I order from Internet Bookshop all the time and recommend it highly, but I thought it might be a good idea to remind everyone that just because you have a region free DVD player and can order movies from Italy it doesn’t mean that the movie will be subtitled in English.
Some are. Many have the option to watch a movie without subtitles, subtitles in Italian for the hard of hearing (for those of you learning Italian this is a great option) and in English. Some of the movies without English subtitles have been surprising to me – for instance, Qualunquemente. This one seemed to get a lot of attention around Europe, and I thought it might even make it to the US, but when I popped it in my DVD player we had to pop it right back out – no English subtitles for my non-Italian speaking husband.
I try to focus on movies that are available for US DVD players, but once in a while I talk about ones that are not. From now on I’m going to be telling you, as much as I can, about the ones that, even though you need a region free player, you can at least enjoy without speaking Italian.
I had wanted to tell you about one that I enjoyed last time I was in Rome, Into Paradiso, starring Gianfelice Imparato and directed by a great new woman director, Paola Randi. Last week Randi won Nanni Moretti’s film festival’s “Belli Bimbi” (beautiful babies) award, a competition for emerging directors. It’s a smart, funny movie about a guy who holes up in a Sri Lankan neighborhood in Naples to avoid being killed by the Camorra and I thought it deserved more attention than it got. At Moretti’s festival it beat out movies that won elsewhere, like David di Donatello award winner Nessuno Mi Può Giudicare.
But again – popped it in the DVD player for Brian, my husband, and surprise! No English subtitles.
Another thing – ibs.it isn’t the only easy way to buy PAL zone 2 (European) movies – there are lots that are available at Amazon.com. There, you have the advantage of an English language website and information about the movie, most importantly the subtitles that are available for it.
For those of you that love foreign film, a region free DVD player is a must – and luckily they are cheap. Some people think the cheaper the better because the lesser known companies don’t hesitate to sell region free players. I have 2 regular Samsung DVD players (under $40) and a portable Colby that was under $100 and they are all great.
I Love Italian Everything 