I love Carlo Verdone. He’s a Roman, and I love the Romans, and he makes Italian comedies about what it means to be a modern Italian man, dealing with the city, dealing with women, and dealing with aging. Right now, even though he’s written, directed and starred in dozens of comedies there is only one that I’ve found available in the US, Iris Blond, or “Sono Pazzo Per Iris Blond”, as Verdone called it in Italy. It’s not my very favorite Carlo Verdone movie,(that would be “Maledetto il giorno che t’ho incontrato” with Margherita Buy) but it’s funny and worth watching.
Comedies are hard – they disappoint more than they reward. A trailer or tv commercial promises you that a movie is hilarious and you’re really in the mood to laugh, but you go see it and it’s more embarrassing than funny.
Carlo Verdone understand comedy. He understands the nature of self-deprecation, human weaknesses, and love, the things that are necessary if we are asked to become engaged and laugh. He doesn’t go for the cheap shots, the vulgarities, and the mean-spirited jokes that many Americans rely on.
In Verdone’s words, “In the last few years comedies have been successful because Italians are maybe a little depressed and so comedies have become therapeutic, like an antidepressant.”
In an interview with the news agency ANSA, Carlo talked about comedy, and about his brand new comedy festival next summer in Stresa ( on Lake Maggiore). Created by Verdone and a group of his peers, it’s a film festival dedicated to comedy, and it’s something more.
“We had a lot of ideas. We wanted to do a retrospective, courses and lessons with film professionals. A kind of academy where you could discuss and improve the style of this kind of film. We have this beautiful island and we’re going to make it a kind of “comedy house. And it won’t be limited to Italians, but also the Spanish, Germans, and French.”
“One thing, anyway, is to stimulated this kind of film and raise the bar for comedy that right now is the driving force for the film industry at the box office.”
The first entries in the new festival, with the support of the Piedmont region of Italy, will be with Paola Cortellesi (Nessuno mi può giudicare) and Paolo Virzì (La Prima Bella Cosa), both of who have already confirmed their participation.
As Verdone said, comedy, the style of film that brings the most amount of people to the theater, isn’t really represented very well at festivals. This is a genius idea and I hope American film makers pay attention.
I Love Italian Everything 