Getting the chance to see foreign films on the big screen—even acclaimed ones like the Oscar winning “The Great Beauty“—can be a challenge, particularly if you’re not in a major market city. But Emerging Pictures are going to make it a bit easier for film fans to see five recent, critically regarded Italian films, including Paolo Sorrentino‘s award winner.
In collaboration with Istituto Luce-Cinecittà and the Italian Trade Commission, the company has put together the program “Cinema Made In Italy,” that will bring five movies to screens nationwide, backed with a full promo campaign. And it will shine a light on a particularly strong year in Italian cinema, bringing forth five films that have received buzz and good notices on the festival circuit and/or in limited release. We could talk about them in detail, but perhaps the best way to take it all in is to watch the trailer for the program below. And more, the press release follows.
Three stories, taking place over the course of a few days, involving a conscience-stricken politician, an obsessive mother and two young protestors on different sides, are skillfully interwoven in this gripping, beautifully realized film. Set against the background of the emotional and controversial real-life 2008 euthanasia case of Eluana Englaro, DORMANT BEAUTY is a subtle and complex depiction of recent Italian history.
THE GREAT BEAUTY (released by Janus Films)
Director: Paolo Sorrentino (IL DIVO)
Producer: Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima
Screenwriter: Paolo Sorrentino, Umberto Contarello
Cast: Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferrili, Carlo Buccirosso, Iaia Forte, Pamela Villoresi, Galatea Ranzi with Massimo de Francovich, Roberto Herlitzka, and with Isabella Ferrari
Festivals: Cannes (Competition) 2013, Toronto 2013, AFI 2013, Italy’s Official Entry to the 2014 Academy Awards
Awards: 4 European Film Award nominations (Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor and winner for Best Editing), Best Foreign Film nominee for British Independent Film Awards
Journalist Jep Gambardella (the dazzling Toni Servillo, IL DIVO and GOMORRAH) has charmed and seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades. Since the legendary success of his one and only novel, he has been a permanent fixture in the city’s literary and social circles, but when his sixty-fifth birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself unexpectedly taking stock of his life, turning his cutting wit on himself and his contemporaries, and looking past the extravagant nightclubs, parties, and cafés to find Rome in all its glory: a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.
Cast: Jasmine Trinca, Carlo Cecchi, Libero De Rienzo, Vinicio Marchioni, Iaia Forte, Roberto De Francesco, Barbara Ronchi, Claudio Guain, Teresa Acerbis, Valeria Bilello, Massimiliano Iacolucci
Set in modern day Milan, this is a Chaplinesque odyssey through the world of work – every type of work, but primarily unskilled manual labor – seen through the eyes of a kind, middle-aged man who takes on every conceivable temporary job in order to be useful and have self respect. This really is a portrait of the highs and lows of modern life. At its heart is a sympathetic man (Antonio Albanese) who, despite loneliness and personal family problems, especially around his gifted but troubled musician son, remains defiantly optimistic even when terrible things happen to him and the people he meets.
ME AND YOU (IO E TE)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Screenplay: Bernardo Bertolucci, Niccolo Ammaniti, Umberto Contarello
Producer: Mario Gianani
Cast: Tea Falco, Jacopo Olmo Antinori
Festivals: Cannes, Toronto
