Italian Cinema Today

Every now and then, someone comes along and changes the way things are done.   They raise the bar to a higher standard and offer a different way of looking at life. In the case of Italian cinema, that person is Alessandro Piva. About 15 years ago, this unknown, aspiring filmmaker took his own money, recruited his brother and hired a number of local actors to make a small, experimental film called La CapaGira . The film tells the story of a group of guys doing what is necessary to make a living.   Each journey is nearly the same and their conflicts in following the path are very real. There is no pretense, no glamour and no second-guessing. The intense honesty of the story and edgy style in which it was shot, went on to win the approval of audiences and critics all over Italy. Since the release of La CapaGira , the trends of Italian films shifted in a new direction. Italian filmmakers followed Piva’s lead in making smaller films throughout communities and regions outside...

He’s had roles in some of the biggest Italian blockbusters of the new millennium and each time, he portrayed a fearless protagonist willing to fight until the end against organized crime.  Sicilian born actor, Domenico Centamore is proud of his heritage, expressing that pride by working on films that make strong statements against the corruption his culture has had to endure. He’s had roles in  popular mafia-themed films such as I cento passi (One Hundred Steps), La mafia uccide solo d’estate (The Mafia Only Kills in Summer) and Anime nere  (Black Souls). Centamore has an impressive list of credits to his name, always portraying complex characters, some of which seem to border on insanity. His gaze is penetrating, as you can see in the clip below from I cento passi with Luigi Lo Cascio, and he sincerely gives a performance that comes straight from the soul. When we began our informal interview a few weeks ago, Centamore at first seemed a man of few words ...

It was just announced on Friday that director, Cristina Comencini will be attending the North American premiere of her latest film, Latin Lover at the 2015 edition of Lincoln Center’s annual film series, Open Roads: New Italian Cinema. The female ensemble comedy tells the story of four sisters. Ten years after the death of their father, the famous actor, Saverio (Francesco Scianna), they are forced to face secrets buried in the past.The film explores the consequences of infidelity and how the offspring of multiple marriages and affairs have to deal with the voids, resentment and in this case, sisters from other mothers. I felt a lot of anger while I watched this film, anger towards the man that created all this drama, an arrogant, aloof, self-centered actor, portrayed perfectly by Sicilian born, Francesco Scianna. A few years ago, Maria Sole Tognazzi’s film, L’uomo che ama (The Man Who Loves) was presented at Open Roads. It showed infidelity through the eyes of a man whose fiancé ...

One of contemporary Italian cinema's most versatile actors, his characters have taken on organized crime, driven taxicabs, fought for civil rights and agonized over dark family secrets.  Born in Palermo in 1967, Luigi Lo Cascio attended the Silvio D'Amico Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome, earning his diploma with a dissertation on "Hamlet".  He pursued a careering theater and gave little thought to working in film. That all changed when he accepted the role of Peppino Impastato, the courageous anti-mafia activist killed by Cosa Nostra in 1978. After a long series of screen tests to find the perfect actor to play the role, Luigi Maria Burruano, an actor already cast in the role of the protagonist's father, advised the director, Marco Tullio Giordana to test his nephew. Thoroughly impressed, Giordana offered Lo Cascio the part and it was a move that changed the course of his life.  His performance in "I Cento Passi"   (One Hundred Steps) was power...