The Open Roads Italian cinema event for 2013 will run June 6 through June 12 at Lincoln Center. This year’s movies cover a wide range of styles and subject matter, from romantic comedy to fantasy to drama to satire. Among the dramas are Marco Bellocchio’s take on the malaise of contemporary Italy, Bella addormentata, starring the brilliant Toni Servillo, and Marco Tullio Giordana’s reconstruction of the Piazza Fontana bombing and the subsequent investigations into it. Paolo Virzi’s endearing and quirky comedy Tutti i santi giorni opens the festival on Thursday.
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The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is presenting a special Valentine’s Day tour, available by reservation, that will also be repeated on February 16th. A brief article in Corriere della Sera explains that the tour presents art works dedicated to the theme of love. Included are Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus,” various portraits of Medicis and the sculpture of Eros and Psyche. Strangely, so is Artemisia Gentileschi’s extremely gruesome depiction of Judith beheading Holofernes: while hardly romantic, this is supposed to highlight the possible violent side of love. Hmm…
Cesare deve morire, directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, has been called a “docufiction” in Italy. It is set in Rome’s high-security Rebibbia prison and was filmed there. Most of the actors are actual inmates in the prison. It tells the story of a prison production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” from auditions to opening night. Other than the beginning and ending scenes of the opening of the play, the movie is in black and white. The film unfolds as the story of the work in progress. Some of the most affecting scenes are of the auditions, in which the inmate-actors are filmed in close-up. The roles are then assigned and each actor is asked to learn his lines and deliver them in his own dialect. Truth and reality mix with the play’s plot. It ends up making history and Shakespeare’s play very human. Even if you don’t like films of Shakespearean plays, this one is worth seeing.
Naples has drawn travelers for centuries: its location on the bay with Mount Vesuvius in the background is among the most spectacular in the world, its historical and artistic attractions are myriad, its food is delicious. Its reputation has always been of a chaotic port city and in recent times problems with crime and garbage have been widely reported. Regardless, it remains a fabulous place to spend time in, a great destination. And, as noted in a New York Times “36 Hours In…” article, there is a cultural and artistic renaissance going on that, among other things, contribute to making it a premier venue for modern art in Italy. Also, pedestrian areas have been increased and even the traffic seems more orderly. All the more reason to visit or return to this city.
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