommend this film. And in fact, when I saw this film along with "Alza La Testa" (see previous review), I was sure the film festival was on the right track. I think people go to a film festival to see something different, something jarring perhaps, something profound, something that says something.

And "Il papà di Giovanna" fits the bill.

"Alza La Testa," "Il Compleanno" e "Il Papa di Giovanna"

I'm going to try to tackle all of these films at once, given that Atlanta's Italian Film Festival has now been over for a week!

Let's start with "Alza La Testa."

I thought it was great, in large part because Sergio Castellitto, the star, is, ahem, Sergio Castellitto.

Interestingly, I received the official punteggio from the film festival and it received a 7.3, compared with a rating of 9.0, which went to "Italians," a forgettable comedy that was popular in Italy.

For American viewers who may not be familiar with Castellitto, I guess you could say he's like Al Pacino or Robert De Niro in their best roles. He's intense and high-energy, and he feels a lot -- too much.

In this film, he plays a former prize fighter who has raised his son with one idea and one idea only: that he will be a champion boxer. The son is game, and trains with his father every day, but as a 17-year-old (I'm guessing at his age), he also wants to be a regular kid, which strains his relationship with his father.

I won't say more about the plot, but the film takes place in Fiumicino and Castellito's character works in a ship-building yard, which as a background I found very interesting and compelling. It's not just the sunny Tuscan countryside: it's the real Italy that's just as interesting but a little less postcard-perfect.

So, in response to the AsianCajuns and other readers, rent "Alza La Testa"! It's worth it (though, no, I don't see it on Netflix).

Alternately, you can try to rent "Non Ti Muovere," another Castellitto vehicle which is available on Netflix. Just be prepared: that film is even heavier and sucker-punches you with an initial encounter that's the opposite of romantic.

Anti-Mafia Wine in Sicily

My friend Nancy Greenleese produced a story for the American public radio show, The World, on winemakers in Italy who are defying the Mafia. They are part of a movement in Sicily to seize properties bought with proceeds from organized crime.

Here's the link. Enjoy!

http://www.theworld.org/2010/04/08/anti-mafia-wine-in-sicily/

Roundup on Atlanta's Italian Film Festival -- coming

Atlanta's week-long Italian Film Festival, which concluded yesterday, included some amazing films!

Among the ones I liked were "Alza La Testa," with Sergio Castellito; "Il Papa' Di Giovanna," with Silvio Orlando and "Il Compleanno," with Alessandro Gassman.

I don't have time to write about the films today -- sto lavorando! -- but stay tuned because I want to share my thoughts with you and spread the gospel of Italian cinema.

I think there's hope yet!

And in any event, three cheers for the Italian Film Festival, a nonprofit that produces film festivals in Miami and Acapulco, and for Georgia State University, which was the festival's chief sponsor and host.

Buon proseguimento!

Radio piece on Atlanta's Italian Film Festival

Here's a piece that ran on Atlanta's NPR affiliate about Atlanta's Fourth Annual Italian Film Festival:


http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/0/1/1631133/Atlanta/Italian.Film.Festival.expands

Here's just the text:

ATLANTA, GA. (WABE) - This week, a small but growing film festival will show Atlanta movie-goers a side of Italy they may have never seen. Here's a report on Atlanta's Fourth Annual Italian Film Festival.
There are eight features in the festival, and none of them show the sunny Italian countryside that many Americans have seen in mainstream movies.

One film tells the story of a girl from Bologna who is institutionalized after killing her best friend. Another follows a television journalist as he investigates the death of his teenage son.

Georgia State University is the festival's main sponsor, and Richard Keatley is a professor of Italian.

"I think American viewers will get a much broader vision of Italy. You see Italy is a real country with real problems and real issues to confront," Keatley said.

This year's festival doubled the number of feature films from last year, and added short and documentary films. Keatley said the festival's growth is remarkable given the economic climate, and the obscure nature of some of the films.

"These are not films that are released in the U. S. for distribution. They've been shown at film festivals here and there but you can't find them on Netflix," Keatley said.

The Italian Film Festival will run through Sunday at Georgia State's Rialto Center. For more information, visit cinemaitaly.com.

WABE News.

Atlanta's Italian film fest -- starts Monday!

The 4th Annual Atlanta Italian Film Festival starts Monday, March 29. The festival will kick off with light food and drink and the music of the Trevor Eich Jazz Ensemble.

The festival's first movie is "Italians," which will start at 7:30.

The 2009 film was directed by Giovanni Veronesi and stars Carlo Verdone and Sergio Castellitto.

All films will be screened at Georgia State University's Rialto Center for the Arts in downtown Atlanta. Here's the film lineup for the week:


Monday: Italians at 7:30
Tuesday: Cemento Armato at 7:30
Wednesday: Alza la Testa
Thursday: Il papà di Giovanni
Friday: La Casa sulle nuvole

Saturday: There are two films at 6 and 8 PM
Mar Nero
Il Compleanno

Sunday: Sbirri at 3PM


For more information about the festival, go here www.cinemaitaly.com.


ALL FILMS are FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

Sempre di domenica - Daniele Silvestri.

I love this song!

"Mi sono accorto che sto bene....solo quando sto con te."

Dov'è Ciambellina? A lavoro!

Ciao Cari Amici,

It's been a bit quiet here in Ciambellina land and I do apologize!

Such is the life of a freelance writer: lately I've been pretty busy writing stories for local publications and preparing radio scripts for the NPR affiliate here in Atlanta (radio pubblico).

Yes, I'm on the radio!

Here's a link to a story I wrote about streetcars (trams) in Savannah:

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/streetcar_envy/Content?oid=1391844


And here's a link to a radio story I wrote about an endangered historic property:

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/223/0/1574378/WABE.Features/Herndon.Home.Hits.Hard.Times


Però, lest you think I've forgotten about Italy and its wonderful language, I leave you with the photo above -- a lifesize sculpture of a horse sketched by Leonardo da Vinci.

I took this photo at the High Museum in Atlanta, which had a small exhibit on Leonardo this winter.

Diner's Journal: Linguine ai frutti di mare

It's been a particularly rich time to eat with Il Nostro Inviato, who is a whiz in the kitchen.

In the past month or so, he's prepared homemade pasta, baccalà and pizza (he's also pickled beets, and baked an apple pie but I don't think that's Italian).

The latest entry: the dish you see above, linguine with littleneck clams and mussels. A later iteration of the dish included wild Georgia shrimp, which were truly a revelation.

He's thoroughly mastered the basics, by which I mean the foundations upon which to build countless dishes. The base sauce for this pasta dish, for example, is a rich combination of olive oil, garlic and peperoncino, sauteed to perfection.

I love the way you can see the steam rising up from the pot!

Add a solid Italian wine -- in our case, almost always red, even with seafood -- and a salad or more substantial second dish, and you have a great meal.

I will have more photos to share, and I hope they inspire you to cook Italian.

Buon appetito!

When vin santo is not on hand...

Vin santo, one of the liquid joys of Italy, can often be expensive here in the U.S., if you're able to find it at all.

And when we travel to Italy, we tend to load up on regular wine, not after-dinner drinks so we typically only have one bottle on hand.

What to do? Buy a bottle of what Il Nostro Inviato calls Spanish vin santo.

That would be sherry; we like the kind you see in the photo, Lustau Solera Riserva Deluxe Cream.

To be sure, it's not the same as vin santo.

And publications like the Times will often sniff at sweet sherry as something unsophisticated, but for the purposes of dipping the cantuccini cookies, which are a key part of the vin santo ritual, and enjoying an after-dinner drink (see photo below), it does the trick.

Cin-cin!

I' Che C'è C'è

Trattoria I'Che C'è C'è is a small restaurant in Florence not far from where I used to live and surprise, surprise the chef and owner will be teaching a cooking class at the Cook's Warehouse here in Atlanta next month.

I say surprise, surprise because the restaurant is a real neighborhood place on a tiny street (Via de' Magalotti) that's not easy to find; you need to know the short, narrow streets near what was once the Etruscan center of the city.

In other words, who knew they had a little empire going?!

Anyway, I can vouch that the chef knows Tuscan cooking. The restaurant takes its name from a Tuscan expression that can be translated loosely as "Be happy with what you have."

(I always thought whenever I ate there that, given it's the name of a restaurant, the expression could also be translated as, "What we have is what you'll get," though with the proviso that Tuscan cooks can make something wonderful with whatever's on hand).

Here's the info:

What: "Authentic Italian Via Florence," featuring Chef Gino Noci
When: Sat., Feb. 6, 12 p.m.
Where: Decatur location (on Ponce, in downtown Decatur)
Cost: $50

For more information, visit www.cookswarehouse.com.

Crema di zucca con baccalà

Slowly but surely, I will be posting photos from our Christmas culinary extravaganza.

Staying in Atlanta for the holiday meant Il Nostro Inviato could go to town in the kitchen -- so to speak.

Here's the soup we had on Christmas Day: squash soup with salted cod.

I suppose I've had salted cod before but it was a revelation this time around.

Salty and soft and just right. I could've eaten bowl after bowl!

Buon appetito!

No trespassing!

I found a photocopy of this picture on the door to the closet in the guestroom. It reads, "Keep Out - No Unauthorized Personnel."

That was Il Nostro Inviato's way of keeping me away from my Christmas gifts until Dec. 25! It worked.

Baccalà per la vigilia di natale

Il Nostro Inviato sta preparando il cenone per stasera! 

Io invece vado in chiesa.

Tantissimi auguri di buon Natale!!!!

Natale in America

La proprietaria di questo centro di bellezza ad Atlanta festeggia natale alla grande!

Buon natale da Ciambellina!

Merry Christmas cari lettori!

Protester hurls statue at Berlusconi

(Photo credit: ANSA news service)

Anger against Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has reached fever pitch -- a protester threw a small statue at him today in Milan, hitting the 73-year-old in the face.

I blogged about the previous protests (below), in which signs, some with witty messages, were the chief protagonists.

This really ratchets things up a notch. And it's quite different from the tomato that hit Sarah Palin (though probably similar complaint).

A Facebook page has already surfaced suggesting the protester, who has been arrested, be named a saint immediately ("Santo subito").

Il Corriere della Sera has the story covered from every angle (www.corriere.it).

Cena

Homemade pizza, prepared by Il Nostro Inviato

Se la risposta è Berlusconi....

...allora la domanda è sbagliata.

(Trans.: "If Berlusconi is the answer, then the question is wrong.")