I had to watch the Italian movie with Tony Soprano’s sister in it; Aida Turturro, who was born in Brooklyn, New York, is John Turturro’s cousin, the daughter of a Sicilian parents, and stars in Mozzarella Stories, a movie that will be considered for David di Donatello Awards.
I’m trying to get to the bottom of how Aida got involved in this project, playing Autilia, the singer – maybe the sex scene appealed to her. Her character, and everyone around her gets caught up in bufala mozzarella problems with the Camorra and the Chinese, who decide to start competing for market share in Caserta. They’ve flooded supermarkets and restaurants with their first-rate and, more importantly, half-price cheese and they are causing huge financial problems for Don Ciccio (DOP) and his mozzarella empire. The Camorra doesn’t care about Don Ciccio’s problems and they want their money.
Mozzarella Stories is part classic Italian comedy, part 70s giallo, part Shakespearean tragedy – one reviewer compared it to a Tarantino movie, but I would only agree in the cheesist (no pun intended) Italian sense. I’d be very surprised if this one received any nominations but I could be wrong; the theme of the Chinese taking over everything Italian in Italy might just have struck a nerve (critics liked it but it didn’t sell many tickets). Director Edoardo De Angelis’ first work, it stars Turturro, Luisa Ranieri, Gianpaolo Fabrizio, and Luca Zingaretti and is only available in DVD PAL zone 2 – with no English subtitles.
If you’re entering the I Love Italian Movies David Di Donatello Award Contest and you’re in it to win it, you’ll want to try to catch Mozzarella Stories, if for no other reason.
I Love Italian Everything 