In Mario Martone's 2022 movie, based on Ermanno Rea's 2016 novel, 'nostalgia' is not a bittersweet reflection on the past but an obsessive need to return to the Naples of the main character's youth. We talk about the contrast with 'Gomorah', another movie involving the Camorah discussed earlier in the series, and the excellent award winning performances, particularly Pierfrancesco Favino as Felice and Aurora Quattrocchi who plays his elderly and infirm mother. The effective and unusual (in terms of presentation) use of flashback gets a mention and the central importance of the old district of Sanità where is is shot. We also talk about the music, a play list rather than score, featuring particularly the long established German electronic band Tangerine dream.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, UK based visual artist, writer, podcaster and short film producer http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14034614/

Ermano Rea:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ermanno_Rea

Tangerine dream:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangerine_Dream

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

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In this episode we discuss the 1978 film - ‘L'albero degli zoccoli’, 'The tree of wooden clogs', directed, scripted, shot and edited by Ermano Olmi. We talk about the four stories that make up the film, the way in which Olmi slowly evokes the lives of his protagonists, all local people rather than professional actors ,and the extraordinary performances he gets from them. Russ talk about the links that have been made to this film and the neorealist cinema of the late '40s and early '50s including underlying political messages and ths subtle why these are handled here. We discuss key characters, scenes and story arcs, the look of the film and the high regard in which it is held, inlcuding by the Italian Ministry of Culture who include it in their list of 100 films that ''changed the collective memory of the country'. A great watch, and it can be seen for free - see the link below.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, UK based visual artist, writer, podcaster and short film producer http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077138/

Watch for free on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/the-tree-of-wooden-clogs-1978

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss the 2024 multi-award winning film 'Vermiglio' written and directed by Maura Delpero, set in Trentino and based on interviews and her own family history. We discuss the casting, of many untrained local children and adults alongside experienced professional actors, the extraordinary colour palate, inspired in part by paintings by nineteenth century artist Giovanni Segantini and the unusual mix of very familiar music (such as Vivaldi's Four Seasons) with a more spare modernist score by Matteo Franceschini. A great contemorary classic worth seeing at the cinema if you can.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, UK based visual artist, writer, podcaster and short film producer http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermiglio_(film)

Conversation between Maura Delpero and Alice Rohrwacher:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZsno5SSiJc

Giovanni Segantini paintings: https://www.artrenewal.org/artists/giovanni-segantini/5713

The version of Four Seasons we discuss: https://open.spotify.com/track/0VQMAup2VdeQWLCvM14Uz2?si=71fed2d1b56d443e

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss the penultimate film of Vittorio De Sica, one of the giants of Italian cinema. 'The Garden of the Finzi-Continis' (1970) is based closely on the 1962 semi-autobiographical novel by Georgio Bassani andtells the story of a group of people, mostly in the Jewish community in Ferrara, as racial laws are introduced in fascist Italy in 1938 and the aftermath in 1940s. We discuss similarlities and differences between the novel and the film, the period cinematography, role of the music by De Sica's son Manuela, the acting and more. Anotehr holocast film but from a very different perspective to and less contravertial than 'The Night Porter'.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, UK based visual artist, writer, podcaster and short film producer http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The novel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_the_Finzi-Continis

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065777/

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

A Brainland Collective production.

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After discussing Liliana Cavani's backstory, which included documentaries on the 3rd Reich and women in WW2, we unpick the unusual mix of storylines in 'The Night Porter', an English languarge film that, despite a critical mauling in the US and UK on release, has endured and perhaps increased in stature. After discussing the extraordinary lead performances, the marketing use made of critical accusations of depravity, and much else, Russ talks us through some of the more recent critical thinking on the film.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer, podcaster and former neuropsychiatrist (UK) http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071910/

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

A Brainland Collective production.

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In this podcast we talk about Visconti's first feature film, based on the James M. Cain the novel 'The postman always rings twice', though set in the Ferrar region of Italy. Hated and banned by the fascists, the film survives because the director kept a copy, but it had to wait until 1977 for its US release as film rights hadn't been obtained to use the novel. We talk through the acting, great cinematography and visual story telling, Visconti's politics, background and use of operatic music in his films (including this) and the positive critical response to the film. In short, it looks good, is well acted, tells an interesting story and isn't over-long - what's not to like?

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer, podcaster and former neuropsychiatrist (UK) http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035160/

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

A Brainland Collective production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast we discuss Giani Amelio's neglected 1994 film on Albanian migration to Italy, 'Lamerica', multi award winning at the time and still resonant. The conversation moves from the opening, a fascist propaganda film about Italy colonising Albania in the 1930s, to a discussion of the mass migration that followed the collapse of the repressive communist regime at the end of the 1980s. We talk about the two lead performances, one by an extraordinary first time actor aged 80. We discuss the historical background and various scenes, particularly a rusting freighter loaded with thousands of migrants (Albanian extras) and a closing sequence worthy of projecting as a contemporary artwork. A great but hard to find film even more relevant today than when it was made.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer, podcaster and former neuropsychiatrist (UK) http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110299/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_lamerica

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB illustration.

A Brainland Collective production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this podcast we explore what is generally agreed to be Paolo Sorrentino's masterwork, La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty, 2013). Russ talks about why he decided to write a book about his movies and why he thinks this, and Il Divo, are his stand out works. After outlining the plot, we talk about the cinematography, most striking scenes the religious and seculalr themes in the movie. We discuss Jep, the main character's, at times disparaging treatment of women, and the fact that Sorrentino is not averse to objectifying. The movie is in part a walk around Rome and her beautiful but also a dissection of the lives of her cultured elite, told with brio and to a great soundtrack.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer, podcaster and former neuropsychiatrist (UK) http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2358891/

The music playist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5nCk4uJxmYwAzCwQPdZM21?si=4ba160c081414dc9

Russ's book on Sorrentino: https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-cinema-of-paolo-sorrentino/9780231189934/

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

A Brainland Collective production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nichetti's film ( 'Ladri di Saponette' is the Italian title) is both an affectionate homage of 1940s neorealism and a critique of the effects of consumerism, and particularly Berlusconi's media, in 1980s Italy. Russ discusses the social historical background to the making of this film before we talk about Nichetti's background in circus, children's TV and adverts in addition to film directing. The film within the film is repeatedly interupted by TV adverts and cuts to a family watching at home until characters from one medium/story spill into the others. Comic moments are highlighted - definite spoiler alert for this one - before talking about influences from silent slapstick cinema in particular.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer, podcaster and former neuropsychiatrist (UK) http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097702/

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

A Brainland Collective production.

#brainlandcollective #capolavoropodcast

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In this podcast we talk about Nanni Morreti's 1994 film 'Caro Diario' ('Dear Diary'), in which the director plays himself. Russ explains the three chapter structure, the first following him around Rome on his Vespa, the second a trip around Italian islands with a friend and the last an account of a year in which a chronic itch was eventually diagnosed as a malignancy, a lymphoma (successfully treated as this was over 30 years ago. All of this involves amusing encounters with a variety of friends, strangers and professionals. We talk about Morretti's politics and concerns explored in the film and the importance of music, including a long sequence following Morretti on his scooter accompanied by Keith Jarrett's Köln concert and a gently atmospheric score by composer Nicola Piovani.

Participants:

Russ Kilbourn, Professor of Literature and Film, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario (Canada) http://rjakilbourn.com/

Ken Barrett, visual artist, writer, podcaster and former neuropsychiatrist (UK) http://www.kenbarrettstudio.co.uk/

The film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109382/

Theme music: Tarantella composed by Stephen Brown.

Portrait print by KB.

A Brainland Collective production.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.