Wrapping up summer 2021 with Luciano Emmer’s Domenica d’agosto (Sunday in August). This “pink neorealist” film is a lighter summer escape, while still exploring themes of class distinctions, regionalism, and more. We also dive into formal elements, such as language (specifically grammar), editing, and sound.

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This episode features the following music excerpts:

The post #24: Domenica d’agosto (Luciano Emmer, 1950) first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

“Take me, gravity!” Disney-Pixar’s newest film takes us to Portorosso, a seaside village inspired by the Cinque Terre, in this moving story by director Enrico Casarosa. Two young sea monsters, Luca and Alberto, form a powerful connection and face the human world, with all its challenges and possibilities, in an unforgettable summer that will change their lives forever. Luca has rich overtones of a coming out story dealing with identity and acceptance, as well as numerous references to Italian culture, music, and more cinema italiano.

Plus: news updates about film festivals and what’s new and coming soon:

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This episode features the following music excerpts from the film’s soundtrack:

The post #23: Luca (Enrico Casarosa, 2021) first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

Class, wealth, and power are at the forefront of Il capitale umano (Human Capital), the award-winning drama from director Paolo Virzì. Two families are linked together through a tragic accident, set against the backdrop of the Milanese investment market in the midst of the economic recession.

Plus: news updates about the awards season and what’s coming soon from Pietro Marcello.

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This episode features the following music excerpts from the film’s soundtrack by Carlo Virzì:

The post #22: Human Capital (Paolo Virzì, 2013) first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

Ringing in the new year with a classic Italian comedy set on New Year’s Eve, Mario Monicelli’s The Passionate Thief (Risate di Gioia) stars Anna Magnani, Totò, and Ben Gazzarra on a night of misadventures, misunderstandings, and mishaps. This non-stop comedy is layered with deep gravitas, surfacing generational divides, power dynamics, and deception.

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This episode features the following music excerpts from the film’s soundtrack by Lelio Luttazzi:

The post #21: The Passionate Thief (Mario Monicelli, 1960) first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

Felice anno nuovo (Happy New Year)! In this episode, we count down the top 5 Italian films of 2020, as well as sharing the top 5 discoveries of older films we discovered this past year. We also share where films are available, or when they might be coming, in the United States.

This episode features the following music excerpts:

The post #20: The Best of 2020 first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

Cinema Italian Style has gone virtual for 2020, in partnership with the Seattle International Film Festival, who hosted this year’s program on its platform. These films, all released in 2019 and 2020, were curated to represent some of the best of contemporary Italian cinema. This year’s festival ran from Dec. 10-17, 2020, and featured the following films:

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This episode features the following music excerpts:

The post #19: Cinema Italian Style 2020 first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

To celebrate the wide release of Pietro Marcello’s latest film Martin Eden, we explore his first four features: Crossing the Line (2007), The Mouth of the Wolf (2009), The Silence of Pelesjan (2011), and Lost and Beautiful (2015). These films all blend documentary with fiction, and the archival with the modern, pushing the boundaries of timelessness and possibility. By uniting the past with the present, whether translating classical cultural symbols into a modern world or seamlessly integrating old footage with the new, Marcello’s cinema makes the contemporary eternal.

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This episode features the following music excerpts:

The post #18: The Early Films of Pietro Marcello first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

This episode discusses Nanni Moretti’s Caro diario (Dear Diary), an introspective autobiographical look at three phases of Moretti’s life. This story blends the comic with the tragic, all while highlighting a journey of independence, interdependence, and codependence. Moretti’s work also has some interesting ties to the Odyssey both as a narrative as well as through its formal execution.

Plus, some news updates on film festivals and where you can screen contemporary Italian film through virtual cinema.

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This episode features the following music excerpts from the film’s soundtrack:

The post #17: Caro diario (Nanni Moretti, 1993) first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

This episode explores Abel Ferrara’s Tommaso, a semi-autobiographical tale of an American filmmaker living in Rome with his wife and daughter. An incident forces him to question his role as husband and father, eventually sending him on a destructive journey of paranoia, fear, and hysteria, all while struggling to find community and connection in a foreign land.

Plus, some quick news updates on Il Cinema Ritrovato and the upcoming Essential Fellini box set from the Criterion Collection.

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This episode features the following music excerpts:

The post #16: Tommaso (Abel Ferrara, 2019) first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.

This episode features an audio essay on Luchino Visconti’s final film L’Innocente (The Innocent), discussing the film’s themes of dishonesty, self-interest, and religion. I also explore the sharp dichotomy between interior and exterior spaces, and how it parallels the cultural and psychological restraints entrapping the lead characters.

Plus, some quick news updates on the David di Donatello awards, film festivals, new restorations, and more.

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This episode features the following music excerpts from the film’s soundtrack by Franco Mannino:

The post #15: L’Innocente (Luchino Visconti, 1976) first appeared on Cinema Italiano Podcast.