U Sicilianu O Cinema - Learn Sicilian with movies

Topolino is the Italian name for the comic book Mickey Mouse, and for the first time in its history, it has published an entire story in Sicilianu . Professor Salvatore Menza, a researcher in glottology and linguistics at the University of Catania, was responsible for the translation and is our guest in this episode. We speak Sicilianu in the 1st part and English to translate a few lines from the comic book!

There aren’t many Sicilian songs as famous as the one we’ll discuss in this episode. The song, titled “Vitti na Crozza” (I Saw a Skull), has a history that is both enigmatic and deeply connected to a classic film: “Il Cammino della Speranza” (Path of Hope) by Pietro Germi.

Here are the lyrics we’ll be translating in this episode:

Vitti na crozza supra nu cannuni

fui curiusu e ci vosi spiari

Idda m’arrispunnì cu gran duluri

murivi senza toccu di campani

Si ni eru si ni eru li me anni

si ni eru si ni eru un sacciu unni

ora ca su rivatu ad ottant’anni

lu vivu chiama e a morti ci arrispunni

Cunzatimi cunzatimi stu lettu

ca di li vermi su manciatu tuttu

si nun lu scuntu cca lu me difettu

lu scuntu a chidda vita a sangu ruttu

This time we talk about the "fuitina"! Maybe you heard the romantic version of it. When a couple runs away because his or her family is against the marriage. 

But unfortunately, it wasn’t always like that. In Sicily until the end of the 70s, it could happen that a woman could be kidnapped by someone who wanted to marry her against her will.

In this episode, we hear the story of a kidnapping that ended badly. It happened in Sicily in the 1960s and it’s told by someone who knew the guy who wanted to get married and -that time he didn’t succeed.

The movie I recommend to know more is "La ragazza del futuro" (2022).

In this episode, we go to Turin in 1960, where many Sicilians, Calabrians, Apulians went to find a job. "The Way We Laughed," (Così ridevano) by Gianni Amelio, released in 1998, tells a story of this time.

If you guys study Sicilian, it's almost certain that at some point you'll hear about the man who we meet in this episode. His name is Gaetano Cipolla. He wrote - among other things - the books "Mparamu lu Sicilianu" and "Mparamu lu Sicilianu II". This episode is for advanced Sicilianu speakers!

In this episode of the podcast we meet "na cantantissa" a singer who does with Sicilian music what this podcast does with movie scenes in Sicilian. Translating them in English!

Salutamu! In this episode we learn sciddicàri, mpitugghiàri e arranciarisi! The movie is "La Stranezza" (2022), by Roberto Andò. L'aviti a vidiri! (You gotta watch it!).

So, many of you have been asking me about a Netflix series called “From scratch”. There’s some Sicilian there so in this episode I’ll be doing one short scene so I won't spoiler the whole story!

This is when Lino - played by the roman actor Eugenio Mastrandrea - calls on the phone his mom Filomena, played by Lucia Sardo, who's born in Francofonte, near Siracusa, Sicily. A native speaker!

Vuiautri u sapiti unn’è a prima università nto munnu ca offri nu corsu di lingua siciliana? A Tunisi! E u funnau nu trapanisi, u prufissuri Alfonso Campisi. #USicilianuOCinema u ncuntrau a Bruxelles e ci fici na para di dumanni. In sicilianu.

If you liked the "Inspector Montalbano" series you will probably love "Il Giovane Montalbano" (the young Montalbano). It takes place in the imaginary town of Vigàta, when all the characters of the original series were young.

This scene is from the 6th episode of season 2. The Italian title is “l’albicocca”. Here the young Montalbano - played by Michele Riondino - goes to "spiarici na para di dumanni" (ask a few questions) to the fruttivendola the fruit seller, played by Rosa Canova.