A selection of some of the best films of contemporary Italian cinema is on display this year at the American Cinematheque film exhibition. The series opens with the Cannes Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner and the official Italian entry for the Oscars, Matteo Garrone's new film
GOMORRAH about the Mafia’s grip on Naples. Also featured are new releases by well-known Italian filmmakers: Nanni Moretti in Antonello Grimaldi’s
QUIET CHAOS; Ferzan Ozpetek’s
A PERFECT DAY; and Italy’s most impressive box office success of the year -- Paolo Virzi’s
HER WHOLE LIFE AHEAD. And the comedy
LESSONS IN 
CHOCOLATE (the directorial debut of Claudio Cupellini). In addition, the Venice Film Festival audience favorite and the directorial debut by Gillo Pontecorvo’s son Marco Pontecorvo,
PA.RA.DA., plus another directorial debut by Silvio Muccino, who also stars in
TALK TO ME ABOUT LOVE. The series concludes with Michele Soavi’s
BLOOD OF THE LOSERS, a gripping look at the civil war which raged in Italy between Fascists and Partisans at the end of WWII featuring Michele Placido.
Co-presented by the
Italian Film Commission Los Angeles with the support of the
Istituto Italiano di Cultura and
ELMA with the patronage of
Cinecitta' HoldingThursday, November 13 - 7:30 PM Double Feature:
PA.RA.DA, 2008, Rai Films, 100 min. Dir. Marco Pontecorvo. Directed by the son of filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo (
BATTLE OF ALGIERS), this film recounts the true story of French-Algerian street clown Miloud Oukili, who arrived in Romania in 1992 to reach out to the street children of Bucharest.
THE PAST IS A FOREIGN LAND (IL PASSATO E’ UNA TERRA STRANIERA). 2008, Italy. Fandango. 127 min. Dir: Daniele Vicari. Rome and London Film Festivals. A slacker movie updated for the generation who wants luxury without working for it, thrills without consequences; a cautionary tale of how the weak are consumed by the strong, seduced by the aura of danger and left for dead in the endgame. "Based on a best-selling novel by Gianrico Carofiglio, this is a compulsive thriller about the dangerous relationship that begins between a young law student, Giorgio and an unscrupulous card shark, Francesco. Initially, the pair team up to play poker and make extra money but gradually they move into deeper criminality, rigging all their games and, as the money gets bigger, their lifestyle becomes more outlandish and the opportunity for bigger scams appears. As the prospect of drug dealing opens up, Giorgio becomes more and more estranged from his comfortable middle-class family and Francesco begins to reveal a darker, much more disturbed, violent side to his personality. Giorgio, played brilliantly by Elio Germano (one of Italy's top actors, as seen last in
My Brother is an 
Only Child) is matched, scene for scene, by the wonderful, if relative newcomer, Michele Riondino as Francesco and it is their relationship which lifts this intriguing story into something special. Directed with skill and aplomb by Daniele Vicari (whose film Maximum Velocity made an impact when selected by the Venice Film Festival in 2002). The Past is a Foreign Land is a clever example of very effective crime fiction." -- Adrian Wootton, BFI With Chiara Caselli.
Friday, November 14 - 7:30 PM QUIET CHAOS (CAOS CALMO), 2007, IFC, 112 min. Dir. Antonello Grimaldi. After his wife's sudden death, Pietro (Nanni Moretti), a successful TV executive and their 10-year-old daughter (Blu Yoshimi) are left to grieve in their own way and to learn to love again. On his daughter’s first school day after the funeral, Pietro promises to wait for her at the gate until school is out, something that quickly turns into a habit, much to the astonishment of his family and colleagues.
A PERFECT DAY (UN GIORNO PERFETTO), 2008, Fandango, 105 min. In the latest film from Ferzan Ozpetek (SACRED HEART), intersecting narratives
are told in flashback before they meet in a tragic finale. A politician (Valerio Binasco) is desperately seeking re-election in the midst of corruption charges and the disintegration of a relationship. His bodyguard (Valerio Mastandrea) is troubled by his own family problems. Both men are tested and react violently in this microcosm of Italian society. With Isabella Ferrari.
Saturday, November 15 - 7:30 PM Double Feature:
HER WHOLE LIFE AHEAD (TUTTA LA VITA DAVANTI), 2008, Motorino Amaranto, 89 min. Dir. Paolo Virzi. In this energetic comedy, a brilliant philosophy graduate (Isabella Ragonese in a star-making turn) can't get work in her field so she takes a job as a telemarketer. Led by the outrageous Daniela (Sabrina Ferilli), the company fosters a distinctly American style of motivational psychology and cutthroat sales techniques. Incongruously, Marta thrives!
LESSONS IN CHOCOLATE (LEZIONI DI CIOCCOLATA), 2007, Cattleya, 98 min. Dir. Claudio Cupellini. Building contractor Mattia (Luca Argentero) is about to close his biggest deal when his illegally hired worker Kamal (Hassani Shapi) is injured and threatens to sue unless Mattia takes his place in an advanced course for pastry makers. Mattia has no choice but to pretend to be him, discovering a way to bring his and Kamal's disparate cultures together.
Sunday, November 16 -7:30 PM Double Feature:
TALK TO ME ABOUT LOVE (PARLAMI D’AMORE), 2008, Cattleya, 115 min. Aitana Sanchez-Gijon stars as Nicole, an unhappy housewife who meets Silvio Muccino (who also directs), a man half her age, whose drug-addicted mother died in the rehab clinic where he grew up. Their cars crash and an intimate friendship develops. Soon Nicole is giving Sasha lessons in love to help him win a beautiful girl he has known since he was a boy, but things take an unexpected turn.
BLOOD OF THE LOSERS (IL SANGUE DEI VINTI), 2007, Media One, 100 min. Dir. Michele Soavi (CEMETERY MAN). In this extreme journey through the contradictions of Italy’s past, a family is torn apart by political divisions at the end of WWII. An older policeman (Michele Placido) is still trying to come to terms with a family tragedy: His brother (Alessandro Preziosi) fought on the side of the partisans, while his sister joined the fascists and is interred in disgrace in a common grave.
