I Love Italian Everything

There are people that think that modern Italian movies are only art house movies because that’s where they’ll typically play in the US – at the art houses (if they make it to America at all). They are released on a limited basis because there is limited interest – maybe because of the subtitles but maybe because of a misunderstanding. 

Italian movies aren’t so different than what you are used to:

If you liked Mean Girls, you’ll love Caterina Va in Città.

Both are stories about young girls who find themselves suddenly out of their element and trying to fit into the truly scary world of high school cliques. I think Caterina’s story is better, because it is told with more depth and it’s a lot less predictable. 

If you cried over Ordinary People you’ll be inconsolable after watching La Stanza Del Figlio.

In La Stanza Del Figlio and in Ordinary People, normal
families have to figure out how to go on after the death of
a son. In some ways they react the same and in other ways they couldn’t be more different. Both are real tear jerkers.

It’s the same premise, but if you liked A Star is Born, you may appreciate the makeover Carlo Verdone gives it in Sono Pazzo di Iris Blond. Iris Blond is funny and bittersweet, and the characters and the actors that play them are more likable.

If you thought that it was adorable watching Diane Lane running away to Tuscany in Under the Tuscan Sun, you’ll be even more in love with Rosalba in Pane e Tulipani ( Bread and Tulips ) running away to Venice. Both flee impulsively to a place that they see as romantic and magical, but find normal, real life happiness.

If you like steamy love stories about cheating wives, Unfaithful is good but La Finestra di Fronte is better. The lover gets away unscathed in that one.

And finally, if you like watching dysfunctional families like the one in American Beauty, the one in Remember Me My Love (Ricordati di me) is just as screwed up and way hotter.